Folar da Páscoa, a Less-Than-Traditional Version #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month I am hosting and asked the bloggers to post Easter breads from around the world as our theme.

I wrote: "We're posting after the actual holiday. I know. However, as everyone is home, sheltered-in-place to help flatten the coronavirus curve, maybe people are delaying Easter celebrations with friends and family. I know I am!"

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

The #BreadBakers' Easter Bread Basket

Choereg (Armenian Easter Bread) by Making Miracles
Easy Glazed Baked Donuts by Shockingly Delicious
Folar da Páscoa, a Less-Than-Traditional Version by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
German Osterbrot Easter Bread by Ambrosia
Hot Cross Buns by Sneha's Recipe
Polish Babka by A Messy Kitchen
Kalach (Hungarian Easter Bread) by Passion Kneaded
Kozunak (Bulgarian Easter Bread) by Karen's Kitchen Stories
Russian Kulich - Easter Bread by Food Lust People Love
Sourdough Hot Cross Buns by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Sourdough Ukrainian Paska by Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Folar da Páscoa

There are so many Easter bread traditions from around the world. I have previously shared several, including the Italian Pane Dolce di Pasqua, basically a Columba di Pasqua without the dove-shaped pan. And, apparently, I like this theme because I had the bloggers baking Easter breads in April of 2015 when I made Casatiello. Well, flash-forward half a decade...I wanted to post a new-to-me bread.

And I've been working hard to master sourdough. People said that I could substitute the sourdough starter for yeast by reducing liquid and flour. I decided to give it a try. Hence the less-than-traditional name of this Portuguese Easter bread. Also, the shape is not traditional. Usually Folar da Páscoa is made in the shape of a wreath with an egg cooked it in. I did that...

But I wanted to share the large monkey ball fist plait that I did instead because it was fun to do. And it looks really cool.

Ingredients

makes one large braided loaf

1-1/2 cups active sourdough starter (you can meet mine, it's called Dough-ba Fett!)
1 1/2 T sea salt
6 eggs + 1 for brushing before baking
1/2 C raw honey (I used an avocado honey that I had in the cabinet)
1-1/2 C (3 sticks) melted butter
6-1/2 T all-purpose flour
1 T water for finishing
raw sugar for sprinkling

Procedure

In a large mixing bowl mix the starter, salt, honey, eggs, and melted butter. Whisk until eggs are broken and well-combined. Stir in the flour until a shaggy dough is formed.

Knead until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. Continue kneading until you have a smooth, elastic dough. Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a tightly woven cloth and let rise about 3 or 4 hours. It won't double, but it should be lighter.

Divide dough into twelve. Roll them into ropes that are about an inch in diameter and 12" long.

Arrange the ropes in sets of three so that they are over-under each other like this...

Twist the ends, also over-under again.

Tuck the edges underneath and gently form a dome.

Cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes. Although the dough won't rise as high as other types of yeast dough, it will rise during baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the last egg with water and brush the wash over the bread. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until risen and nicely browned.

Let cool completely before serving and slicing.

That's a wrap for this month's #BreadBakers. We'll be back in May with Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories leading us in baking rye breads. Stay tuned...

I am sharing this post as part of my Adventures of Dough-ba Fett series since this was the first non-sourdough loaf I made with my starter. I'm a completely sourdough novice with more enthusiasm and dogged determination than skill. But this was as fun project.