Petrovsky loaf

Category: Yeast bread

Ingredients
flour	525 g
water	150 ml
fresh yeast	35 g
eggs	2 pcs
sugar	20 g
honey or molasses	1 tsp
butter	150 g
powdered milk	40 g
salt	7 g
vanilla	1 p

Cooking method

- Is the bride ready? Call poezzhan ... Take the loaves, light the lanterns ... Where are the dancing girls? Oh, not enough ... The boyars Odoevskys danced twelve, and here I am going to marry the tsar ... Oh, dear, the bride is an indescribable beauty ... But where else are such and such - and they are not there ... Oh, dear , priceless, what have you done, stabbed to death without a knife ... Our bride is undisguised ... The very essence has been forgotten ...
Cover, cover, where? ..
... Servants raised loaves on the dishes. They were followed by lamplighters with mica lanterns on poles ...
... So they entered the Cross Chamber. The bride was put under the image. Bowl with
hops, furs and money, dishes with loaves were put on the table, where salt shakers, pepper shakers and vinegar bowls were already placed. They sat down by rank.
A. Tolstoy "Peter the First"
1. Dough:
150 g flour + 150 ml very cold water (+ 3-4 degrees) + 2 g yeast - knead and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. Dough:
Stir eggs, sugar, honey (molasses), vanilla and whisk lightly. In this mixture, dissolve the yeast (33 g). Combine with a matured dough. Add flour (375 g) and start kneading. Knead for 5 minutes on medium speed, add salt and soft butter (not melted), increase the speed and knead for another 5-7 minutes.
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3. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, shape, put in a mold and leave to rise for 1.5-2 hours (time depends on the room temperature.
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4. Knead the dough from an egg, 30 ml of water and flour, cut out decorations and arrange a loaf (after proofing). Brush with yolk mixed with milk.
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5. Bake at 180 degrees for the first 5 minutes, then reduce to 150 and bring to readiness (35-40 minutes).

Time for preparing:

about 3 hours

Cooking program:

oven

National cuisine

Russian

Note

In Russian literature, there are many references to festive meals, famous for their splendor and with the irreplaceable presence of various pastries on them. The classics did not pass by their attention and wedding ceremonies.
Weddings in Russia of Peter the Great's times are a large-scale, almost theatrical performance. And the loaf played one of the main roles in it. The baking process itself was a whole ritual.

For the preparation of a loaf, loafs were determined - all already married women, but by no means widows and not childless. There could be 3, 5 or 7 loafs, among them the main or senior loaf was determined, which supervised the processes of dissolving and kneading dough, baking a loaf. The eldest loaf was a woman who lived with her husband in goodness and harmony, love and happiness, who had hardworking and sympathetic children .. There was a belief that this way and a happy family life would be passed on from the loaf and the groom and the bride. Sometimes the godmother took on this role from one side.
During the preparation of the loaf, the women sang songs: these were the verdict songs left over from pagan times: "You peck-fight a loaf, thicker than a brick stove, higher than a column of oak", and also read prayers, as if asking for God's blessing for the young.

Tolstoy's book "Peter the First" inspired me to present this recipe to your court. It is, of course, not authentic, but tasty and practical.
Bon Appetit