In 1592, the scholar Hieronymus Megiser first wrote about the especially decorated Christmas bread that is in various places across Slovenia called "poprtnik", "namiznjak", "žúpnik", "župnek", "poprtnják", "bôžič", "božíčnik", "mížnik", "nám(i)žnik", "stólnik", "postólnik", and in Kočevska region it is called "šipling", "žiplink", "schupling" or "Schiplitzen". A good century after him, in 1689, the polymath Janez Vajkard Valvasor in his book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola described the Christmas traditions and beliefs common in Carniola, part of which was also especially decorated Christmas bread (poprtnik).
Recipe
Ingredients for the dough:
1 kg flour
1 dl warm milk, 1 tsp sugar, 4 g yeast – for rising yeast
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
7 tbsp butter (could be ghee)
1 tbsp sour cream
4 egg yolks
5 dl lukewarm milk
1,5 dl rum
1 egg, 1dl cream for coating
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Photo: Kuhna pa to archives
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Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
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Photo: Kuhna pa to archives
Preparing:
Heat the milk, add the yeast and sugar, and let it rise.
In a larger bowl, whisk the egg yolks with sugar and butter into the foam.
Mix all other ingredients and rising yeast and knead the dough.
Let the dough rise for at least 1 hour.
Then tear off a piece of dough to make the ornament, shape the rest into a ball and let it rise for another 40 minutes.
In the meantime, design decorations suitable for a particular holiday or occasion.
Attach it to the base and coat it all with a mixture of egg and cream.
Bake in a preheated oven for about 1 hour at 170 degrees.
If the dough is enough, form birds and bake only 20 minutes ob 170 degrees.
Date: 18. December 2019
Time to read: 1 min
