Traditional Christmas bread in Czechoslovakia is called huska, and it contains candied fruit, almonds, and raisins. Some people toast it, spread it with butter or jelly, and then sprinkle powdered sugar on top, depending on regional traditions and family preferences. It requires a full day to make, but the time spent is definitely worth it.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 4 hrs |
| Total Time: | 5 hrs 45 mins |
| Servings: | 30 |
| Yield: | 2 large loaves |
Ingredients
- 1 (0.6 ounce) cake compressed fresh yeast
- ¼ cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups scalded milk, cooled
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon orange zest
- 1 pinch ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground mace
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup golden raisins
- ½ cup candied mixed fruit peel
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ cup blanched slivered almonds
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Make the sponge: Dissolve yeast in warm water.
- Cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer in a large bowl. Add beaten egg and salt. Stir in cooled milk, then yeast mixture. Sift in flour and beat until smooth. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Make the dough: Stir orange zest, ginger, and mace into sponge. Add flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic. Knead in raisins and candied peel. Place dough into a well-oiled bowl and turn once to coat the surface. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Divide dough into 10 parts. Roll dough into ropes of desired length (make sure they are equal); let rise for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously grease a baking sheet.
- Place 3 ropes dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Starting at the center and working toward each end, loosely braid ropes; pinch ends together to seal. Twist 2 more ropes together and place on the base of the braid. Repeat this process to form a second loaf with remaining dough.
- Whisk egg yolk and milk together in a small bowl. Brush egg wash over each loaf and sprinkle with almonds. Let rise for about 45 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer loaves to a wire rack. Cover with a tea towel to make a soft crust; let cool completely.
- Sprinkle cooled loaves with confectioners’ sugar.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 177 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 29 g |
| Cholesterol | 22 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 110 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Almost the same as my family’s recipe. I change up the candied peels for other dried fruits so it’s less similar to fruitcake. I love the note that it’s an all day endeavor it certainly is. I simplify my braiding a bit, I make a twisted loaf instead of a full braid, and it still looks good. But just a tip if you only want to divide the dough into 2 parts: just make a long roll and twist (I find dividing dough for full braids insufferable).
Great! I used candied ginger and golden raisins as the fruit, so I omitted the pinch of ginger and substituted a pinch of Cardamom instead. Lovely bread!
It was brilliant. I braided mine and took it to our company Christmas party. People liked it because of how the crumb was and it’s not to sweet, but just sweet enough with a bit of butter. I’ll make another one for myself tonight 🙂
A delicious bread. I had to substitute nutmeg for the mace because I could not find it at the time I was making the bread. I will definitely make again this coming Christmas.
Very easy and beautiful to serve.
This makes two large delicious Christmas bread loaves. Great recipe and authentic! Thank you for sharing.
I wish I could give it 10 stars. Too good…..I used half whole wheat flour.
it took a long time to make this bread. No joke when they say an all day affair, but it was worth EVERY minute. Not only was it amazingly delicious, it was beautiful! Of course I adjusted the spices to suit my family’s tastes, but other than that…PERFECT!!!
This is delicious! My husband, who does not care for cakes without cream at all, annihilated half of it. This cake would be one of my regular festive (and non-festive as well) cakes.
Very nice and moist – as good as the one Mom used to make.
I haven’t made this version yet because I use my own family’s recipe, but this is truly a great bread. The braided shape is quite pretty and I’ve always gotten compliments when I’ve shared loaves with others. I wouldn’t reduce the size of the recipe either. It takes a good amount of time, you’ll be happy to have made two loaves.
jUST GREAT