I had a Croatian coworker who would bake this anytime we had a celebration at work. I finally got her to share her recipe with me. I've had to tweak it quite a bit because some ingredients she doesn't measure and of those she does, she uses metrics.
Ingredients
- active dry yeast: 1 pack (.25 ounce pack)
- warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F): 2 Tbsp
- warm water (110 to 115 degrees F): 1 cup
- white sugar: 1 Tbsp
- ⅓ cups all-purpose flour: 2 piece
- salt: 1 tsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
-
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk in a small bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam. Stir the warm water and sugar into the yeast mixture.
-
Stir the flour and salt together in a separate bowl; add all but about 1/2 cup of the flour mixture to the yeast mixture; mix with your hands until a soft dough forms, adding the last of the flour mixture a little at a time until it clears the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a light cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
-
Deflate, or 'punch down,' the dough and turn out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour; knead for about 5 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover again with a light cloth, and allow the dough to again rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes more.
-
Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
-
Deflate the dough and turn turn out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour; knead lightly. Place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet; shape into an oval about 1/2-inch thick. Set aside to rise a third time for about 30 minutes.
-
Bake in the preheated oven until nicely browned and hollow sounding when thumped, 20 to 25 minutes.
