Pinca, Sirnica or Easter Cake, is a national Croatian cake or sweet bread, which is mainly prepared at Easter. This cake is usually brought to the church, along with other traditional Easter dishes, so that the priest may bless the food and those who will be eating it. Giving pinca to guests signifies good wishes. In olden times, pinca was mainly made in Dalmatia and Istria where there was a strong influence from Italy and Italian cuisine. Therefore it isn’t at all strange that the cake strongly resembles the well-known Milanese cake called “panettone”. Today pinca is prepared in all Croatian regions and it is possible to buy it in shops, even though the only pinca worthy of blessing is one which is made in one’s own home!
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Pinca (pronounced pin-tsa)

Ingredients (Serves 10)

1 kg flour
40g fresh yeast
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
800ml milk
100g raisins
200g sugar
1-2 vanilla sugar
120g butter
100ml brandy
100ml rum
Lemon rind
Orange rind
Pinch of salt

Preparation:

As with all cakes made from leavened dough, this recipe needs to be made at room temperature so that the dough can rise easily.
Dissolve the yeast in 100ml of lukewarm milk, to which is added a tablespoon of flour and a tablespoon of sugar, so that it quickly ferments. Leave in a warm place so that the yeast rises. Add to the rest of the sieved flour, the risen yeast, the rest of the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, 2 whole eggs, 2 egg yolks, 100g of melted butter, raisins soaked in rum, brandy, lemon and orange peel and pour in as much milk as required to make the dough smooth and not too firm. Put the dough in a warm place. When the dough has doubled in size it is necessary to knead it again. Mould the dough into a round small bread-like shape. Put the dough into a butter-coated dish and let it rest in a warm place for 20 minutes. Make a cross on the surface of the dough and brush the cake with beaten egg. Bake in the oven at 190° C for about 1 hour. Sprinkle the baked pinca with icing sugar while it is hot. In some regions they sprinkle granulated or crystal sugar on the cake while it’s still hot.

Mladen has started conducting Croatian cuisine classes in Croatia as part of the Croatian Language School’s immersion courses.
Please see here for more details.
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March’s CIL Newsletter

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