Istrian Easter pinca

Preparation steps

• -I baked a smaller pinch for the two of us, so I reduced the ratio of ingredients (so I wrote in the recipe), if you want a bigger pinch, just double the ingredients - take the eggs out of the fridge at least half an hour before preparation -it's important the dough is warm and the dough rises in the heat (be careful not to catch it "draft" because it will not rise) -instead of fresh yeast you can use dry yeast (I sometimes make pint and with it-on 500 g of flour goes one bag of dry yeast ) -if you want, before baking you can sprinkle the pinca with sugar in granules-I make homemade according to my recipe
• -so let's go: -heat the milk a little, -melt the butter and cool a little -add the crushed yeast, a spoonful of flour and a spoonful of sugar to the warmed milk, mix and let it soak (I cover the bowl with the yeast with a transparent foil) -wash the raisins and put them soak in biska (Istrian brandy) or rum
• -separate the egg whites from the yolks, -beat the egg whites into solid snow -mix the egg yolks together with the sugar until the mixture is doubled and lightened
• -in the bowl in which you will knead the dough add sifted flour and then add vanilla sugar, grated orange peel, grated lemon peel and salt -and then add the horrified yeast, melted butter and mix everything with a wooden spoon, then add the beaten egg whites and egg yolks with sugar and knead a soft dough, mix the raisins with the alcohol in which they were soaked and candied fruit as desired (for me candied oranges) -the dough must be soft and not stick to your hands (it must be separated from the edges of the bowl)
• -transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover it with a linen cloth or cling film and leave it to rise in the heat for 60 to 90 minutes,
• -raise the risen dough and shape it into a pint (like round bread) and place it on a baking sheet greased with butter or lined with baking paper -you can lightly cut the top of the pin in the shape of a cross and sprinkle it with granulated sugar, cover it again with a cloth and let a little more on warm to rise (some 20 minutes) -burn it in a well-heated oven at 160 C (up to 180 C), bake it for 50 minutes
• -cover the baked pint with a linen cloth -if you do not use granulated sugar for decoration, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar before serving
• -from my grandmother's kitchen: -my grandmother would put a small twig of the blessed olive branch in the middle of the pince before baking (which were worn as a blessing for Palm Sunday, the week before Easter), -pince was carried in a basket with other food to be consumed for Easter breakfast, the day before to church for Mass — for the blessing of food