A wedding is an important event not only for the newlyweds, but also for their relatives. Parents of the spouses should take an active part in the celebration. For example, to cook a loaf for a wedding with your own hands - delicious and beautiful, to meet children with it at the door of the banquet hall. This is a great way to show you care. If you don't know how to bake a wedding loaf, this article is for you.

Traditions. How it was before

There are a large number of traditions and signs that must be observed throughout the preparation for the wedding. Cooking a wedding loaf is no exception.

Since ancient times, before the start of the ceremony, the parents of a man met the heroes of the occasion in their home and treated them with bread and salt. This is due to the fact that after the wedding, the young lived in the house of her husband. Now newly-made families are buying housing for themselves, and time is highly valued, so the tradition has lost its relevance. They began to treat loaf right in front of the entrance to a restaurant or a banquet hall.

The loaf is cooked one day before the ceremony, and the parents themselves must bake it. It is also necessary to prepare an embroidered towel on which it is placed. Do not forget to take a small container of salt with you, you need to place it on the very top of the bread.

Young parents approaching the house are greeted with joy. One is holding a baked gift, the other is holding an icon. Parents say parting words to their children and offer to feast on the loaf, after dipping it in salt. According to a sign, one of the young who bites off a larger piece will occupy a dominant position in the house.

According to one of the beliefs, after the young people have treated themselves, the groom's mother should hide the loaf - now no one can touch it. If, after the celebration, take it to the church as a donation, family life will be happy.

At modern weddings, everything is much simpler, you can treat guests with a loaf. We invite you to hold a funny competition: the bride and groom receive treats in equal parts and run to treat those present - whoever did it faster will be the breadwinner.

After all the action, the groom took the bride in his arms and carried her into the house. Everyone else was invited to follow. At the groom's house, guests were offered light snacks and drinks.

The first loaf recipe

We present to your attention a step-by-step recipe for making a loaf. In order to bake this wedding dish at home, you will need:

First, prepare the products with which you will make a treat. The total cooking time is about four hours. The loaf is designed for twenty servings.

How to cook loaf, video

The second wedding loaf recipe

Another recipe for making festive wedding bread. For this option, you will need the following ingredients:

• flour - 700 g;
• sugar - 5 tbsp. l.;
• vanilla - 1.5 tsp;
• powdered sugar - 2 tsp;
• milk - 1.5 tbsp.;
• vegetable oil or butter - 3 tbsp. l.;
• chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
• yeast, ordinary dry - 1.5 pack;
• salt - a few pinches;
• water - 1 tbsp.

loaf options

So, the process of making loaf:

1. Mix slightly warmed milk with sugar, butter and salt. Stir in yeast and flour. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave for an hour and a half.
2. After the dough has risen, knead it with sharp and strong movements. Then give it a round shape, put it on a baking sheet, which you first cover with special baking paper. Leave the product for ten minutes, then grease it with egg yolk.
3. Leave the dough for 15 minutes, watch it carefully during this time, do not let bubbles appear, stroke and smooth it.
4. If you have any pastry decorations, prepare and lay them out. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
5. Put the product in the oven.

   Be sure to place a bowl or baking sheet with cold water down. This is necessary so that the pastry is covered with a crispy crust and does not burn.

6. Watch the baking process carefully. Turn the product occasionally so that it bakes evenly. The residence time in the oven is about 50 minutes, possibly less, depending on the situation.
7. Remove the finished loaf from the oven, put it on the table and let it cool. Then grease the product with egg white, then apply powdered sugar and vanilla sugar to all parts. Ready!

Dough decorations

Curly patterns for a wedding loaf will decorate the product and give it a festive look. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the master class on the preparation of jewelry for loaf.

Decorations can be stuck on twenty minutes before cooking or immediately before putting pastries in the oven. It is better not to grease the figures with egg yolk before baking, otherwise the whole loaf will turn out to be one-color. Lubricate them with water, then the figures will immediately stick to the product.

How to decorate a wedding loaf - video

In order to bake such a fragrant, soft, tasty and beautiful loaf at home, it is not necessary to wait for a wedding. You can start preparing it right now. He prepares easily. The main thing is not to rush, not to be distracted, to completely immerse yourself in the baking process and adhere to the basic rules for working with yeast dough, namely:

• all products must be fresh and at the same (room) temperature
• during the preparation of the dough and the dough itself, there should be no drafts in the room
• sift the flour twice so that it is enriched with oxygen, becomes light and airy
• during the formation of the loaf itself, the dough needs to be kneaded for 5-10 minutes in order to rid the dough of excess carbon dioxide and enrich it with oxygen, and at this time it is better to grease your hands 1-2 times with vegetable oil - the dough will become more elastic and will not stick to your hands

Listen to the advice, and you will succeed, the loaf will be large, beautiful, with a delicate taste and moderately sweet.

Prepare the necessary ingredients.

To prepare the dough, you need to make a dough. To do this, pour warm kefir into a deep bowl, add dry yeast, a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix thoroughly, cover with a napkin and put in a warm place for 30 minutes.

While the dough is being prepared, combine the yolks of chicken eggs with salt, the remaining sugar and melted butter.

Mix thoroughly.

When the dough is ready, pour in the egg mass and mix again.

Gradually introduce the sifted flour and knead a soft, pliable dough. It shouldn't stick to your hands.

Put it in a bowl, cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours. The dough should double in size.

Then you need to knead it again and divide it into two parts. From one part roll up a bun and put it in the center of the baking dish.

Divide the second part of the dough into 12 parts, roll a ball from each and put them around the main piece. It will be convenient to break off these little pieces and hand them out to guests. They will be like mini buns. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes.

Prepare the ingredients for the decoration dough.

Pour the egg whites into a bowl, add sugar, vanilla sugar and vegetable oil to them. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and start adding flour in parts.

Knead a stiff, firm dough. Cover it with a towel and leave for 15 minutes. Then form decorations from this dough: roses, leaves, spikelets.

When the loaf rises, brush its entire surface with beaten chicken yolk and milk. Lay out decoration blanks on top in random order.

Send the loaf to the oven. Bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes.

A ruddy, beautiful loaf is ready.

It must be completely cool, and only then you can remove it from the mold.

Bon Appetit. Cook with love.

A loaf at a wedding is an indispensable festive bread at every wedding celebration. This is how it has been since the ancient Egyptian civilization. Further, this tradition was adopted in Rome, and when Christianity was born, this custom spread throughout the world. In the modern world, meeting the newlyweds with bread and salt at the wedding ceremony has become less common. But still, there are many connoisseurs of such an ancient rite.

There are not many loaf recipes for a wedding, the most common two options are made from wheat and rye flour. Preparing such bread is not difficult, most of the time is spent on decorating it. But the whole process is also shrouded in many nuances and rules. The preparation of this dish must be entrusted to women who have children and are in a happy marriage, the observance of such conditions predicted a happy union for the newlyweds. But the stage of baking the loaf was to be entrusted to a married man, only such a person could perform such a responsible task.

Symbolizes the wedding loaf of happiness, prosperity and abundance. It is supposed to take it to the newlyweds by spiritually connected relatives, that is, godparents from one of the parties. Necessarily pastries were placed on a beautiful, embroidered towel. There is another belief, the more magnificent the loaf turned out, the happier and richer the life of the bride and groom will be.

In the first recipe, a recipe with a step-by-step photo of a loaf for a wheat flour wedding will be considered in detail.

For loaf:

• flour - 500 grams;
• dry yeast - 1 teaspoon;
• eggs - 2 pieces;
• butter - 75 grams;
• salt - 1 teaspoon;
• sugar - 100 grams;
• vanilla sugar - ½ teaspoon;
• warm water - 150 milliliters;
• candied fruits - 30 grams;
• almonds - 30 grams;
• raisins - 30 grams.

For decoration:

• flour - 150 grams;
• salt - a pinch;
• sugar - a pinch;
• yolks - 2 pieces;
• butter - 10 grams;
• warm water.

Cooking:

Mix flour, granulated sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a deep bowl.

The second step is to prepare the yeast. They need to be mixed with a small amount of water and poured into flour.

In the same bowl, add eggs and butter. Adjust the consistency of the dough, if it is very tight, you can add a little more warm water.

Mix everything well with your hands. Depending on what kind of loaf is needed, there should be a consistency. For clarification, you need to read the tips that are listed at the end of the article.

From the resulting amount of dough, a loaf should turn out, and a part will remain to decorate it with a scythe. For the rest of the decor, you will need to prepare a separate dough.

Divide the dough into three parts. Roll up a ball from one, this will be the “head” of the loaf, and form long sausages from the other two. Then twist them together into a braid.

Put the “head” on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and, at a distance of two fingers, surround it in a circle with a scythe. When baking, the dough will increase in volume.

While the dough is resting before baking, you can start preparing the dough for decoration. If the loaf is without it, then you just need to skip this step and start baking.

In order to knead the dough, you need to combine all the ingredients that are indicated in the field for decoration except water. The dough should turn out like plasticine. But if the consistency does not work, then you can adjust by adding water.

When the decorations are ready, you need to place them on the loaf, but before that you should grease it with a beaten egg.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and before placing the decorated loaf there, be sure to reduce the degrees to 170 and bake for 30 minutes.

What decoration to make, you need to rely on your own imagination and preferences of the newlyweds. But to make it is still quite simple, ideally you should familiarize yourself with the master classes of wedding loaf recipes with photos and videos, which are many on the Internet. Readiness can be checked with a thin toothpick, piercing the loaf once, it should be dry and without dough residues.

Decorations for the loaf also need to be made, observing some rules and traditions. For example, there is a list of what exactly should decorate pastries and why. For example, ears of wheat, they symbolize abundance and prosperity. A bunch of viburnum - love and children, and the fidelity of the spouses shows a pair of swans.

1. If the loaf for the wedding is decorated, then the dough must be made steeper, this will guarantee that it will not settle. Jewelry will hold tightly and will not fall off.
2. If you want to achieve the similarity of a loaf with a bun, then the dough should be more liquid. This will ensure that the dough does not rise too much and does not form a dense crust.
3. If fresh yeast is used, then the dough must be left until it rises. If dry, then this is not necessary at all.
4. While the loaf went to the oven and the door is closed, in no case should it be opened, this may threaten that the loaf will not rise and fall, which means that its appearance will be irretrievably damaged.
5. Before transferring the loaf from the baking sheet to another dish, it is worth covering its bottom with a paper towel or napkins so that the bottom of the loaf does not get wet and sour.

These are the main tips that should be followed in order for the pastries to turn out not only beautiful, but also very tasty.

As mentioned above, there are only two options for a wedding loaf made of wheat flour, it has already been described with a photo, as well as with rye flour. But after all, no one canceled the experiments, and after all, one of the decorations can be made a pigtail, which will be two-color, thanks to mixing two types of flour. This will not degrade the taste in any way, but on the contrary will give it a twist. Some bakers even take the risk of adding natural colorings such as beetroot or broccoli juice and a wedding loaf that takes on shades of different colors.

A wedding loaf is an obligatory attribute of a Slavic wedding. Ruddy, decorated with symbolic elements, bread brings happiness and well-being to the newlyweds. And baking a loaf for a wedding means filling it with special energy, adding a piece of soul, expressing good wishes to the newlyweds.

cooking traditions

In ancient times, baking a loaf was accompanied by a number of traditions. It was believed that their observance brings happiness to a young family. The whole rite, unfortunately, has long been forgotten. But the traditions of who should participate in cooking have survived to our time.

1. A married woman with a prosperous family and children should knead the dough and decorate the wedding bread. It was believed that in the process of cooking, she shares well-being and fertility with a young family.
2. Starting kneading the dough, a woman should wash her face, hands, tie a scarf, put on a cross. While kneading, be sure to say prayers.
3. Planting bread in the oven was entrusted to a married man from a prosperous family.

After the wedding, the parents of the newlyweds congratulated the young family, the groom's mother held a beautiful loaf on an embroidered towel. The newlyweds thanked their parents and received wedding bread from their hands. It was cut and treated to guests or put on a place of honor on the table.

Now this product is ordered to professionals, not observing the ancient traditions. But you can arrange a loaf party on the eve of the celebration by inviting married friends to bake wedding bread.

Baking Features

Baking a loaf for a wedding with your own hands is not easy. Therefore, it is worth reading a few tips first.

1. You need to know how your oven works in order to calculate the cooking time. Each oven has its own characteristics, so the actual baking time sometimes does not match the recipe.
2. You need to choose quality ingredients. With some yeast the dough will rise, while with others it will not, and the pastry will taste strange.
3. Correct kneading is of great importance. It is difficult for beginners to master the technology. But it’s worth baking 2-3 products from yeast dough, and it will become clear how to cook a loaf for a wedding.

The result directly depends on the type of flour. For wedding bread, flour of the highest grade is suitable. It is sifted with a fine sieve so that the dough comes out lush and airy.

Wedding baking recipes are quite diverse. Some make unleavened products that taste like bread. Others bake lush Easter cakes, sweet as store-bought buns. We offer you a proven step-by-step recipe that will appeal to adults and children.

Cooking method

Ingredients

To bake a delicious wedding loaf at home, we take the following ingredients:

1. wheat flour - 7-8 glasses;
2. dry yeast - 20 g;
3. refined vegetable oil - 0.5 cups;
4. milk - 0.5 cups;
5. homemade chicken eggs - 10 pieces;
6. sugar - 2/3 cup;
7. fine salt - 0.5 tablespoon.

The cooking process or how to bake a loaf for a wedding.

• We dissolve the yeast with warm milk, gently stirring them with a spatula.
• Separate the yolks from the whites. Add sugar to the yolks, carefully grind the mass until white. Carefully pour in the dissolved yeast with milk. Mix again until smooth.
• We take deep wooden or ceramic dishes. Pour 6 cups of sifted flour, evenly distribute inside. With palms we make a hole in the middle, similar to the crater of a volcano.
• Pour the yolk-yeast mixture and vegetable oil into the hole, add the steeply whipped proteins. Gently knead the dough into a loaf.
• When you get an elastic mass, turn the dishes over on a table, crushed with flour. We diligently grind it for 30 minutes, regularly sprinkling it with sifted flour. After kneading, the dough should become smooth, lush, easy to lag behind the palms.
• We wash the dishes in which the mass was kneaded well, grease with vegetable oil.
• We shift the dough there, cover with a clean towel. Let it rise.
• After 1.5 hours, we wrinkle again, divide into 3 pieces. The first part is left for decoration. We use the second piece to form a round base, and from the third weave a pigtail or tourniquet.
• We place the base on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, and press the pigtail along the edges.

Now let's figure out how to decorate a loaf with your own hands.

decoration process

Wedding bread can be decorated with various elements in the form of doves, viburnum, rings, spikelets, pigtails, swans, flowers.

Experienced chefs know how to decorate a wedding loaf with the same rich dough from which the bread itself is made. But for beginners, it is better to use unleavened dough. Figures from it are easier to mold, do not blur when baking.

The recipe for making unleavened dough is very simple: you need to combine flour with egg white in a 2: 1 ratio. For example, 125 g of egg white and 250 g of flour. Then knead the mass of these two components well.

It should be noted that unleavened dough weathers and hardens very quickly, so decorations must be made promptly. It is best to put it in a bag and get it in portions, as needed.

Preparation of decorative elements

We offer you a small master class on making decorations for wedding bread.

We roll out the dough into a thin sheet, cut out various flowers, leaves and other elements from it. This can be done with plungers, kitchen scissors, or a knife. With the tip of a knife, draw veins, slightly notching the top layer. We work very carefully, without cutting through. Flowers in the middle can be decorated with a twist.

To make a bunch of grapes, we form small balls. We twist roses from thin strips, fix each of them in the center with a toothpick.

There is another way to make roses. Using a plastic bottle cap, squeeze out 5 circles. We lay them on top of each other, turn them into a tube. The resulting roller is cut in half, put on the board. We slightly bend the petals, forming a rose.

In the center, you can lay out a ring twisted with a tourniquet, which symbolizes a wedding ring. The salt shaker will look great here.

Cut the rest into thin slices. We squeeze the edges with our fingers, getting a winding antennae. They can be laid out arbitrarily by filling in the empty spaces.

Registration process

Before baking a wedding loaf, you can decorate it in two ways.

1. Lay the decorations on the base before baking. But there is one drawback in this method - after cooking, the details may become fuzzy.
2. Lay out the decorative elements 15 minutes before the baking is ready, then you will get clear details.

Mix 1 yolk with 1 tablespoon of milk, completely grease the base with this mixture. We lay out decorations on top, as fantasy tells. The heaviest elements can be fixed with toothpicks. It is not necessary to cover the decorations with yolk so that they do not burn.

Place the decorated bread in the preheated oven. First, we will bake a loaf for 20 minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C. Then we reduce it to 170 ° C, bake for another 40 minutes. If the top starts to brown too much, cover it with foil.

What do decorations mean?

Each element of wedding bread decoration has its own meaning. Let's look at what types of parts are and what they symbolize:

• viburnum - a traditional element that denotes well-being, love;
• bunch of grapes - symbolizes financial prosperity, healthy offspring;
• spikelets of wheat - denote prosperity, fertility;
• a pigtail is an obligatory decoration of a wedding loaf, laid out around the circumference. This element symbolizes the sun;
• roses are a beautiful original decoration that symbolizes love.

Wedding bread must be decorated with symbols of unity, the inseparability of a couple: 2 rings, a swan with a swan, united hearts, the sun with a month.

Little design tricks

• For decorations, it is desirable to use unleavened dough. Then their light light shade will remain.
• It is necessary to gently rub the flour until the mass is plastic. This consistency will allow you to easily create a variety of figures.
• Before you make the decoration of wedding bread, you need to grease it with water. So that pigtails, flowers or clusters do not slip, but quickly stick to the base.
• To make decorations contrast with bread, do not wipe them with egg yolk. It is better to use the yolk to lubricate the base, and wipe the decorations with water or protein.

Well, our ruddy handsome man is ready. We hope that your loaf will also amaze all the guests and take pride of place on the festive table.

Bread has always had a special meaning in Russia. It is with large round bread - a loaf, which was often baked for holidays and important events, that many ceremonies and rituals are associated. Dear guests were met and seen off with a loaf, and the most magnificent and skillfully decorated loaves were the main treat at weddings.

The history of the origin of the loaf in Russia

The custom of serving special pastries at weddings dates back to the ancient Slavs. In ancient Russia, bread was considered the great gift of the nurse of the earth, and the sun was the main patron. Therefore, the predecessor of the festive loaf was round like the sun and symbolized fertility, abundance and prosperity.

Origin of the word "Karavai"

There are several assumptions about the origin of the name of ritual bread in Russia. The most common of them boils down to the fact that the word "loaf" comes from the word "cow", which in Slavic dialects means "bride". And the suffix "ay" in the word acts as a symbol of a bull, that is, a man. Thus, the loaf personified fertility, the unity of the feminine and masculine principles.

Traditions to bake a loaf in Russia

Baking a loaf was accompanied by a certain sequence of rituals. Loaf women were invited to make festive bread - women who are happily married and have healthy obedient children. Being engaged in the preparation of festive bread, loaf women passed on their experience to the young and shared family happiness. And a married man had to plant bread in the oven. During all these rituals, special songs and prayers sounded to receive God's blessing to the young.

The size of the loaf was also of great importance, as it personified the status of the nascent family. The desire to cook the largest and highest ceremonial bread often turned into the fact that several rows of bricks had to be taken out of the oven in order to get the baked loaf. The finished treat, in addition to various patterns of dough, was decorated with ears of wheat and clusters of viburnum. Such decor was symbolic and meant family well-being, harmony and love.

Traditionally, baking a loaf in Russia was preceded by some event. This bread was baked only on special occasions, most often for weddings or to meet long-awaited guests. The hospitable hosts always greeted dear guests with bread and salt. Often it was a rye loaf with salt, which was presented on a towel.