Dough larks. Recipes for larks from lean, yeast, shortbread, butter, unleavened and salted dough

Dough larks: when to cook, how to cook, who to treat.

Slavic culture is unique and its roots go deep into the abyss of centuries. Despite the imposed Christianity in ancient Rus', people were able to transfer their customs and pagan holidays to the new Christian culture.

Thus creating a new round in Christian culture and customs. Even instead of the classic cottage cheese Easter, the Slavs continue to bake pagan Easter cakes and consecrate them along with Easter.

Dough larks

Another pagan rite, preserved from ancient festivals, is the delicious apple larks made from butter dough, which are traditionally baked in the spring, when the Earth comes to life again, is covered with a green carpet, and birds fly in from warm countries.

Dough lark

When are larks made from dough baked?

Traditionally, larks bake for the day of spring. In Rus' there was no single date for such a holiday, since the country extended over a third of the continent and spring came at different times for each region
With the advent of Christianity (which did not tolerate self-will, and sought to unify holidays in all its territories), it was decided to celebrate the arrival of spring on the day of the “forty martyrs” on March 9 according to the church calendar
Today this date is March 22, but despite this, in many villages they bake larks and go out with them to celebrate the arrival of birds and the pecking of the first leaves on trees and bushes

Original larks made from butter dough

How to make a lark from dough?

There are many variations in both the preparation of the dough and the technology for sculpting spring butter birds.

Option 1

We cut off a small piece of butter dough, make a medium-length “sausage” from it and tie it into a knot. One end will be the head, the other will be the tail.

Making larks: Option 1

We extend the head as in the photo and form a beak. We flatten the tail and make several cuts into the “feathers”.

Making larks: Option 1

The highlight is the mode into 4 parts and insert 2 pieces into the bird’s head in place of the eye.

Making larks: Option 1

Let it rise and bake.

Making larks: Option 1

Option 2

Again, cut off a piece of dough and form a “sausage”. But this time we don’t knit knots, but flatten one side and pull out the “beak” on the other.

Making larks: Option 2

We make one deep cut and several small “feathers” on the tail. We bend the lower “wing” upward as in the photo and insert an “eye” made of raisins.

Making larks: Option 2

Let it rise and put it in the oven. 5 minutes before readiness, brush with yolk or butter so that the lark browns.

Making larks: Option 2 Making larks: Option 2

Option 3

We form the “sausage” again, but this time we make a loop as in the photo.

Making larks: Option 3

From the loop we form the head and beak. Insert raisin eyes. We cut the ends, as in previous cases, into “feathers”. Bake.

Making larks: Option 3

Option 4

Now we form two “sausages” and lay them crosswise as in the photo.

Making larks: Option 4

The top “sausage” is flattened at the edges and wings are formed. The lower “sausage” on one side is flattened into a tail, the other side is formed into a head. Pull it out a little and create a key. Insert eyes.

Making larks: Option 4

We cut the wings and tail, creating feathers. Bake.

Making larks: Option 4

Cooking birds is a fascinating activity, be sure to invite the children to it. Having prepared the birds, everyone needs to eat in the house, treat the animals, and also give spring messengers to neighbors, friends, and just passers-by!

Making larks: Option 4

Making larks

That's it, now we separate a piece of dough about 100g. and roll it into a sausage.

We tie the resulting sausage-bundle with a simple knot. We give the outline of the bird’s head and insert highlights in place of the eyes. And on the tail we make 3-4 cuts with a knife in the form of feathers.

First, let the dough rise for about 20 minutes, then generously grease the top and bake until done.

Lubricate the top with strong sweet tea or butter. We usually grease with egg yolk; you can also sprinkle granulated sugar on top.

Place it in the oven at 200°C. About 15 minutes. The lark will turn rosy and the appetizing smell of baking will emanate throughout the kitchen. Remove and cool at room temperature.

Bon appetit - eat yourself, treat your loved ones and relatives, and welcome the beautiful spring!

Dough larks step by step

It is customary to begin preparing larks from Lenten dough at dawn. Preparing the dough:

1 tbsp. warm water
0.5 tbsp. flour
3 tsp Sahara
7 gr. Dry yeast

Pour in the dry ingredients, move, add warm water and place in a warm place near the oven, heater, radiator. Be sure to remove all drafts. We are waiting for the dough to increase several times.

Lean dough larks

Add a little salt, sugar, vanillin, a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and 2.5 tbsp to the dough. flour. Mix everything and pour onto the table
Knead until the dough is dense, but not tight. It should stop sticking to your hands
Let it sit until it fits. Covering it with a linen cloth for the time being
Modern housewives cover with cling film instead of cloth. Knead again and form larks

Lark made from unleavened dough

Dry yeast, a pinch of salt and sugar are stirred. Add some warm water
Let the yeast disperse
Add a little more sugar, vanillin, vegetable oil and flour
Add 1/3 cup of carrot juice to a glass of warm water
Knead the dough and let it rise near the heat

Lark made from unleavened dough

Knead the dough on the table and cut into strips 15*2 cm
Each strip is tied so that a bird's head appears on top.
The other end is crushed and cut into strips.
We form a beak on the head, insert eyes from pieces of raisins
Lubricate the larks with oil, sprinkle with sugar and put in the oven, first rise, and then, increasing the temperature, bake

Now it’s time to bake larks recipe from St. Simeon’s Cathedral.

Zhavoronkov (these cute buns in the shape of birds) are baked in 2017 on March 22 - the day of the spring equinox.

According to tradition, this is a symbol of the coming spring, bringing happiness and prosperity to the house. This is the time of Lent - that's why these buns are baked from Lenten yeast dough.

We are baking larks for the day of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

According to Christian tradition, larks are baked on the day of remembrance of the 40 martyrs who suffered in Lake Sebaste. This holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church is celebrated on March 22. These were warriors who lived in the 4th century and accepted death for Christ. They refused to renounce the Savior and accepted death from the pagans in 313 - they froze in an icy lake, guarded by guards.

So, larks are baked birds made from unleavened dough; they symbolize the souls of martyrs flying to God. According to another version, the song of these birds symbolizes the prayer of the Sebastian martyrs to God.

The finished birds were “planted” on the window, and some of them were given to children for their amusement.

Children hooked baked birds onto long rods, carried them to the highest hill and shouted at the top of their lungs: “Spring is red, what did it come with? “On a plow, on a harrow, on a sheaf of oats, on a stack of rye.” Or: “Little sunshine, look out the window. Sunny, dress up, Red, show yourself! Send us, Lord, a warm summer, a fruitful year and more light!” In addition to larks, for the feast of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste they also baked Lenten pancakes - “fresh bread”.

Products

2 kg flour 50 g fresh yeast 250 g vegetable oil 1 glass sugar 0.5 l water pinch salt

sweet strong tea and raisins

Larks recipe

Cooking

The finished dough for larks should be strong and elastic. The dough must ferment well before cutting.

I. Prepare the dough like this

Dissolve salt, butter and sugar in warm water.
Add yeast.
Sift the flour.
Add flour (preferably not all at once) and knead the dough.
Knead the dough, gradually adding flour as needed.
The dough must be kneaded for at least 15 minutes.
Leave the dough to proof. The dough should at least double in size.
Start cutting the dough and shaping the products.

II. Cutting dough and making birds

Roll out the finished dough into rollers, cut into pieces of 100 g.
Roll out each into a rope.
Then tie each tourniquet in a knot.
Make a head by extending the nose.

Stick in some raisins for the eyes.
Lightly press the tail with your fingers and make feather-shaped cuts.

Attention! The dough ropes should be rolled out like this:

one end is thin and flexible (this will be the bird’s head),
the body (middle of the tourniquet) is thicker, lightly press it with your fingers,
press the tail into a fan shape

For the wings, roll out the dough thinly and cut into feathers.

Lubricate the product with strong sweet tea.
Place products for detuning.
Bake the buns at 180°C (15-20 minutes).

Children love making larks, so get them involved in making the birds.

Larks are made in different ways; you can come up with your own birds.

Larks recipe - A very exciting activity for the whole family!

The nutritional value:

Calories: 100 g 251 kcal
Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrates: 49 g

Bon appetit!

Lark made from butter dough

No matter how much you run out of lean dough, your soul yearns for delicious butter rolls. Especially delicious larks with apples.

15 gr. fresh yeast add a spoonful of sugar and a teaspoon of salt
Dissolve. Add a glass of warm milk, stir and knead with flour
Let me come over. Add 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1 yolk, a little more flour (a total of 3-3.5 cups of flour is required), knead and let rise

Lark made from butter dough

Fashion larks to your taste and imagination
Insert raisins into the eyes, coat with strong tea leaves, let rise and bake
If you decide to cook with apples, you need to peel and finely grate them. Sprinkle with sugar
Then roll out the “sausage”, flatten it and put the filling inside
After this, mold it like a pie and again give the appearance of a “sausage”
Next, cooking the bird is no different from the usual method.

Tips from Perchinka:

If you don't like the bird, be sure to take it apart, roll it back into a ball and put it back under the towel with the other pieces.
Use this piece last, let the dough rest thoroughly.
Place the finished dough birds on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Grease the paper with vegetable oil in a thin layer. If there is too much oil, the dough will float during baking!

Maintain a distance between the birds, approximately 7 cm from each other, no less.
It is necessary to cover the birds with cellophane. I don’t recommend using a towel, as the birds become deformed from its weight.
Proofing time 25 - 30 minutes. If the proofing is incomplete, the dough may break during baking.

Pies with filling burst during frying or baking, for the same reason - this is initially poorly kneaded dough and incomplete proofing.
But you can’t overbake it either, as I wrote above, the heat makes the dough weak and falls off during baking.
Watch out for the birds. As soon as the sides are rounded, and this is around 20 minutes, carefully remove the cellophane and coat the birds with a mixture of well-beaten eggs and milk. Insert or draw eyes.
By this time the oven should already be preheated to 180C. Warmed up, which means it was turned on not just now, but 20 minutes ago!
Another reason for a thick crust and falling baked goods is a poorly heated oven.
Bake in the middle part of the oven until lightly browned on all sides, not in places. Baking time 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, remove one bird from the sheet and turn it over. The bottom of the bird should be the same ruddy, not white.
We take out a baking sheet and immediately coat the birds with melted butter, coat them generously.
There is no need to cover the birds with anything, we wait until the oil is absorbed, and after that we remove them from the paper. Transfer to a regular dry towel and cover with a second one.
We leave it to ripen. At this time, the crust of the product intensively evaporates the remaining liquid. With its heat, it draws steam from the crumb. Thus, the bread crumb becomes spongy. The crust decreases in thickness, becomes tender and crispy.

Yeast dough larks

Yeast dough for spring larks is considered a classic option and came into everyday life as soon as yeast appeared instead of hop dough. It’s easy to speak if you follow the basic rules:

The room is warm throughout the cooking time, closer to hot. But at the same time, under no circumstances should you put the dough on low heat or in the oven.
No drafts, no sudden rush of fresh air (open door, window, etc.)
It is also generally accepted that yeast loves the peace and tranquility of the hostess

Ingredients: For 1 kg of flour you will need 0.5 liters of milk, a pack (15 g) of dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 tbsp butter. spoons and 2 yolks.

First, part of the sugar is diluted with salt, yeast and heated milk, a little flour is added and allowed to rise
Next batch with eggs, remaining sugar, butter and additives (vanillin, cinnamon if desired)
Let it rise, knead and mold the larks

Yeast dough larks

What is needed for Larks:

for 40 pieces

Flour - 6-7 glasses (watch the consistency of the dough, first 6, add the rest of the flour as needed);
Sugar – 2/3 cup;
Salt - a pinch;
Spices as desired: vanilla sugar, allspice or chili, cinnamon - a pinch;
French yeast (instant or active) 2 teaspoons or regular yeast - a piece of stick (30 g);
Water – 2 glasses;
Vegetable oil – 1/2 cup;

Raisins for the larks' eyes - just a little + vegetable oil or very sweet tea for greasing the top of the baked goods.

Shortbread larks

They appeared relatively recently among those who deliberately abandoned yeast dough, but still love cookies and honor traditions.

Shortbread larks

So let's get started. Pour into container:

1 kg flour
30 grams of yeast
130 g butter
1 glass of milk
Half a glass of sugar
Egg 1 piece
50 g raisins
A pinch of salt

Knead the dough first in a container with half the flour. Then pour it onto the countertop and mix thoroughly with the remaining flour. We form the larks and send them to bake.

5 minutes before cooking, brush with yolk and sprinkle with sugar.

2-way

We make a short thick sausage. On one side we form the head and beak. We squeeze the other side. This will be the tail and wing.

Cut the flattened side in half. We make “feathers” with a knife.

We bend the wing up. Let's make an eye. Before baking, the lark can be brushed with a loose egg or yolk. Or sometimes smeared with sour cream.

Ready lark, greased with vegetable oil after baking for shine:

Salt dough larks

How to properly prepare puff pastry in our video.

Salt dough larks

Video: How to make puff pastry? Two ways, fast and classic

Roll out the prepared dough, but not into a “sausage”, into a layer 3 cm wide, 15 cm long and form a lark, as in previous cases. Brush the top with sugar syrup and sprinkle with sugar.