Beránek
Easter Lamb Cake- Yield
- 1 lamb cake from a 6-cup mold, 10 to 12 slices
- Active
- 30 minutes
- Total
- 2 hours 30 minutes, including cooling
- Difficulty
- Medium
The story
Beránek, the little lamb, is the cake that stands in the middle of many Czech Easter tables. Czech sources trace it to roast lamb, the Easter meat of the Middle Ages. During the 19th century a lamb baked from sweet dough gradually took its place, and Czech writers note that the cake version was common among poorer households that could not afford meat. In Christian symbolism the lamb stands for Christ and his crucifixion, which is why the cake belongs to Easter. Housewives bake it on Bílá sobota, Holy Saturday, which falls on March 27 in 2027, together with mazanec and the savory nádivka, so it is ready for the Sunday table. The batter changes from family to family: a light sponge, a butter cake with ground nuts and raisins, cocoa, poppy seed or sweet curd cheese. The finish is simple, a coat of powdered sugar or a glaze of melted chocolate. The version here is the classic Czech oil sponge with the egg whites whipped separately, which stays moist for days. Bake it on Saturday, keep it under a cake dome, and carry it whole to the Easter lunch before cutting.
Ingredients and method
The full recipe, with US and metric measures and stand-ins for hard-to-find ingredients, is part of the Easter edition. Buy it once and keep the PDF.
Want to try first? Frankfurter Grüne Soße is free to cook.