Czech Easter is connected with many traditions, including sweet pastry baking. In the past various kinds of pastry could be baked only on special days. They were a kind of ritual symbol for people. Jidáše, baked on Holy Thursday before Easter, is an excellent example of such pastries.
What are Jidase?
Jidáše (plural) are a kind of sweet pastry made from yeast dough, and after baking, they are coated with honey. Jidáše are formed into various shapes, most frequently spirals or knots.
Jidáše are shaped to look as if they were made from a rope on which the apostle Judas hanged himself after he had betrayed Jesus. And that’s where the Czech pastry jidáš (Judas) got its name from.
➜ When are Jidase baked?
Jidáše are baked on Holy Thursday before Easter (in some Czech regions, they are baked a day later, on Good Friday). Holy Thursday is translated as "Zelený (green) čtvrtek" in Czech.
According to folklore, they are coated with honey because honey eaten on Holy Thursday is believed to protect people from being bitten by a snake and generally from poisoning.
➜ Tips for preparing sweet yeast dough
Jidáše are baked from sweet yeast dough. To guarantee success, you should follow a few basic rules. Here are some tips on how to master the yeast dough better.
Work with eggs at room temperature and lukewarm butter and milk. The yeast contains living bacteria, and you can support its raising under ideal conditions—a temperature of about 85 °F.
The eggs should be used at room temperature, too.
Kneading the dough well is imperative. It’s the basic requirement for the dough to be soft and springy, easy to roll, and for the jidáše to keep their shape.
I knead the dough with my hands (the best instrument for kneading!) The only problem is that it takes about 10 minutes, and it´s quite physically demanding.
If you have a stand kitchen mixer with a kneading hook, you can surely use it. Using this tool will save you a lot of work and time.
The dough in this recipe rises in three stages (really!). First 2x 30 minutes (follow instructions in the recipe), and after forming jidáše from the dough, you have to let them leaven for a further 45 minutes.
⤍ Learn how to make dough rise in the oven.
More Czech Easter Dishes:
- Mazanec – Czech Easter sweet bread
- Velikonční nádivka – Easter stuffing
- Beránek – Easter lamb cake baked in a mold
Tried this recipe?
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Jidáše - Czech Easter Sweet Pastry
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (520 g)
- 1 cup milk (240 ml) lukewarm
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (6 g) I used 20 g fresh yeast
- ⅔ stick butter unsalted (75 g) melted and a bit cooled
- 1 egg yolk
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar (70 g)
- pinch of salt
- 1 whole egg for egg wash
- honey to glaze jidáše after baking
Instructions
- Put the flour into a bowl and make a hole in the middle.
- Pour in two thirds of the lukewarm milk, add ½ teaspoon of sugar, and the yeast. Take a spoon and stir the flour in from the sides, until a small puddle of semiliquid batter forms in the middle. Dust its surface with flour and let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the butter. It shouldn’t be hot, just warm.
- Add the melted butter to the bowl with leavened yeast, add yolk, a pinch of salt, and the rest of lukewarm milk and sugar.
- Stir everything together with a wooden spoon, then knead the mixture until it turns smooth and stiff and it doesn’t stick – or it´s sticky only a little bit. I knead and fold the dough with my hands on a dusted kitchen worktop for 10 minutes (I´m serious). Don´t underestimate this step.
- Let the dough rise for a further 30 minutes.
- Split the raised dough into pieces about 2 and ½ oz (80 g) in mass. Roll a piece of string about 10 inches (25 cm) long and ⅔ inch (1,5 cm) thick and form a spiral. Flatten the end of the string and coil it under the swirl so the jidáš does not unravel itself when it’s being baked.
- Put the finished jidáše on a tray laid with baking paper, cover them with a clean towel and let them leaven for 45 minutes.
- Heat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C).
- Whisk the egg in a separate bowl and glaze the jidáše with it.
- Bake jidáše for 15 minutes until they turn golden brown.
- Melt the honey and glaze the jidáše right after taking them out of the oven.
Notes
- Makes about 10 pieces of jidase pastry.
- Jidases glazed with honey are sticky, but it should be that way; it is honey after all. The sooner you glaze them, the less sticky their surface will be.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chartNutritional Estimate pro portion
In making this recipe, I was inspired by the legendary Czech cookbook written by Roman Vaněk: “Velká kuchařka Čech a Moravy”.
Here you’ll find more Czech Easter recipes
Anonymous
Thank you for your recipes! I hope to make these next week for Easter. Please post more traditional dishes, they're great 🙂
Petra Kupská
Ahoj, thank you very much for your pleasing comment! Let me know how did the Jidáše pastry turn out 🙂 I’m working on more traditional Czech recipes, I will post as much as I can 🙂 Many greetings from the Czech Republic and Happy Easter!
Dennis Williams
Your recipes are an inspiration. Baking Jidase today and 15 minutes is not nearly long enough; I added ten minutes. Also, the baking rise obliterated the sharply defined spiral. Any suggestions?
Anicka Cooklikeczechs.com
Ahoj Dennis, thank you for your comment. Sourdough is sometimes alchemy, it often depends on the type of flour and how absorbent it is (some types of flour absorb more liquid than others). I recommend raising the temperature rather than letting the pastry bake longer. Hopefully this will help and your next baking will be a success!