Easter Lamb is a sweet pastry baked in the Czech Republic at Easter.
Just like Mazanec and Jidáše, lamb is traditionally baked at Easter. It’s more tricky than other Easter pastries, mainly because it’s bakes in a pan with structure and creases and the failed attempts circling internet make for a ridiculous collection. In fact, it is not that difficult with a good recipe and if you make the necessary steps to prevent the batter from sticking to the pan.
Easter Lamb – Recipe
Supplies
- Easter Lamb baking pan
- 300 g/10.6 oz of semi-coarse flour (see Czech Four Guide)
- 200 g/7 oz of caster sugar
- 1 tbsp of baking powder
- 200 ml/6.8 fl oz of milk
- 120 g/4.2 oz of unsalted butter or vegetable fat
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
- optional: 2 tbsp of cacao powder
- For decoration: powder sugar, melted chocolate, icing…
How to make Easter Lamb
Coat the baking pan
This is an important step of the process and absolutely crucial. You have to coat the pan well so that the dough doesn’t stick to it. The only exception is if you have a non-stick pan like this one:
However, even here you can rely on the non-stick surface only if it’s not scratches. If there are scratches, you have to coat it just the same. First, coat the pan with butter or oil. Make sure every little crease is covered! If you’re using liquid oil, pour out all the excess oil from the bottom of the pan. There has to be just enough fat to make the flour stick.
Then coat the pan in coarse flour. An easy way is to put some flour at the bottom of the pan and move and turn the pan so that the flour gets to all the sides and creases. Pour out all the excess flour. There should be a nice even layer of fat and flour on the whole surface.
The process is the same like coating a pan for Bábovka:
Preheat your oven to 170°C/338°F.
Separate egg yolks from whites and whisk whites to firm peaks.
In a large bowl, whisk butter, sugar and yolks until the mixture is fluffy. Gradually add milk, flour, baking powder and at the end, add vanilla extract.
Then slowly incorporate the whisked egg whites.
You can optionally add cacao powder.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 40 minutes. If you’re not sure if the lamb is ready, insert a wooden stick in the center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If there’s batter on the stick, bake another 5 – 10 minutes.
My lamb usually cracks in the back which is not ideal but it doesn’t matter too much, especially when I decorate with icing. Baking at a lower temperature prevents the cracks but I wouldn’t go lower than 160°C/320°F as lower temperatures require longer baking time and that could lead to a really dry result.
Before flipping the pan over to get the lamb out, I recommend inserting a knife (plastic, to avoid scratches) between the lamb and the pan and running it around the edges to “unstick” what might have stuck to the pan. Then flip the pan upside down and, if need be, help your lamb out by pulling on it gently.
Try to stand it up and if it doesn’t, you can cut off a little cake from the bottom to make it flat.
An easy traditional way to decorate the Easter Lamb is to sprinkle it with powder sugar and tie a red bow around its neck.
You can also decorate it with icing, coat it in chocolate or decorate it in any way you like.
