4th of December

Bandura

Foto Tereza by Tereza

When I was a child I loved the pastry you could get in every bakery around Saint Nicholas' Day, December 6. It is made of sweet leavened dough in the form of a man and in the place where I grew up, the north-eastern part of the Czech Republic, it is called bandura. When I googled it, I found out that this was not a Czech tradition, but rather one in the German-speaking countries. There are many regional names for the dough guy like Stutenkerl, Kiepenkerl, Weckmann, Klaaskerl, Hefekerl, Männele (in Alsace and Moselle), Boxemännchen (in Luxembourg), Grittibänz and Grättimaa (in Switzerland) and even Italians are supposed to know the pastry under the name Pupazzo dell'Avvento. The pastry figure probably originally represented the bishop St. Nicholas.

The pastries have inserted raisins as eyes and I remember that once my brother ate my bandura’s eyes and my sister’s bandura’s eyes. When we realized that I started to cry and my sister smacked him really hard. I was the youngest and she was the oldest one.

Here you have the family recipe for bandura / Stutenkerl / Whatever:

    For the dough:
  • 750 g flour
  • 350 ml milk
  • 100 g melted butter
  • pinch of salt
  • 100 g of sugar
  • 20 g fresh yeast or 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
  • pinch of anise
  • grated lemon peel

    • For the garnish:
  • raisins and/or nuts and/or cloves for eyes, nose and mouth
  • 1-2 egg yolks
In a pan, let the butter slowly melt (do not cook). When it is liquid, remove it from the hot plate and add milk. Crush the yeast and mix in a little water. Put flour and salt in a bowl and make a hole in the middle. Pour butter and milk into it, and add mixed yeast. Mix from the inside out, then knead the dough first in a bowl, then on a rolling pin. Knead the dough until it sticks and small bubbles form inside. If it is too dry, add a little water, if it is too moist, a little flour. It will take about ten minutes. Let it rest in a quiet place until it doubles. Create the figures, garnish with nuts, raisins or cloves and sprinkle with the yolk. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 to 200 ° C in the lowest position for around 20-50 minutes, depending on how big the dough guys are.

✦ You can download the recipe as pdf here: Bandura