at the time when christianity was accepted in serbia, many families were baptised and chose their own saint. this is why saint nicholas is celebrated by so many families on the 19th of december. for the orthodox families st. nicholas is a special day with special rituals and prayers, to others it only means a day to be with your family and enjoy lots of food.
this st. nicholas bread is traditionally made in orthodox families for the feast of st. nicholas. i heard that in other families a coin is put in the bread and the person who gets the piece with the coin will be rich in the future. i do not believe that this is part of a religious ritual, but i can be wrong.
500 ml lukewarm milk
1 kilo flour (all purpose)
take another bowl and beat the egg yolks, add the rest of the milk and
stir well. put the flour, sugar, salt, lemon peel and a bit of lemon juice together in a bowl. add the softened butter in small pieces and knead until the mixture has a fine texture.
mix the yeast mixture with the milk/egg mixture and
add it to the flour. knead everything well until the dough becomes a ball (leaving the bowl clean). put the dough into another bowl, cover it with a damp cloth and put it on a warm place. let the dough rise for 2
hours. after these two hours knead the dough again (shortly) on a floured surface. make a ball again and let the dough rise again for 1 hour.
form a round bread and put it on a greased baking tray or use greased baking paper. you can also use a round baking pan, don'tsp forget to grease it
make the dough for the braid by mixing 250 g flour, 180 ml water and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. make a soft dough, divide it in three pieces and form 3 rolls. make a braid twice the diameter of the bread. cut the braid in half and form a cross on the bread, use a
water/ bake the st. nicholas bread in a preheated oven on 180 degrees celsius for about 60 minutes.