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What are larks
This sweet treat will please both adults and children. You can sculpt birds with the whole family, everyone will get their own lark. And although they are baked from lean dough, the pastries come out fragrant and tasty. But what is their secret? When should you bake larks in 2023? And what is the best recipe? Master cook Alena Kireeva told us the secrets and meaning of spring baked larks.
When the larks are baked
The tradition of baking larks in the spring comes from ancient pagan times. Our ancestors celebrated the vernal equinox, which fell on March 22. They believed that it was at this time, after wintering, that the birds returned to their native lands. A lark has arrived – which means you can start working in the fields.
How larks were baked in the old days
There were many rituals associated with the arrival of birds. For example, housewives put small koloboks from dough into nests. This was thought to help the hens lay more eggs. Of course, baked larks were a favorite pastime for children. Dough birds were put on sticks, poles and ran with them into the field, climbed a mound or roof. Children sang songs, invited the sun and warmth to their native lands.
Sometimes housewives hid “secrets” in oven larks. From them one could guess what awaits the one who comes across a small thing. Ring – a girl will get married, a coin – there will be earnings in the family, a bundle of rags – replenishment, a child will be born. There were both empty larks and larks with sad predictions. The housewives specially added these to pastries, otherwise good wishes will not come true.
Do Orthodox people bake larks?
The pagan tradition of baking larks on the day of the spring equinox is closely intertwined with church custom. In Our Country, over time, they began to bake birds from lenten dough on March 22 for the feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. Dough larks mean souls flying to God or their prayer. Who are the Sebastian martyrs? These are warriors, Christians who, according to legend, refused to renounce God and died at the hands of pagans. They were herded into an icy lake and not released until they froze to death.
And today, larks are a delicious spring treat that symbolizes the arrival of spring, warmth, the return of migratory birds.
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Recipe for larks
Each village had its own recipe for larks. They were necessarily baked according to the number of households, so that each family member had his own. We’ll bake larks with folded wings. In such mistresses in Our Country they put predictions. The dough will be on sour cream, not lean, but tasty and sweet
Ingredients for 8 larks:
| Milk | 1 l |
| Sour cream (25% or rustic) | 200 g |
| Sugar | 100 g |
| Flour | 350 g (knead to a plastic consistency, but not tight) |
| Honey | 1 Art. a spoon |
| Raisins | 100 g (1 berry per bird) |
| Baking Powder | 1 packet |
| Vanillin | 1 packet |
Dough for larks
Mix milk and sour cream in a deep bowl. Add salt and sugar to taste, someone likes sweet buns, someone likes less sweet ones. For flavor, you can put a tablespoon of honey. We will add flour through a sieve and constantly stir the dough so that it is without lumps. Don’t forget to add baking powder to the flour to make it fluffy.
Stir the dough until it begins to lag behind the wooden spatula, then put the mass on the table and continue to knead with your hands, adding flour if necessary. Do not overdo it, otherwise the larks will turn out tough.
How to sculpt skylarks
Stir the dough until it begins to lag behind the wooden spatula, then put the mass on the table and continue to knead with your hands, adding flour if necessary. Do not overdo it, otherwise the larks will turn out tough.
From the upper part we form the head of a bird. We sculpt the beak of a lark. Then we put the workpiece on the table and press the bottom of the sausage with our fingers. This will be the ponytail. We make two cuts with a knife so that “feathers” appear.
Decorate the larks
We make the eyes of a lark from raisins. To do this, cut large berries into two parts and attach to the head on both sides.
How to bake larks
We spread the finished lark on a baking sheet covered with a sheet of parchment. We send it to the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for 20 minutes. To make lark buns ruddy, you can grease them with whipped yolks or ready-made butter before putting them in the oven.
Ruddy larks will decorate the table, and if the children learn the “spring”-call, there will be a real holiday!