Feb 26, 2008

This little piggy...


The fantastic cook that inspired my piggy mission, goes by username “oblakica” (with recipe in Croatian), says the recipe originates from an old Dr.Oetker cookbook. Her recipe calls for two different kinds of dough, and a filling, and it must be wonderful with cheese, oregano and tomato sauce. I am bound to make that next time.



In the meantime, I have only adapted the silly piglet form for my kids, and just to see if it would work, so I made some dough in my bread machine, just French white, and rolled it to about 1/3 inch thickness, cut out circles with coffee cups for faces, small ones for nose with a bottle cap, and cut a bunch of those small ones into quarters for the ears. Yeah, I know, I desperately need more kitchen gadgets, like cookie cutters : )
Piglets B4 oven
I did all that separately; also made small slits in the nose, used peppercorns for the eyes, and put some rosemary for each nostril for more authentic look. Helps to be an artist : )

With all pieces ready, I just “glued it” with egg yolk wash. Bake in a preheated oven @ 405 F, for about 15 minutes or so.

I am so happy with the results, and the kids love them, of course! I make bread often, almost every day, so these piglets are certainly coming back to the table!
Yummy piglets
My kids ate all those little pigs in no time! I managed to get only one, just to try, and even though it’s just plain bread dough, they have something extra to it!!! I only used like a third of my dough, the rest I baked as a loaf, I wish I made more little pigs… : )

UPDATE !!!
Translation of the original recipe by Oblakica (the best I could)
(link to Croatian version on top of this post)

Makes about 20 piglets:
Dough:
400 g (13 1/2 oz) all purpose flour
1 package instant dry yeast
1 egg
2 dcl (7 oz) plain yogurt
1 dcl (3 1/2 oz) warm milk
a pinch of salt
Puffed or flaky dough:150 g (5 1/2 oz)flour
100 g (3 1/2 oz)magarine (unsalted)
pinch of salt
Filling:As much as you like: cheese(she used Gouda), tomato (pizza) sauce, oregano;
or something else you would like for filling
Wash:Egg white to use as «adhesive»
Egg yolk and some milk to brush @ the end

First, make first dough by mixing all ingrediens, and let it rise in a warm place. In the meantime, make puff dough with second batch of ingredients, and then mix it into the risen dough (yes, mix'em together), and work it well on a floured surface. Roll the dough and with a round cookie cutter or something else cut out circles about 3 inches in diametar or desired size. Leave some dough for ears and noses :)

Make filling with cheese, tomato sauce (pizza sauce), and oregano. You can be creative and use different kinds of ingredients to make a filling of your own. You can also add ham, or salami, or vegetables.

Place half of circles onto baking sheet (aligned with parchment paper), brush edges with egg white wash. Put some filling in the middle, cover with other half of circles, and press the edges to assure nothing will come out while baking.

Remainder of the dough use to make smaller circles for nose, and for ears by cutting them into quarters. Use egg whites wash as «adhesive» for ears and nose. For nose make somewhat smaller circles. For eyes and nostrils use a toothpick to make little lines and then inside, put cumin, pepper or something similar.

Now that you have little piglets, let them rise again for a little while, and then brush them with a little bit of egg yolk wash mixed with a little bit of milk. Bake for about 20-25 min. @ about 385-405 F.

My note: you can use something else for the eyes if you are concerened about kids biting into peppercorns. Oblakica didn'tuse peppercorns, but other herbs. My kids just took the peppercorns out. Enjoy! I am sure for whomever you make them, they will be a hit!!! :)

67 comments:

cakewardrobe said...

Sometimes the most successful creativity comes from limitations :) The perfect example are your cute little piggies!

Brilynn said...

Those are the cutest things ever! You just need to incorporate some bacon too...

Melita said...

Thank you girls!
Brilynn, you know, you are right! :)

Unknown said...

Those are so cute! I'm totally going to make some. Thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Fantastično su ti ispali! :))

Katia Mangham said...

Those have to be the cutest little pigs I have ever seen! Adorable!!!
I can't wait to make them with my six year old- he is going to love them. Thank you thank you. :)

food makes me happy said...

How am I going to eat it,
They're too cute!

Melita said...

Thank you all!:)
Katia, you are most welcome; my six year old, along with my eight year old managed to eat all but one! Mommy had to try... :)

Mandy said...

these piggy breads are so eye-catching. I am going to try my hands at making some soon! Thanks for the inspiration.

LisaRene said...

Very creative! Put a smile on my face :)

Anonymous said...

Those are amazing! I love them and can't wait to try them for my kids.

Anonymous said...

They are so cute!!

chriesi said...

Oh so cute.

Anonymous said...

Those are the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time!

skoraq cooks said...

Those pigs are so adorable. Soooo cute :-D

Erin said...

Those are absolutely adorable. What a fun and unique idea. Thank you for sharing!

Melita said...

You are most welcome! ;)

Elle said...

Oh my gosh, those are adorable!! I'm also seriously lacking in the cookie cutter department, so your creative use of other things is inspiring, lol. Gotta try these.

Joe B. said...

For those of us who can't read Croation, anyone care to translate the recipe for these lovely little animals?

My little one is drooling over the pictures and can't wait to try making some... especially if we can figure out the filling!

Melita said...

:) Thank you!
Joe: I haven't followed the recipe myself; I just made plain bread, and only used the idea to make piglets, but I will translate it because I plan to make it, and love to share with all of you! So, check back soon...
:)

Mmm... said...

I love your site! These pigs are absolutely the cutest thing and they look scrumptious! I want to make some for my little boy and I know he'll love it. I don't own a bread maker but I do have a kitchen aid stand. Is there a basic french white receipe you can share (never made bread before) that I can adapt without the use of a bread maker?

Melita said...

Hi mmm... :)
Here is the recipe I use from the book that came with the bread machine, I am sure you can just mix it up in your kitchen aid, and let it rise for about an 1-1/2 to 2 hours (knead once in between):

Basic White/French Bread

Add all ingredients in the order given.
1-1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 Tsp salt
2-1/2 Tsp active dry yeast

My tip: make sure your house is at least 72 F warm when making bread. No rapid changes in temp., like opening windows, doors, especially in the winter.
Good luck! :)

Deb Schiff said...

So cute! I love these!

Photos by Zöe said...

thank you so much for the link from your flickr page - I love this and will definately be using this idea for picnic food - can't wait to try it out! Thank you - hope you don't mind, I have added a link to your blog from mine: http://photosbyzoe.blogspot.com/
Zoe x

Melita said...

You are welcome Zoe, and I don't mind, of course! :)
Come back soon!

Anonymous said...

*scream* these are soooooo cute! beautiful work medena! :D i'm so making them soon! Happy Cooking and baking! :P

Anonymous said...

thank you for the idea! i made these piggy bread this past week, and my niece loved it!

i used whole wheat flour and it tasted great too! :)

Melita said...

You're welcome! I will try the whole wheat too! Great! :)

Gizmo said...

Just found your blog via Marjia's. This is exciting to find more Serbian recipes! I love the piggies and will make these for the grandchildren next week!

Hope to find good Lepinja recipe.

Thank you!

Maggie Sharp, said...

Medena, could you translate the g and dcl into tsp, cups and/or oz? I'm so thick and can't think of where to go for equivalent measures. . . nightowl

Melita said...

Sure Maggie, just give me some time. I am working on a new post, and it will take me some time to covert that for you, but I'll certainly do it, so check back, maybe later tonight :)

Jessica@Foodmayhem said...

Wow, those are so amazingly cute. I want to pinch their cheeks.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I absolutely have to make these, I know my 6 and 8 year old would just adore these.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I just found your Blog~ And want to thank you..I have 2 little grandsons..and I made them each a piggy as I was making your bread recipe in an Epi form..They are darling! My daughter loved them and will make hamburger buns for an upcoming kiddie party!
Thanks so much for sharing~

Monique

Melita said...

Monique - I am so glad you found my blog useful, and you are most welcome! :)
It is so nice to have people try the recipes, or ideas that I blog about!
Have fun making piggy bread with your grandchildren, and hope your daughter's kiddie party will be a blast!
Thank you for stopping by! :)

Anonymous said...

You are so sweet!!!!
Monique

Anonymous said...

You are a real artist: they are so pretty !!!
Very cute, great work!

Eileen said...

How cute are these! Both children and adults would love them.

Anonymous said...

evo slučajno naletih na ovaj blog kad tamo praščići. Ja sam ih radila po receptu iz knjige "velika knjiga kolača" njemačke kulinarske akademije i bili su odlični. Ako te zanima, evo link na recept i punjenje na bazi marcipana:
http://www.damijenestoslatko.bloger.hr/post/prascici-koji-donose-srecu/722880.aspx
p.s. Odličan ti je blog! Ova torta od lješnjaka me mami u kuhinju... :)

Sharmi said...

ohhh...this is so cute! I have become a fan of yours:)

Anonymous said...

so cute!^3^I love it! Very creative!That's actually really cool.
謝謝你的文章分享,請你有空到我

參觀,Thanks

Unknown said...

This is such a great idea for the kids. I have bookmarked this to try

Dieta Dukana said...

wow, such a great idea, thank you for recipe

Jenny said...

I made these today! Yours look so neat and perfect! My were a little sloppy, but still so adorable! These little piggys will make an appearance at my son's 1st birthday party! :D
PS: I used mustard seed for eyes; they are kid friendly, and actually taste grate!

Karolina said...

these pigs became famous :D Cool hunter

Anonymous said...

These are so adorable. My grandparents have raised pigs for about 40 years. I will definitely be taking these for Christmas. :) Thanks for the idea!

Zoe said...

These are the CUTEIST piggies!!! I love anything PIG!!!

Recipes from a Southern Kitchen said...

Wonderful post and the little piglets are a quiet reminder not to have too many..

Anonymous said...

What a cute post! Those piglets look so tasty :) I just found this through pinterest. About how long did it take you to assemble everything before baking?

Anonymous said...

What a cute post! Those piglets look so tasty :) I just found this through pinterest. About how long did it take you to assemble everything before baking?

sofía said...

Son simpatiquisimos y tienen mucho éxito, yo los hice y gustaron mucho. Saludos desde España

Lisa Mende Desgn said...

do you think these could be frozen?

Anonymous said...

Try currants for the eyes....they are like raisins only much smaller and you would have no fear of anyone choking as they are soft with no strong flavor for children to reject.

dew1960 said...

I am thinking that if it looks like a pig, it should taste like bacon. Maybe a lil Bacon grease in the mix some how? Mmmm, Bacon! Everyone loves Bacon! ;)

DEW

Aleksandra said...

actually "kiselo vrhnje" is "creme fraiche" or "sour cream" but it is just as tasty with the yoghurt

Mrs.chickenfish said...

Gonna make these for schooll parties this year. Always try to make cute snacks for school parties and these are cute and look somewhat easy( alot easier than Skeleton cupcakes:) ) Thanks for great idea.

Kimberly said...

I love this idea. I think I'm going to use a pizza dough and do a pepperoni and mozzarella filling to have some Piggy Pizza Bites!

Anonymous said...

My daughter and I made these today! I dont own a bread machine ao for the 2nd batch of just flour n butter i had to add some water cuz it was toooo dry. We didnt use any stuffing, just the 3" circle n used a shot glass to cut out the noses. Next time I think I'll add red food coloring to either the dough or egg wash to make the piggies pink.

Anonymous said...

I'm making these for my one year olds birthday and I'm going to use black forest ham for the eyes just show the black part:)

Laurie said...

Just darling, we own a pig farm so these will be a big hit. :)

Margaret said...

These look brilliant! Thanks to @Marilyn Anne Love for sharing!

Unknown said...

OMG so friggin' adorable!! Imagine filling these with Nutella! Sinful :D

Unknown said...

OMG so friggin' adorable!! Imagine filling these with Nutella! Sinful :D

Unknown said...

OMG so friggin' adorable!! Imagine filling these with Nutella! Sinful :D

Carol said...

I am sharing this on my site and another site that loves wonderful things like this. They are gorgeous and they sound yummy!

Unknown said...

I think I will try these with the puff flaky recipe and fill with tasty preserves.

Unknown said...

So cute and perfect for summer vacation for the kids... I wonder if they will turn out good with rhodes frozen dough.

 
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