Zwieback Bread - A Traditional Farm Life

A Traditional Farm Life - Zwieback Bread

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!   Leaves are falling, coats are coming out of storage, and yet our two youngest children (4 and 6 years) are still resisting giving up the carefree barefoot days of summer.

Even with new shoes—if we can find them—it’s a pretty tough sell.  (We searched here and there, up and down, and in and out for several days about a week ago for our six-year-old boy’s brand new shoes.  They were eventually found—to his parent’s great relief—in his papa’s rubber chore boots, one shiny new shoe neatly stuffed into each knee-high boot.)

Today found us preparing for something other than cold weather.  We received a special formal invitation to my parent’s house for an extended family gathering this Sunday afternoon.  It is to be a “Penner Gathering,” which means catching up with distant family on my paternal grandmother—Lena (Penner) Schmidt’s--side. (For my children, this means rubbing shoulders with their great-great aunts and uncles.)

We will gather to talk about “old times” and partake of the traditional Mennonite afternoon meal, “faspa.” 

Now, you might be wondering, just what exactly is faspa?  My treasured “From Pluma Moos to Pie” cookbook, a collection of ethic favorites from the Goessel community, explains it this way:

“Faspa is one of those Low German words for which there is no direct English translation.  Faspa meant a light lunch about 4 p.m. on workdays. Faspa also meant the gathering of family and friends, usually at 4 p.m. Sunday, for a light meal and fellowship, with an emphasis on fellowship.  The meal always included zwieback and coffee and might also include cheese, cold cuts, and jelly.”

Our family ate faspa at 3 p.m. daily.  (To this day I know if I want to catch my parents in the house, 3 p.m. is the best time to call. I also know not to talk long, or their coffee might get cold!) 

For this Sunday’s gathering I offered to bring the zwieback (pronounced swee-bock).  These “double buns” were traditionally baked on Saturday to be fresh for Sunday’s faspa.  Milk and butter rich dough is kneaded and formed into double buns by pinching off small balls of dough.  The bottom one is slightly larger than the top.  The top one is firmly pushed onto the bottom one in order to keep the top one from becoming “the leaning tower of Zwieback.”

Making good zwieback in an art, and unfortunately it is a skill set I do not possess.  I love working with yeast breads, so the making of the dough isn’t a big deal, but the shaping of the dough into zwiebacks is a whole different story.

Perhaps I don’t make them often because I know I won’t be able to keep the tops from sliding off, silently admonishing me for my lack of zwieback shaping skill. 

Casting my fears aside in order to teach my three daughters how to make this classic table staple from their Mennonite heritage, we had a fun afternoon in the test kitchen doing our level best to shape them correctly.

First we all tried our hand at “pinching” off small balls of dough.  This was great fun for all, and our eight-year-old in particular was a natural at it. 

Now for the hard part—firmly attaching the top.  After consulting numerous recipes in several cookbooks, we pushed, poked, and knuckled our way through about five-dozen zwieback, trying all the tricks in the cookbooks to get those naughty tops to stay on.  When all were baked, we had a measly grand total of eleven perfect looking zwieback.  (Visit www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com for a picture of some of the good ones.)  How embarrassing!

My only consolation of taking less-than-perfect zwieback to a gathering of veteran zwieback bakers is the opportunity it affords the Hamilton ladies to learn how to do it right next time.  We should have plenty to talk about over faspa!

Zwieback

4 cups milk

1-1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons salt

Enough all-purpose flour for a medium soft dough (approx. 14 cups)

1.  In a saucepan, heat milk and butter until butter melts and milk bubbles around the edges; cool until warm to the touch, about 115 degrees.

2.  Combine water, sugar, and yeast in a measuring cup; let proof until bubbly. 

3.  In large bowl or bowl of mixer, combine milk and yeast mixtures, salt, and about 8 cups flour.  Beat until smooth; let rest 15 minutes.  Continue adding flour gradually, kneading until a smooth, satin dough has formed that cleans the sides of the bowl.  Spray top of dough with non-stick cooking spray, cover, and let rise until double.

4.  Pinch off balls of dough about 1-1/2 inches in size; place on baking sheet leaving about 2 inches between rolls.  Pinch off slightly smaller balls and place on top of larger ones (try making a dent in the center of the bottom ball to cradle the top, but no guarantees!) and press down firmly with flat of fingers to adhere top to bottom bun.  Cover and allow to rise 10-15 minutes while preheating oven to 400 degrees.

5.  Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve as dinner roll with butter, jam or jelly.  Traditionally served with cold cuts and wedges of cheddar cheese.

Yield:  About 6 dozen zwieback

Copyright © 2015 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com.