Portuguese Easter Smoked Meat Crown Bread • Folar de Carnes

Happy Easter Sunday! So for today how about a version of a traditional Easter meat folar from Portugal. The shape was changed to make it a little different, and the combination of smoked meats is less common than you might expect at a Portuguese Easter table, but the dough is a proper traditional one from Trás-os-Montes, in the northeast of Portugal, and the end result speaks entirely for itself.

And who doesn’t love a good meat bread at Easter? To be honest, this recipe is pretty similar to another one I made before, and it turned out so good that I had to revisit it. The dough is pretty much the same, but the filling is different, and of course so is the shape. Instead of a traditional round loaf, which tends to produce thick slices, the ring shape keeps everything more compact and, honestly, a lot more fun to bring to the table.

The inclusion of spicy chorizo (linguiça) is what really makes this one special. When you make a meat bread with several different cuts all mixed together, you get one general flavour throughout, a bit like a chouriço bread where everything blends into one. But the way this is built, with separate layers of bacon and spicy chorizo rolled inside the dough, each slice gives you two very distinct flavours: one side rich and smoky from the bacon, the other warm and peppery from the linguica. Honestly this is a winner! Let’s check the recipe and Happy Easter!

Portuguese Easter Smoked Meat Crown Bread • Folar de Carnes

Servings: 12
Time: 1hr 30mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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How about a ring-shaped twist on a classic Portuguese Easter meat folar, because sometimes the best things come in circles?!?!? Smoked bacon meets spicy linguica in a golden, pillowy rich dough that Trás-os-Montes grandmothers would approve of, even if they'd raise an eyebrow at the shape.

Ingredients

Water – 100 ml (Warm)
Baker’s Yeast – 10 g
Eggs – 3
All-Purpose Flour – 500 g (T65)
Salt – 6 g (1 Teaspoon)
Butter – 60 g (Room Temperature)
Bacon – 200 g
Spicy Chorizo – 150 g
Olive Oil – 12 ml (+/- 1 Tablespoon)
Egg – 1 (For Brushing)

Directions

Start by combining the warm water with the baker’s yeast, and let it sit for about 5 minutes until the water begins to form bubbles.
Whisk the eggs and add them to the flour and salt, then mix.
Add the water with the yeast, followed by the softened butter and olive oil, and knead well until a smooth ball of dough forms, about 10 minutes.

Place the ball in a deep bowl, cover with a cloth, and let it rest for at least 1 hour (or more) to rise to double its size.
Preheat the oven to 200°C and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, spread a layer of bacon cut into strips and a layer of coarsely chopped spicy chorizo. I also removed the skin from the chorizo because it was one of those artificial ones that never cooks through properly.
Roll up the dough starting from one of the longer sides, then transfer the dough to the lined baking sheet and shape it into a circle/ring/CROWN! hehehe.

Make a few cuts on top and brush with the whisked egg, lower the oven temperature to 180°C, and bake for about 28 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Bon appétit and Happy Easter.

Notes & Tips: Like any meat bread, you can swap the fillings and use whatever smoked meats you like best. Just don’t go overboard, because too much filling and the bread won’t bake properly and the dough won’t hold together the way it should. For this quantity of dough, try not to exceed 350 g to 400 g (roughly 12 to 14 oz) of filling in total.

If you can’t find Portuguese linguica, Spanish chorizo (fresh or semi-cured) is a reasonable substitute and will give you a similar smoky heat. Avoid fully cured dry chorizo, as it can turn leathery inside the bread when baked.

When removing the skin from linguica with an artificial casing, do so when the meat is cold, as it will come off much more cleanly and you won’t lose any of the filling in the process.

For the dough to rise properly, the water must be warm but not hot. Think comfortably warm to the touch, around 35°C to 40°C (95°F to 105°F). Too hot and you’ll kill the yeast, too cold and the dough will barely move.

If your kitchen is cold (this is Easter, after all, not August), you can speed up the proofing by placing the covered bowl in an oven that’s been preheated to the very lowest setting and then turned off, or simply near a warm spot in the house.

The ring shape was not just for looks. Because the filling is more evenly distributed and each slice is more compact, you get a much more consistent bite every time, with both the bacon and the linguica clearly present in each slice rather than clumping in some areas and disappearing in others.

This recipe for Portuguese Easter Smoked Meat Crown Bread • Folar de Carnes was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Rosca de Bola de Bacon com Linguiça Picante foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.