Name: Festive Bread (Prosforo)
Yield: Makes two 9-inch round loaves
Cuisine: Greek
Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup cornmeal; Olive oil, for brushing the pans Confectioners’ sugar (optional); 1 cup fine semolina; 2-4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste; 1 teaspoon sea salt; 2 cups warm water; 1 teaspoon ground mastic; ½ cup Sourdough Starter; ½ cup mastic-scented spirit or ouzo; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation info

Makes
two
9 inch round loaves

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Foods of Greece

By Aglaia Kremezi

Published 1993

About

Prosforo is the bread taken to church to be blessed by the priests in special ceremonies called artoklassia (cutting of the bread). After the blessing, the round loaves are cut into small pieces and each member of the congregation gets one.

Prosforo is decorated by being stamped with a special wooden seal before baking, and it is sometimes brushed with water and sprinkled with glazing sugar while still warm.