Dough larks: when to cook, how to cook, who to treat.
Slavic culture is unique and its roots go deep into the abyss of centuries. Despite the imposed Christianity in ancient Rus', people were able to transfer their customs and pagan holidays to the new Christian culture.
Thus creating a new round in Christian culture and customs. Even instead of the classic cottage cheese Easter, the Slavs continue to bake pagan Easter cakes and consecrate them along with Easter.
Dough larks
Another pagan rite, preserved from ancient festivals, is the delicious apple larks made from butter dough, which are traditionally baked in the spring, when the Earth comes to life again, is covered with a green carpet, and birds fly in from warm countries.
Dough lark
When are larks made from dough baked?
- Traditionally, larks bake for the day of spring. In Rus' there was no single date for such a holiday, since the country extended over a third of the continent and spring came at different times for each region
- With the advent of Christianity (which did not tolerate self-will, and sought to unify holidays in all its territories), it was decided to celebrate the arrival of spring on the day of the “forty martyrs” on March 9 according to the church calendar
- Today this date is March 22, but despite this, in many villages they bake larks and go out with them to celebrate the arrival of birds and the pecking of the first leaves on trees and bushes
Original larks made from butter dough
How to make a bird out of paper
Spring is the perfect time to sit outside and watch birds in your backyard or neighborhood. This colorful accordion folded paper bird craft is a great addition to learning.
Colored paper is an integral part of almost all craft supplies. Whether you're using construction paper, standard paper, or cardstock, there are plenty of simple, easy craft ideas kids can enjoy all year long.
How to make a bird step by step using the accordion technique for an exhibition:
- First you need to find and print a bird template, then cut it out. By the way, if you can’t find the right option, you can simply draw it.
- Next, you need to choose the color of the cardboard for the paper bird. Fold it in half lengthwise. Trace the bird's body template onto the folded edge of the cardboard and cut it out. Both parts should be even.
- Lightly fold the bird's body in half and use scissors to cut a small hole for the wings.
- Choose two pieces of colored paper for the bird's wings. Fold both sheets of colored paper into an accordion fold. Choose what color your child wants to use for the main wings. Bend the folded accordion in half and set it aside.
- Another accordion folded construction paper will be used for the tail wings. You need to bend the accordion-folded paper in half and cut it in the center of the fold to make two parts.
- The first accordion-folded paper is pierced through the slot in the bird's body with an upward bend. The folds of the accordion are unfolded so that the bird's wings spread out.
Next, the tail section is attached to the structure. The toy is ready to conquer exhibitions or be part of the decor of an apartment. The last step is to make the bird's face by adding yellow cardboard for the beak and eyes.
Next, you can attach a thread to the craft, which will allow you to place it on a lamp or window.
How to make a lark from dough?
There are many variations in both the preparation of the dough and the technology for sculpting spring butter birds.
Option 1
We cut off a small piece of butter dough, make a medium-length “sausage” from it and tie it into a knot. One end will be the head, the other will be the tail.
Making larks: Option 1
We extend the head as in the photo and form a beak. We flatten the tail and make several cuts into the “feathers”.
Making larks: Option 1
The highlight is the mode into 4 parts and insert 2 pieces into the bird’s head in place of the eye.
Making larks: Option 1
Let it rise and bake.
Making larks: Option 1
Option 2
Again, cut off a piece of dough and form a “sausage”. But this time we don’t knit knots, but flatten one side and pull out the “beak” on the other.
Making larks: Option 2
We make one deep cut and several small “feathers” on the tail. We bend the lower “wing” upward as in the photo and insert an “eye” made of raisins.
Making larks: Option 2
Let it rise and put it in the oven. 5 minutes before readiness, brush with yolk or butter so that the lark browns.
Making larks: Option 2 Making larks: Option 2
Option 3
We form the “sausage” again, but this time we make a loop as in the photo.
Making larks: Option 3
From the loop we form the head and beak. Insert raisin eyes. We cut the ends, as in previous cases, into “feathers”. Bake.
Making larks: Option 3
Option 4
Now we form two “sausages” and lay them crosswise as in the photo.
Making larks: Option 4
The top “sausage” is flattened at the edges and wings are formed. The lower “sausage” on one side is flattened into a tail, the other side is formed into a head. Pull it out a little and create a key. Insert eyes.
Making larks: Option 4
We cut the wings and tail, creating feathers. Bake.
Making larks: Option 4
Cooking birds is a fascinating activity, be sure to invite the children to it. Having prepared the birds, everyone needs to eat in the house, treat the animals, and also give spring messengers to neighbors, friends, and just passers-by!
Making larks: Option 4
DIY bird of paradise made of polymer clay - master class
These adorable birds of paradise are made from air-hardening polymer clay. This modern material is also familiar to us under the names “self-hardening plasticine”, “modeling mass” and “velvet plastic”. To make charming feathered creatures, we will need aluminum wire with a diameter of 1 mm, polymer clay, foil, scissors, pliers, a stack, a glass for rolling out clay, a little patience and diligence.
Operating procedure:
- We create three birds at once - while we are sculpting one, the rest are drying out. We cut the wire twice as long as the planned tail. We wrap half the wire with foil, crumpling it and forming the body of the bird.
- We make legs from wire, as shown in the photo, and insert them into the body. We take a piece of clay, shape it into a sausage shape, then roll it out and flatten it. Carefully remove the wire from the bird, place it inside the clay sausage, rolling it up using a glass. We insert the finished colored tail back into the body. In the same way we prepare the remaining two birds.
- We take a piece of blue, yellow and red clay, roll them out and gradually, smearing them with our fingers, stick them around the birds until the entire foil is covered. We will get three blanks of bright birds.
- Starting from the center, we stick around the paws. Then we take a piece of clay of the appropriate color and make the cheeks, crown and beak. We sculpt eyes from balls of black clay, not forgetting to squeeze out the upper and lower eyelids around them.
- Create a tail and crest. To do this, we cut off several wires of the length we need and roll them into clay. When it dries, we round off the ends using pliers and insert the tail parts into the bird’s body. We make shorter feathers from thin clay sausages by twisting the ends.
- We create the plumage effect by placing pieces of clay rolled out in the form of droplets on the body and working with a needle in the direction of feather growth. Using a needle, we create featheriness throughout the bird’s body. To make the eyes shine, you can coat them with varnish. A wonderful hand-made bird of paradise is ready!
Dough larks step by step
It is customary to begin preparing larks from Lenten dough at dawn. Preparing the dough:
- 1 tbsp. warm water
- 0.5 tbsp. flour
- 3 tsp Sahara
- 7 gr. Dry yeast
Pour in the dry ingredients, move, add warm water and place in a warm place near the oven, heater, radiator. Be sure to remove all drafts. We are waiting for the dough to increase several times.
Lean dough larks
- Add a little salt, sugar, vanillin, a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil and 2.5 tbsp to the dough. flour. Mix everything and pour onto the table
- Knead until the dough is dense, but not tight. It should stop sticking to your hands
- Let it sit until it fits. Covering it with a linen cloth for the time being
- Modern housewives cover with cling film instead of cloth. Knead again and form larks
Lark made from unleavened dough
- Dry yeast, a pinch of salt and sugar are stirred. Add some warm water
- Let the yeast disperse
- Add a little more sugar, vanillin, vegetable oil and flour
- Add 1/3 cup of carrot juice to a glass of warm water
- Knead the dough and let it rise near the heat
Lark made from unleavened dough
- Knead the dough on the table and cut into strips 15*2 cm
- Each strip is tied so that a bird's head appears on top.
- The other end is crushed and cut into strips.
- We form a beak on the head, insert eyes from pieces of raisins
- Lubricate the larks with oil, sprinkle with sugar and put in the oven, first rise, and then, increasing the temperature, bake
Recipe 7: Baking Larks with Apple for March 22
Birds can be shaped in different ways. I use the knot most often. Using my palms, I roll part of the dough into a plump rope and twist it into a knot. To make it into a lark, three strokes are enough: draw out the nose on the head (upper tip of the knot), insert raisin eyes on both sides of it and make two cuts on the tail (lower end of the knot).
- warm water - 700 ml
- dry yeast - 11 g (or 50 g live)
- premium wheat flour – 1250 g
- sunflower oil - 6 tbsp.
- apple - 1 piece
- sugar - 1 tbsp.
- salt - 1 tsp.
- turmeric - 1 tsp.
- raisins - a handful
Do you remember what larks look like? They are brown in color, often with a yellowish tint. And sometimes a well-defined yellow chest or muzzle. In order for the dough larks to have a similar color, I added turmeric to the dough.
Also, I introduced one of my own ideas into this recipe - I mixed grated apple into the dough. I did this so that the lean dough was soft and not dry. Of course, there is no apple taste in the buns and there cannot be, but there is tenderness, as I planned!
Sifted 600 grams of flour into a large deep bowl.
Add dry yeast, turmeric, salt and sugar to it. If you want to use live yeast, then dissolve it in water and add it in the next step. If desired, the amount of sugar can be increased up to 200 g.
Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly to ensure even distribution. I poured in warm water (all at once - 700 ml).
I stirred the dough and just left it on the table, covering the dish with a lid, for about an hour.
During this time, the dough rose and bubbled magnificently!
I washed a large apple, cut off its peel, and coarsely grated the pulp. Added to the dough.
Stirred and then sifted the remaining flour (600-650 g).
At the end, while kneading, I poured in sunflower oil (this time I took refined oil).
Rolled the dough into a ball. It should not be too dense - do not fill it with flour. Let it stick to your hands a little (but just a little).
She covered it again and left it on the table. The dough rose quickly, in about 40 minutes. I kneaded it down and let it rise again (it took about the same amount of time).
For convenience, I divided the dough into 4 parts. And then I cut each of them into 10 approximately equal ones. I always bake exactly 40 larks - according to the number of Sebastian holy martyrs. I do this even if I make a batch not from 1250 grams of flour, as now, but from 500-600 g. It’s just that in the second case the birds turn out to be small. And in today's version they are medium in size.
Use your palms to form a rope from each piece of dough.
With a simple movement, she rolled it into a bundle.
Here's what happened:
From the upper free end of the knot I formed a head and slightly extended the nose. On the sides I inserted eyes made of halves and quarters (depending on size) of raisins. To prevent the raisins from falling out during baking or after, before inserting them, I slightly press the indentations on both sides of the spout with a small knife. Then I insert a piece of raisin (whole ones are not needed, even if small ones fall out) and press them in again using a knife.
The second (lower) free end of the knot was pulled out a little and cut in two places, as if separating the feathers.
I formed all 40 birds using the same principle. I baked them on foil (you can do without it), greased with sunflower oil, 10 pieces per baking sheet.
The birds need 25 minutes in the oven at a temperature of 180-200″C.
Let the larks cool completely. I greased the top with sunflower oil and placed it on a dish.
OK it's all over Now! Festive, yellow, light and tasty larks are ready!
Lark made from butter dough
No matter how much you run out of lean dough, your soul yearns for delicious butter rolls. Especially delicious larks with apples.
- 15 gr. fresh yeast add a spoonful of sugar and a teaspoon of salt
- Dissolve. Add a glass of warm milk, stir and knead with flour
- Let me come over. Add 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1 yolk, a little more flour (a total of 3-3.5 cups of flour is required), knead and let rise
Lark made from butter dough
- Fashion larks to your taste and imagination
- Insert raisins into the eyes, coat with strong tea leaves, let rise and bake
- If you decide to cook with apples, you need to peel and finely grate them. Sprinkle with sugar
- Then roll out the “sausage”, flatten it and put the filling inside
- After this, mold it like a pie and again give the appearance of a “sausage”
- Next, cooking the bird is no different from the usual method.
From the cones
From voluminous structural natural materials you can make any bird with your own hands - an owl, a sparrow, a crossbill, a chicken and even a turkey.
It's better to start with simple options. For example, together with your child you can create a charming owl.
Step by step procedure:
- we clear the cone of debris;
- cut out wings, eyes, and beak from colored paper or felt;
- Using glue, we attach additional elements to the pine cone.
Eyes can be made from small buttons or beads attached to a paper mug. The flight of fancy in this regard is absolutely unlimited.
Making chickens from pine cones is more difficult:
- the base should be painted bright yellow;
- make a chicken head from polystyrene foam;
- on the head mark eyes made of beads, a beak made of plasticine;
- Glue orange paper or felt feet at the base of the cone.
To create a peacock, in addition to the cone itself, you will also need parts of the tail and head. They can be made from colored paper or cardboard. They need to be attached between the scales of the base, fixing them with glue. Patterns for the tail and head can be borrowed from experienced needlewomen or drawn independently, together with the child.
A peacock tail made of bright natural feathers will look original and festive. They can be bought at a specialized craft store or collected from places where live birds gather, for example, in a park.
Any bird can be made from pine, cedar or spruce cones. The main principle is not to limit the flight of imagination.
Yeast dough larks
Yeast dough for spring larks is considered a classic option and came into everyday life as soon as yeast appeared instead of hop dough. It’s easy to speak if you follow the basic rules:
- The room is warm throughout the cooking time, closer to hot. But at the same time, under no circumstances should you put the dough on low heat or in the oven.
- No drafts, no sudden rush of fresh air (open door, window, etc.)
- It is also generally accepted that yeast loves the peace and tranquility of the hostess
Ingredients: For 1 kg of flour you will need 0.5 liters of milk, a pack (15 g) of dry yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 4 tbsp butter. spoons and 2 yolks.
- First, part of the sugar is diluted with salt, yeast and heated milk, a little flour is added and allowed to rise
- Next batch with eggs, remaining sugar, butter and additives (vanillin, cinnamon if desired)
- Let it rise, knead and mold the larks
Yeast dough larks
Firebird made from plastic plates
Children will be curious to learn how to make a craft or souvenir with their own hands from unusual materials, for example, multi-colored disposable plates. They are easy to work with; the materials and tools needed are the same as for paper crafts:
- thick white or colored cardboard;
- plates of several colors;
- pencil and ruler;
- scissors and glue.
We begin work by preparing the parts. From plates we cut out the body, plumage of the bird, beak, crest for the head, and from cardboard - the head itself.
After the parts are prepared, we begin assembly.
To glue plastic parts, especially if children are involved in the work, it is better to use PVA glue. But you need to wait for it to dry completely - at least 15 minutes.
We transfer the assembled firebird, with the joints of the parts completely dry, to the base - a colored sheet of thick cardboard.
Shortbread larks
They appeared relatively recently among those who deliberately abandoned yeast dough, but still love cookies and honor traditions.
Shortbread larks
So let's get started. Pour into container:
- 1 kg flour
- 30 grams of yeast
- 130 g butter
- 1 glass of milk
- Half a glass of sugar
- Egg 1 piece
- 50 g raisins
- A pinch of salt
Knead the dough first in a container with half the flour. Then pour it onto the countertop and mix thoroughly with the remaining flour. We form the larks and send them to bake.
5 minutes before cooking, brush with yolk and sprinkle with sugar.
Salt dough larks
How to properly prepare puff pastry in our video.
Salt dough larks
Video: How to make puff pastry? Two ways, fast and classic
Roll out the prepared dough, but not into a “sausage”, into a layer 3 cm wide, 15 cm long and form a lark, as in previous cases. Brush the top with sugar syrup and sprinkle with sugar.