Harvest Festival in Salzburg: A Braided Harvest Bread with Freshly Milled Grain

When the brass band marches through the village in early October, traditional dress comes out of the wardrobe and a magnificent crown of grain stands in front of the church, it’s Erntedank here in the Salzburg region, our harvest thanksgiving. For a family business like ours, where everything revolves around grain, it’s one of the loveliest days of the year. And what could suit it better than a harvest festival bread baked from grain you’ve milled yourself just moments before?

Here we’ll tell you what the festival is about and share our recipe for a braided bread wreath made with freshly milled spelt and rye. It works even if you’ve never braided dough before. Promise.

Erntedank in Austria: saying thank you for our daily bread

In many Austrian parishes, Erntedank is celebrated on the first Sunday in October; some celebrate at the end of September. This year the first Sunday in October falls on 4 October. The idea is simple and all the more beautiful for it: the fields are harvested, the grain is safely in, and people say thank you that enough has grown once again.

A good harvest was never something to take for granted. A summer of hail or a wet August could mean a hard winter for a farming family. Perhaps that’s why the festival is still so deeply rooted in the countryside today.

The harvest crown

At the heart of many celebrations is the Erntekrone, the harvest crown. It’s bound from ears of wheat, rye, barley and oats and decorated with flowers and ribbons, often by farmers’ wives, the local rural youth group or helpers from the village, in many hours of handwork. During the procession it is carried or brought to church on a decorated cart, accompanied by music, local clubs and people in traditional costume.

The blessing of bread

During the festive mass, the harvest gifts are blessed: field crops, fruit, vegetables and above all bread. In many places, the blessed bread is shared afterwards or taken home. We especially love this idea of sharing. Bread has always been something you eat together, at the family table, during a break in the fields or after church.

Why freshly milled grain belongs in a harvest festival bread

Erntedank celebrates grain just as it comes from the field, and that’s exactly how it goes into your grain mill: as the whole kernel, with germ and bran. Only when you mill it does it become flour. That brings a few lovely benefits:

• Full flavour: freshly milled wholegrain flour smells nutty and slightly sweet. You’ll notice it while you’re milling.
• The whole grain: the bran and germ stay in the flour, along with the fibre, minerals and vitamins the whole kernel contains.
• No bitter note: the oils in the germ can oxidise over time once the grain is milled. When you mill right before baking, that simply doesn’t come into play.
• You know what’s in it: just grain, nothing else.

Recipe: braided spelt and rye harvest wreath

We shape our bread as a wreath because it reminds us of the harvest crown and looks wonderfully festive on the table. It’s a simple yeast dough, so no sourdough is needed. The rye adds a hearty flavour, while the spelt makes the dough easy to braid.

Ingredients for one wreath

• 400 g spelt, freshly milled on a fine setting
• 100 g rye, freshly milled on a fine setting
• 20 g fresh yeast (or 7 g dried yeast)
• about 330 ml lukewarm water
• 1 tsp honey
• 10 g salt
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil or 20 g soft butter
• 1 tsp bread spice (caraway, fennel, coriander), to taste
• a little milk for brushing, sunflower seeds or oat flakes for sprinkling

Method

1. Mill: mill the spelt and rye finely and mix with the salt and bread spice.
2. Yeast: dissolve the yeast and honey in the lukewarm water.
3. Knead: add the yeast water and oil to the flour and knead for 6 to 8 minutes into a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Freshly milled wholegrain flour keeps absorbing water, so don’t add extra flour straight away. If the dough is still very soft after a 10-minute rest, add a spoonful or two.
4. First rise: cover and leave somewhere warm for 45 to 60 minutes until clearly risen. Spelt doesn’t like to over-prove, so rather move on a little early.
5. Braid: divide the dough into three equal pieces and roll each into a rope of about 60 cm. Braid them, shape into a ring and press the ends together well. You can place the wreath around a small ovenproof bowl to keep the centre open.
6. Second rise: let it rise on a lined baking tray for another 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220 °C (conventional) with a dish of water on the oven floor.
7. Bake: brush with milk, sprinkle with seeds or flakes and bake for 10 minutes at 220 °C. Remove the water, reduce to 200 °C and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes. When the base sounds hollow as you tap it, it’s done.

Let the wreath cool completely on a rack. We know how hard that is when the whole kitchen smells of fresh bread, but the crumb will thank you.

Little variations

• Wheat-ear bread: instead of braiding, snip one rope diagonally with kitchen scissors and lay the pieces alternately left and right to form an ear of grain.
• With flakes: replace 50 g of flour with freshly rolled oats from your flaker for an extra moist crumb.
• For the table: place the wreath on a wooden board with a few apples, nuts or a small candle in the middle.

Celebrate the harvest at your own table

You don’t need a procession to celebrate. Bake your bread on Saturday, and on Sunday add some butter, a good mountain cheese, apples and fresh herbs, then invite your family or neighbours. If you have children, let them help with the braiding. A slightly wonky wreath tastes just as good, and the joy is twice as big.

And when you cut the first slice, maybe take a quiet moment to think of everyone who helped bring that grain to your table. That’s what Erntedank is all about.

Harvest time all year round with your Salzburg grain mill

With your Salzburg grain mill, you bring the harvest straight into your kitchen and mill exactly as much as you need: for your harvest wreath, your Sunday loaf or the Christmas baking that’s just around the corner. And with the Salzburg flaker, the same grain becomes fresh flakes for your breakfast. We wish you and your family a happy harvest festival and lots of joy baking!