Breudher facts for kids
| Alternative names | Breuder, Bloeder |
|---|---|
| Type | Cake |
| Place of origin | Sri Lanka |
| Main ingredients | yeast, eggs, butter, sugar, nutmeg, raisins |
| 100 kcal (419 kJ) |
Breudher (pronounced broo-dhuh) is a special buttery cake. It comes from Sri Lanka and is a favorite among the Dutch Burghers, a group of people with Dutch roots living in Sri Lanka. This cake is baked in a unique fluted mould, which gives it a pretty ring shape.
You can also find similar cakes in other places. In Malacca, a city in Malaysia, there's a version called Bleuda or Kueh Bleuda. Another similar cake is found in Kochi, a city in India.
Contents
What Makes Breudher Special?
Breudher is baked in a heavy mould, often made of brass or iron. This mould has deep grooves and a tube in the middle. When the cake bakes, it gets a cool ring shape with a hole in the center.
Ingredients and Taste
Every family might have a slightly different recipe. But usually, Breudher is made with butter, sugar, eggs, bread dough, milk, nutmeg, and raisins. The cake tastes a bit like bread, but it's also rich and buttery. It has a slight yeasty flavor.
When is Breudher Eaten?
Breudher is a traditional treat, especially during holidays. People in Sri Lanka often serve it for Christmas breakfast and on New Year's Day. It's usually cut into slices. People enjoy it spread with butter and topped with Dutch Edam cheese or fresh fruit, like green bananas.
Breudher Around Asia
The recipe for Breudher changes a bit depending on where you are.
Malacca's Bleuda
In Malacca, the Dutch Eurasian community makes their version, called Bleuda. The main difference is that they use toddy instead of yeast. Toddy is a naturally fermented sap from the flower of a coconut tree. It's thought that toddy was used because yeast was harder to find in that area.
Kochin's Version
In Kochin, India, bakers make a similar cake. They use maida flour (a type of refined flour) and ghee (a type of clarified butter) instead of regular butter. They also add candied orange peel and a mix of ground spices. This version is often served like a bread loaf. The local Anglo-Indian community traditionally serves it as part of breakfast during a wake. A wake is a gathering held after a funeral to remember the person who passed away.
Where Did Breudher Come From?
Breudher likely came from traditional Dutch cakes and breads. It's thought to be related to the Dutch "Broeder" cake. The name "Breudher" might come from the Dutch word broeder, which referred to a bag where a similar cake was cooked.
Some people also believe Breudher is related to Dutch breakfast cakes like Ontbijtkoek or the German Gugelhupf. A food writer named Sylvia Tan suggests that "Breudher" comes from the Dutch words brood-tulband. This means "bread turban," which describes the cake's unique turban-like shape. The ingredients in Breudher, like butter, sugar, eggs, and spices, were common in Dutch households in the East Indies. The special touch in Breudher is often the use of nutmeg and extra egg yolks.
There's also a claim that the Malacca Portuguese Eurasians created it. However, many people believe that Breudher truly originated from the Dutch. The Portuguese "Blueda" is likely a version that came from the Dutch original.
