Before you bake: This recipe uses the ingredient quantities from Anoma’s Kitchen’s breudher video. It has not yet been independently tested for this article. Ingredients, mould size and oven performance affect the result; rising times are a guide.
If you’re a Sri Lankan living abroad and missing a familiar Perera & Sons breudher at Christmas, you might find yourself considering something you once happily left to the bakery: making it yourself.
Breudher sits somewhere between bread and cake. It’s made with yeast, enriched with butter and eggs, and dotted with dried fruit. We eat ours with butter and jam.
My own Christmas baking has included a breudher rising above a tray of biscuits in the oven. Getting it right can take some trial and error, particularly when you’re working with different flour, a different mould and a cold kitchen.
A little history
Breudher is closely associated with Sri Lanka’s Dutch Burgher community, whose food traditions developed through European and Sri Lankan influences. Christmas breakfast in Burgher households has traditionally included breudher served with Dutch cheese. People of Sri Lanka records this tradition.
Italian panettone offers a useful comparison, while the fluted shape recalls kugelhopf. They aren’t the same bake, but the enriched dough and dried fruit will feel familiar. Panettone often contains candied citrus peel. Breudher recipes vary too: this version uses sultanas alone.
About this recipe
The ingredient quantities below follow Anoma’s Kitchen’s breudher video. This is not Perera & Sons’ recipe.
Ingredients
Use grams and millilitres for accuracy. Teaspoon measurements use a 5ml measuring spoon.
For the dough
- 350g plain wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 whole egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250ml water
For the breudher mixture
- 3 whole eggs
- 175g butter
- 150g sugar
- 100g raisins or sultanas
Egg clarification: Use four whole eggs altogether: one in the dough and three in the enriched mixture. Do not separate the yolks and whites. This replaces the previous ten-yolk version.
Method
Follow the mixing, rising and mould preparation demonstrated in the original breudher video. The quantities above are translated from its ingredient list.
The video description specifies baking at 175°C (347°F) for 45 minutes. It does not identify the oven mode or mould capacity in the written description. Check the demonstration before starting rather than using the previous version’s tin guidance or 140°C fan setting.
Allow time for the yeast dough to rise. Baking and rising times depend on your kitchen, mould and oven.
Tips for making breudher abroad
- Give it time in a cold kitchen. Find a gently warm place, away from direct heat, and wait for the dough to expand.
- Use lukewarm water. Hot water can damage yeast. Check the packet’s activation instructions and expiry date.
- Expect a softer mixture. Working yolks, butter and sugar into bread dough changes its consistency. Don’t keep adding flour to turn it back into ordinary bread dough.
- Grease every groove. A pastry brush helps around the fluted sides and centre tube.
- Leave room in the mould. The mixture needs space to rise and expand in the oven.
- Check the middle. A brown top doesn’t necessarily mean the centre is cooked. Unlike love cake, you aren’t aiming for a deliberately moist, fudgy centre.
How to serve breudher
We eat ours with butter and jam. Cut a slice, spread it generously with butter, then add your favourite jam. Have it with a cup of tea, at Christmas or whenever you’re missing a little taste of home.
More Sri Lankan Christmas baking
If you’re planning another bake, try my Sri Lankan love cake recipe. It uses toasted semolina, cashews and spices, with a note for anyone who can’t find puhul dosi abroad.
If you try this recipe, leave a comment and let me know how it turns out. I’d be especially interested to hear how long the dough takes to rise wherever you’re baking.
Recipe note: The quantities are translated from Anoma’s Kitchen’s video description. Follow the linked demonstration for the complete method; this version has not been independently tested for this article. Ingredients, mould size and oven performance affect the result. The feature image is AI-recreated from my original baking photograph.
