 | This articlerelies largely or entirely on asingle source. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Birnbrot" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2023) |
 | |
| Alternative names | Birnweggen |
|---|---|
| Type | Pastry |
| Place of origin | Switzerland |
| Main ingredients | Dried fruit (pears,apples,figs),raisins,walnuts,candied fruit |
| Ingredients generally used | coriander,cinnamon,star anise,anise,clove, alcohol |
| Variations | Bündener Birnbrot, Glarner Birnbrot, Toggenburger Birnbrot, Luzerner Birnweggen |
| Similar dishes | Fig roll |
Birnbrot (literallypear bread) orBirnweggen (literallypear buns) are a traditional pastry originating inSwitzerland with a filling of dried pears. They exist throughout Switzerland and popular variations include "Bündener Birnbrot" (from the KantonGraubünden),[1] "Glarner Birnbrot" (from the KantonGlarus),[2] "Toggenburger Birnbrot" (fromToggenburg)[3] and "Luzerner Birnweggen" (fromLuzern).[4]
Besides dried pears the filling also containsraisins,walnuts and other dried fruit such asapples orfigs. The filling is additionally flavored withcandied fruit,coriander,cinnamon,star anise,anise,clove and some sort of alcohol.
The difference betweenBirnbrot andBirnweggen lies in the way of preparation and the geographical prevalence: Birnbrot is prepared by mixing the filling with dough and surrounding it with a casing of yeast dough while Birnweggen are made by spreading the filling on a sheet of yeast dough and rolling it like aSwiss roll. Birnweggen are popular inCentral Switzerland and Birnbrot can be found inEastern Switzerland near theAlps.
The variations of Toggenburg and Glarus cook and sear the pears before mixing it with the other ingredients. InGraubünden the pears are soaked in pear brandy orrose water which gives a more distinguishable pear taste.
Originally it was a bread variation forpeasants that lengthened the expensive wheat with dried fruit. InGraubünden, local variations can be found that feature a greater amount of bread dough and are not cased in yeast dough.
Nowadays it is a popular pastry around Christmas and New Year's Eve and there are some customs around it. For example, inEngadin girls give their favourite classmate a Birnbrot on 26 December and are in return invited to a sleigh ride.Despite that, it is available throughout the whole year inGerman-speaking Switzerland and is eaten with butter and flavorful cheese fortea or as apicnic for hikers or skiers.
