DUTCH BURGHER BREUDHER (buttery Yeast cake) SRI LANKAN CUISINE

Breudher/Broedher made by my Wife Jackie & 13 year old daugfhter Roselle ... Dutch Burgher traditions continue. Breudher "Breudher" (also spelled as "Brueder" or "Bloeder") is a sort of cake that is a made and consumed by people from both the Ceylonese Dutch Burgher community and the Malacca Dutch Eurasian community. A traditional mould is used to bake the "Breudher." It is usually a heavy brass mould with deep groves and a sort of pike in the center, so that when the cake is baked, it comes out in a grooved ring shape with a hole in the center. Each family has their own adaptation, but generally the recipe contains butter, sugar, lots of eggs, bread dough, milk and sultanas. The end product is a bread like cake with a slight yeastyness in its taste. For serving, it is cut into slices, spread with butter and topped with Dutch Edam cheese. It is usually made during the festive season, like Christmas. Ceylonese Dutch Burgher families have been making "Breudher" for generations. The difference in the "Breudher" recipe between the Ceylonese Dutch Burgher and the Malacca Dutch Eurasian community, is the Malacca "Breudher" uses toddy (fermented sap from the flower of the coconut tree) instead of yeast. Toddy was probably used as a local substitute when yeast was difficult to find. The Malacca Portuguese Eurasians claim it as originating from their community as they also have their "Blueda" which is said to be a traditional Malacca Portuguese cake. The Dutch from The Netherlands have never heard of the cake called "Breudher" but if its recipe and the description of its peculiar shape is described, the Dutch will immediately know it as the "Tulband", which means "Turban" because of its shape. Therefore, it can be concluded that "Breudher" originated from the Dutch and probably the Portuguese "Blueda" is from the Dutch version. Also, "Breudher" probably comes from an ancient name that have now even been lost to the people of The Netherlands.