Such special festive Christmas bread made from white flour, either in the form of a wedge or of plait, was first mentioned around 1400 by Benedictine monk Jan of Holešov in his work Treatise on Christmas Eve.

Lemon rind and rum add colour and flavour; the dough can also contain raisins and almonds and is plaited like challah.

[5] A vánočka may be built up from three progressively smaller plaits stacked on top of one another; this is sometimes interpreted as a rough sculpture of the baby Jesus wrapped in cloth and lying in a manger.

It has a reputation for being difficult to prepare, so in many households superstitions and special customs were attached to the baking process in the past.

[6] The bread is named after Vánoce meaning Christmas in Czech (Vianoce in Slovak).