Mama's Serbian Zito (Zhito, Koliva) Recipe

I have spoken much about the Serbian Slava and even explained why the Orthodox make zito or koliva for memorials.  Last week my family celebrated our Slava on John the Baptist Day.  I have said before that there many recipes for zito.  Really, it’s an open-ended recipe.  You need to use wheat berries and it needs to be sweet.  My mother–in-law even made it with no sugar added for those she loved who were sugar free.   If you do this, you cannot skip the raisins.  Here is her recipe:

1 ¾ c. wheat berries
2 c. walnuts
2 c. raisins
1 c. powder sugar
2 packages vanilla sugar
½ bottle vanilla extract
½ bottle rum extract
½ tsp. clove
½ tsp. nutmeg
Zest of one lemon

• In a slow cooker, place 1 ¾ - 2 cups uncooked wheat berries and cover with about 1-2 inches of water.
• Low setting for about 2 hours.  (I slightly over cooked mine, but as it will be ground it did not matter too much.  If you are doing a koliva that is not ground, keep an eye on it.  The berries should be soft, but the seed coating should not be off.)
  

• 2 cups walnut flour or since I can’t find that I make my own.  Set some nuts aside for decoration. Place the remaining walnuts in a food processor until it looks like this and set aside
  

• Drain wheat.  My mother-in-law would blot her wheat if she thought it was too damp.  Sometimes I let it drain a bit longer.  (You can see mine got a bit over cooked.)
  
• Set aside to cool.  Wheat should not be hot when you grind it, but close to room temperature.

• Place in food processor and pulse until the wheat begins to break down.  It should look like steel cut oat meal.
• In a bowl place the wheat, raisins, powder sugar, vanilla sugar, the extracts, clove, nutmeg and zest. My mother-in-law did not use nutmeg, but someone made zito for my father-in-law with nutmeg, and I loved it.  I have added to her recipe. (Now, you should spice to your taste.  I think I add more clove and nutmeg than this.  I grate my own nutmeg and add in the clove as I see fit.  Both of these spices are pungent so start off small and work you way to what you like.)
  
• After you have combined these ingredients, add the walnut flour, setting aside about a fourth for the top.  This should make the mixture less sticky.
  

• Place this in the bowl you wish to use. And I use a soup spoon to smooth and burnish the zito. Like this
  
• Once the zito is smooth or you have finished with the 3D decorations, dust the top with the remaining walnut flour.
  

• Using the walnuts and raisins, decorate the top with a cross.
• If you want to do a 3D cross on top, before you place in the decorative bowl set aside some zito to form the cross.  I have seen a raised circle around the cross too.
  

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