Christmas in Budapest

Did I really let 6 years go by without visiting this wonderful city? Lets not do that again...

 

Budapest, 2012 - Freedom Bridge

 

 I know I will leave my heart here again... Had such a fabulous time... Operas, Thermal Baths, Ice Skating, a few parties... even a pig slaughtering. What a wonderful life... I am (wishfully) looking at jobs here ;)

And.. the FOOD...

Mulled wine (forralt bor) is my new favorite. Apple cider, you remain a close runner-up.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my nagymami (grandma) and wanted to share this recipe with you (a few more to come...)
 

Christmas Crescents

Karácsonyi (Pozsonyi) Kifli

 

The following recipe uses metrics and standard american measuremets. If you need to convert anything, go to wolframalpha.com (awesome computational website. makes math super simple) 

 



Dough

1/4 kilo flour

1/4 kilo butter (250g), softened

pinch of salt

1-2 tbs powdered sugar

2 dk fresh yeast (not the instant/dry kind)

1/2 tbs crystal sugar

2-3 tbs sourcream (full fat)

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

 

Poppyseed* Fillig

15 dkg ground poppyseed (grind, then weigh)

10 dkg powdered sugar

1.5 dl milk (full fat 2,8%)

a pinch of ground nutmeg and/or lemon zest is optional

 

Walnut Filling

15 dkg finely ground walnuts (grind first, then weigh)

7 dkg crystal sugar

1.5 dl water

a touch of rum essence/extract

 

Make the dough...

1. Beat flour and butter in your Kitchen Aid (or a lot of muscle!). As the machine mixes, add a pinch of salt and ab 1 - 2 tbs powdered sugar. Let the machine keep working its magic at medium speed and add the sourcream.

 

2. While the flour mixture is still going, start the yeast. Add the 0.5 tbs sugar to the warm milk (NOT hot, this will kill it). Id say you need about 1/3 to a 1/2 cup of milk. Stir a bit and add the yeast. Wait. It should start foaming. The height should double.

 

3. Your flour is mixing most of this time and should look kinda wet and sandy. Add the egg and egg yolk and continue to beat. The mixture should look a little like cookie dough.

 

4. Turn off the mixer and rest for a bit. 5 min. Now add the yeast/milk mixture and continue beating on medium until the dough comes together and is no longer sticking to the side of the bowl. You can help a little here and scrape the sides a bit. Let the dough rest and start the fillings...

 

 

Cook the filling...

 

Combine ingredients (separately for walnut and poppyseed, of course) and cook in a pot on low/medium heat until thickens. Done. Lick spoon. YUM... do we really even need the dough???

 

*Poppyseed (pictured below) is kind of tough to get by the kilo in the States. If you can't get any, make double the amount of walnut.

 

 

Assembly...

 

1. Kneed the dough 1-2 minutes and divide into 4 pieces

 

2. Roll each section into a circle about 15 inches in diameter (until its about 1/2 cm or 1/3 cm thick)

 

3. Cut into 12 triangles (like you would a pizza)

 

4. Add a few teaspoons of filling to the widest part of the triangle and roll it up. Shape it so that has that crescent shape.

 

5. To create that marbleized glaze, brush the top of each with egg yolk and let that dry in a cool place (fridge). Then apply another coat of egg yolk.

 

Bake...

 

In a preheated oven at 175 - 180 C  for about 30 min (but watch it, I didn't check the exact time when I made these with Grandma :)