Happy Holidays, my dear blog readers. I cannot begin to thank you for all of your lovely comments and your beautiful support throughout this year. In 2016, Kitcheninspirations is in her 8th year and it’s been quite a joyous ride. Originally this little blog was simply a repository of recipes, an on-line cookbook of some of my favourites over the years. But then someone commented and the rest is history. I cherish each and every one of you and hope to meet you in person soon. I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and cherished friends and JT and I wish you the very best for 2016.
One of the things I’ve noticed as a child of immigrant parents is that my generation doesn’t hold as much to tradition as the previous generation did. Case in point, every Christmas my dear Mom would make Beigli, a traditional Hungarian Christmas treat; she would not make it any other time of the year, even though she loved it. I, on the other hand, will make anything as long as I can find the ingredients. Except Beigli. Beigli is an acquired taste; it’s not horrible or weird, it’s just not something Canadians are used to eating so, I generally only make it if we have other Hungarians around. This past Christmas was the second year we were invited to my cousin Lucy’s place for Angyal so I decided to make her Beigli. Beigli is a yeasted buttery dough rolled with a ground poppy seed mixture or a ground walnut mixture. My Mom put raisins in the poppy seed version but I don’t recall them in the walnut ones. This is only the second or third time I have made these treats, the two other times were well before this blog so it was more than eight years ago. Hungarian pastries are not sickly sweet and have only a little sugar in them, so if you are a sweet tooth, these are not for you. You may also wish to avoid the poppy seed Beigli if your work does any type of drug testing.
Beigli
Makes 1 30 cm (12 inch) each Poppy Seed (Mákos) and Walnut (Diós) Beigli
Original recipe from my dear Mom
Ingredients for the Dough:
- 133 mL milk, warm
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 8 g instant yeast
- 33 g icing sugar
- 350-400 g AP flour
- 167 g butter, room temperature
- 3 eggs, divided
- 1 egg white
- pinch of salt
Directions for the Dough:
- Mix the warm milk, granulated sugar and yeast in a bowl and set aside.
- Using the scraper paddle of your stand mixer, rub the butter into 350 g of flour. Switch to the dough hook.
- Add 2 lightly beaten eggs, icing sugar and the salt to the yeast and mix well. Pour into the flour butter bowl and knead for a few minutes until the ingredients are combined and the dough becomes shiny and smooth (you may need to add a bit more flour so it’s not shaggy). Cover with a clean cloth and set aside for 2 hours in a warm, draft free spot.
Ingredients for the Poppy Seed Filling:
- 200 mL milk
- 200 g poppy seeds, ground
- 33 g semolina
- 133 g icing sugar
- 1 lemon, zested
- 67 g raisins
Directions for the Poppy Seed Filling:
- Combine the ground poppy seeds, semolina, icing sugar and lemon zest and mix well.
- Bring the milk to a boil, remove from heat and stir into the poppy seed mixture. Add the raisins and mix well. Set aside to cool completely (don’t worry, it will thicken as it cools).
Ingredients for the Walnut Filling:
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 200 mL water
- 200 g walnuts
- 67 g panko
- 30 mL water
- 1 lemon, zested
Directions for the Walnut Filling:
- In the bowl of your food processor, process the walnuts, breadcrumbs and zest until finely ground. Set aside.
- Combine the water and sugar in a heavy bottom pan and bring to a boil without stirring. Continue to boil until it reaches 110 °C (230 °F). Remove from heat and immediately stir into the walnut mixture, adding the water and stir well.
Beigli Assembly and Baking
- Divide the dough into two equal portions. Roll each portion into 1/2 cm thick rectangles (about 11 1/4″ x 12″). Spread the entire amount of the filling evenly onto each rectangle, leaving about 1 cm wide border all around.
- Roll the dough from the long side and pinch the side to seal. Turn the ends into the roll.
- Place on a cookie sheet. Repeat for the other filling, brush both rolls with the remaining beaten egg. Allow to rest for one hour.
- Whisk the egg white and brush the rested rolls. Set aside for 30 more minutes. Pre heat the oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Once rested, lightly poke the sides of the rolls with a fork to avoid the dough breaking. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and baked through.
- Serve the rolls sliced into 1-1.5 cm slices.
A delicious, not too sweet, Christmas treat.
As a kid, I always preferred the walnut beigli, but I think I like the poppy seed better now!
Kitcheninspirations 