Hungarian Pastry Recipes

AUTHENTIC HUNGARIAN PASTRIES

Steps:

• Prepare the fruit filling by putting the apricots in a saucepan. Add water just to cover.Cook until soft, being very careful not to let it burn. You may have to add more water to prevent this.
• When fruit is soft, add the sugar and cook until thick. When thickened, remove from heat and puree in a food processor. Let cool slightly, then put into a freezer bag. When you are ready to use the filling just snip off the corner of the bag. (You may have extra filling left over at the end- it can be frozen for the next time).
• Prepare pastry: Mix the dough ingredients together with a pastry blender. Roll out onto parchment paper or a lightly floured board to about 1/4" thick rectangle.
• Using a sharp knife (or a pie crust wheel), cut the dough into 3" X 3" squares.
• With a sharp knife, cut the dough diagonally from each corner to within 1/2-inch of center of each square.
• Put about 1 teaspoons of the filling in the center of each square.
• Fold every other corner of the square to the center to form a pinwheel shape, overlapping the dough at the center and pushing down gently to seal in center.
• Transfer cookies to a lightly greased cookie sheet. (They dont really expand so you dont have to worry about leaving a lot of space in-between.).
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Do not let get brown or burn.
• Dust with powdered sugar when cooled.

HUNGARIAN PASTRY

Steps:

• Cream butter/margarine and sugar.
• Add vanilla and egg yolks.
• Cream together well.
• Add sifted flour with soda and baking powder.
• Mix well.
• Then pat dough out onto cookie sheet with sides or a large shallow pan.
• Spread with jam and 1/2 cup ground nuts.
• Then over that spread the well beaten egg whites.
• Then sprinkle the other half of ground nuts to which 2 tablespoons of sugar have been added.
• Bake 1/2 hour at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Layers are:.
• Dough.
• Jam.
• Nuts.
• Egg whites.
• Nuts with sugar.
• When cool, cut into 2 inch squares.

HUNGARIAN STRAWBERRY PASTRY BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sour cream, water and vanilla; gradually add to crumb mixture, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Divide into thirds. Chill for 30 minutes. , Between two large sheets of waxed paper, roll out one portion of dough into a 15x10-in. rectangle. Transfer to an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with 1-1/4 cups walnuts and 2 tablespoons sugar. Roll out another portion of dough into a 15x10-in. rectangle; place over walnuts. Spread with jam; sprinkle with remaining walnuts and sugar. , Roll out remaining pastry; cut into strips. Arrange in a crisscross pattern over filling. Trim and seal edges. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

HUNGARIAN BEIGLI

Steps:

• Combine the 5 tablespoons sugar, butter, egg yolks, and sour cream in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the dough blade and process well. Add the flour and yeast and process until the dough comes together. If the dough feels too wet, add a little more flour; if it's too dry, add milk a tablespoon at a time. The dough should be moist and easy to work with.
• Shape the dough into a ball, cover with a damp towel, and set aside. To make the filling, heat the milk and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture has a syrupy consistency. Add the chopped walnuts and stir to combine. Remove the saucepan from the heat; stir in the lemon zest and raisins, and let filling cool.
• Divide the dough into three pieces. Roll one piece of dough out on a lightly floured surface to form a long rectangle about a 1/4-inch thick; keep the remaining dough covered. Spread 1/3 of the walnut filling on the dough, leaving about an inch of dough at each edge. Roll the dough up to form a log, and press to seal. Place the dough, seam-side down, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
• Beat the egg with the tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Brush the loaves with egg wash and let rest for 1 hour in a warm place. After the dough has risen, brush it again with egg wash and put the baking tray in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (this will give the dough a shiny finish).
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake the loaves until they're a deep golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes.