Hungarian Beigel

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g flour
• 250 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 pinch of salt
• ½ cube of yeast
• 500 ml milk
• 400 g powdered sugar
• 300 g ground walnuts
• 100 g ladyfingers, ground
• 200 g raisins
• 1 lemon(s), peel
• 300 g poppy seeds, ground
• 50 g semolina
• 300 ml water
• possibly rum

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours 30 minutes

Diós beigli és Mákos beigli, a very old recipe

Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm milk (200 ml) with a little powdered sugar. Quickly knead the other ingredients (flour, cold butter, 2 eggs, salt) into the milk-yeast mixture. Let rise for about 2 hours. Divide the dough into four pieces, roll out into rectangles (about 1/2 cm thick), and spread with the filling. Roll up lengthwise and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush with a beaten egg and let rise for another hour. Then brush again with egg white and carefully pierce the sides of the biscuits a few times with a fork to prevent them from cracking during baking. Let rest for another half hour. Now bake at about 200 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar before serving. Nut filling: Boil water with 150 g powdered sugar and add ground walnuts. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the ground sponge fingers, 100g of raisins (pre-soaked in rum if desired), and the zest of half a lemon. Let cool. Then spread it on the beigel dough. Poppy seed filling: Mix the ground poppy seeds with semolina and add to 300ml of boiled milk. Add 200g of powdered sugar, the zest of half a lemon, and 100g of raisins (pre-soaked in rum if desired). Stir and let cool. Then spread it on the beigel dough. While it’s a typical “Christmas pastry” in Hungary, we enjoy eating beigels year-round.