Best Ashkenazic Layered Pastry Fluden Recipes
FIG FLUDEN
This is one of those recipes that has pretty much disappeared in the United States, but those who remember it rave about it. A _fluden_, which comes from _fladni_ or _fladen_, "flat cake" in German, is just that, a flat, double-or often multilayered flaky pastry filled with poppy seeds, apples and raisins, or cheese. It was originally common to southern Germany and Alsace-Lorraine, later spreading east to Hungary, Romania, and other Eastern European countries. Often flavored with honey, it was eaten in the fall at Rosh Hashanah or Sukkot and is symbolic, like strudel, of an abundant yield. I have tasted apple two-layered _fluden_ at Jewish bakeries and restaurants in Paris, Budapest, Tel Aviv, and Vienna, sometimes made with a butter crust, sometimes with an oil-based one. But only in Paris have I tasted the delicious fig rendition, a French fig bar, from Finkelsztajn's Bakery. (Figs, my father used to tell me, were often eaten in Germany as the new fruit on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.) This recipe is a perfect example of the constant flux of Jewish foods. Today, with the huge population of Tunisian Jews in Paris, it is no wonder that the Finkelsztajn family spike their fig filling with _bou'ha_, a Jewish Tunisian fig liqueur used for _kiddush_, the blessing over the wine on the Sabbath. You can, of course, use kirsch or any other fruit liqueur instead.
Provided by Joan Nathan
Yield Makes 16
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Place the butter or margarine (or butter and vegetable shortening), flour, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process until crumbly and gradually add the water, continuing to process until a ball is formed. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and add the tea bags, the lemon peel and juice, and the cinnamon sticks. Steep for 1-2 minutes and remove the tea bags. Place the figs in the water and poach for about 5 minutes.
- Drain the figs and the lemon peel, reserving the poaching liquid. Then place the figs, the lemon peel, the sugar, the liqueur in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process but do not purée; you want the figs to have texture. Add a tablespoon or so of poaching liquid if the filling is too dry.
- Preheat the oven to 400° and grease a 9-inch-square pan.
- Roll out half the dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. Put it in the bottom of the pan (it should not go up the sides), and trim off excess dough. Prick the dough with a fork. Spoon in the fig mixture.
- Roll out the second half of the dough and cover the fig mixture. Prick a few holes in the top and brush with the egg.
- Bake the fluden for about 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
- When done, cut the fluden into 16 squares. It is wonderful served warm, with whipped cream or ice cream. Or you can let it cool and eat it as you would a fig bar.
FRUIT FLUDEN
This dessert bar was first published by The New York Times in 1952 in a review of Passover dishes, and later it appeared in the pamphlet "Holiday Desserts: Cakes, Pies and Puddings for Special Occasions." The traditional fluden is a leavened pastry, but this version is not. Whipped egg whites mixed with matzo meal, egg yolks, sugar and salt bind the layers together. To be certain that the dessert is kosher for Passover, all ingredients must be endorsed as such by "a recognized rabbinical authority," as our editor June Owen wrote in 1952.
Provided by Sara Bonisteel
Categories cookies and bars, dessert
Time 45m
Yield 15 to 20 pieces
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Soak whole matzos in wine for 15 minutes. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
- As matzos soak, beat egg whites with salt in a stand mixer on medium high until soft peaks form. Fold in egg yolks until combined and then fold in sugar and matzo meal.
- Heat honey and butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, pour mixture into a 13-inch-by-9-inch-by-2-inch oven-safe baking pan.
- Spoon a layer of the egg batter on a matzo and flip, batter side down, into warmed honey mixture. Repeat with another matzo.
- Cover two more matzos with batter and layer, batter side up. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Top with two plain matzos, and spread 3/4 cup of the strawberry preserves over the layer.
- Form a fourth layer with two plain matzos and top with remaining preserves. Batter remaining two matzos and layer, batter side up.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into rectangles or squares while the fluden is still warm. Serve cold.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 210, UnsaturatedFat 2 grams, Carbohydrate 37 grams, Fat 5 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 3 grams, SaturatedFat 3 grams, Sodium 166 milligrams, Sugar 18 grams, TransFat 0 grams
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