Best Hungarian Pastry Recipes

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.

KIFFLES, A HUNGARIAN PASTRY

Steps:

• 1. (Original recipe called for 2 yeast cakes, but they are so hard to come by, that Dee Dee had to do the yeast conversion.) Mix the Yeast and Hot Water together first, then, add to sour cream. Finally add in egg yolks.
• 2. Mix the four and lard together with pastry blender, then by hand.
• 3. Add sour cream mixture to flour mixture; mix initially with a spoon, then with hands. Knead as with bread dough several minutes. If too wet, add 1 tablespoon at a time. Place in refrigerator overnight.
• 4. To roll out: Sprinkle sugar on board (like flour). The sugar is your friend in rolling this out. Take a handful of dough at a time from bowl in refrigerator. Roll out dough on sugared board. Use bread knife to cut dough into 2" squares. Place filling on one end, fold over twice. Place on ungreased cookie sheet with seam side down.
• 5. Bake 11 - 15 minutes in preheated oven set at 375 degrees.
• 6. Filling: I used 2 cans of Solo's Apricot Cake and Pastry Filling. DO NOT MAKE THIS WHEN WEATHER IS HIGH HUMIDITY.
• 7. Filling notes: My grandmother made her own apricot filling: 1 lb Apricot through a blender with water. Cook covered with sugar and water. She also made a nut filling: Grind walnuts very fine in blender. Add about 3 Tablespoons of sugar for every 12 ounces of nuts. Heat a little milk. Add a little at a time to nuts until it becomes a pasty.

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 15-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Transfer to an ungreased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with 1-1/4 cups walnuts and 2 tablespoons sugar. Roll out another portion of dough into a 15-in. x 10-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.