WALNUT ROLL PASTRY

Walnut Roll Pastry image

Perfect to serve with tea or coffee, as a breakfast treat, or for dessert; this walnut roll pastry is so delicious. The dough is soft, slightly sweet, and fragrant with nutmeg, while the ground walnut filling is rich with butter and sugar, and perfectly swirled through the dough. This pastry pulls ingredients from Jewish and Slovak recipes for yeasted cake rolls, a pastry format that is popular throughout Central Europe and wonderful for slicing different serving sizes and keeping soft and fresh.

Provided by Melissa Johnson

Categories Recipes

Time 1h25m

Yield 12

Number Of Ingredients 14

Ingredients

Dough
1 cup milk (237g)
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (57g)
¼ cup sugar (50g)
1/2 beaten egg (reserve the other half of the egg for brushing on the dough before baking)
½ tsp salt (2-3g)
3-3¼ cups bread flour or organic all purpose flour (375-410g) I used a 50:50 mix.
¾ tsp SAF Gold instant yeast (2-3g)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (to taste)
Filling
2-2½ cups walnuts or other nuts (285g)
¾ cup sugar (150g)
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
5 Tbsp melted salted butter (71g) if unsalted add a pinch of salt

Steps:

Dough Mixing and First Rise
Scald the milk in a pan on the stove or in a glass bowl in the microwave, bringing it up to 180°F.
Cut the butter in pieces and add it to the milk to melt the butter and cool the milk. Then add the sugar, half-egg, and salt.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, whisk together the ground nutmeg, instant yeast, and flour (start with the smaller amount). You can add the reserved flour if needed, but only if your dough is very damp and sticky.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together and is smooth.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise somewhere warm, in a lit oven or on a raisenne dough riser for 1½-2 hours. The dough should double in size.
FIlling Prep
While the dough is rising, grind the walnuts and sugar in a food processor. Add the cinnamon afterward, so it doesn't poof through the seams of your food processor. Do not add the butter. If you don't have a food processor, you can put in the nuts in a ziploc bag and smash them with a rolling pin.
Melt the butter in a glass bowl on low power in the microwave.
Pastry Shaping
Prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.
When the dough has doubled, scrape it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll it into a square that's roughly 12" x 12" and 1/4" thick. Before topping the dough, make sure you can slide it around the countertop. Flour and flip the dough if you can't.
Brush on the melted butter, leaving a 1/2" strip at the top side free of butter to later seal the roll. If it seems like you have too much butter, hold some back and drizzle it on after you've added the absorbent nuts-sugar-cinnamon.
Spread all the nut mixture on the butter as evenly as possible.
Roll the dough toward the bare strip and rest it briefly on the seam.
Lift the roll of dough, gently stretch it a bit lengthwise, and place it on the baking sheet, seam down.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour.
Baking
Preheat your oven to 350°F for about 15 minutes.
Just before putting the pastry in the oven, brush the dough with the reserved beaten egg.
Bake for 45 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet if needed for even browning.
Let the walnut roll cool on a rack at least 20 minutes before serving.