Hungarian Recipes - The Beigli Trifecta
Submitted by janiebakes on October 25, 2005 at 2:00 pm

DESCRIPTION
Hungarian recipes- the Beigli Trifecta

SUMMARY
Yield 0 File under Family / Ethnic / Regional

INSTRUCTIONS
BEIGLI #1

This Beigli recipe is from an old Hungarian cookbook called Innes Mester. It makes two rolls.

THE DOUGH
3 1/2 cups of AP flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 oz cake yeast
2 tablespoons milk

Egg Wash - an egg yolk mixed with one Tbl water

Crumble the yeast with the milk, stir to dissolve. Mix the flour and sugar together, cut the butter into the flour mixture as for pie crust. Beat the eggs and eggs yolks together. Make a well in the middle of the flour/butter mixture and pour in the eggs. Stir together to make a dough. Knead well. The dough should be tacky. Divide in two, round into a ball and let rest for 15 minutes. Roll into a rectangle, about 1/4 to 1/8th inch thick. Spread with filling and roll up the long end. Pat down the roll so it is slightly flattened. Brush with egg wash and let dry for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Brush with egg wash again, let dry for an hour. Poke the beigli several times with a fork. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes. The beigli should be a rich dark brown.

Walnut Filling

1 1/4sugar
1 1/2cups water
2 1/2 cups of ground walnuts
1 3/4cups of dry bread crumbs OR dry cake crumbs OR ground walnuts
Grated rind of 1/2 of a lemon
1/2 cup of raisins (optional)
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Mix together the sugar and water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool, stir in the dry ingredients.

Poppy Seed filling

1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups ground poppy seed
1 3/4 cups dry bread crumbs OR cake crumbs
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup of raisins

Mix the sugar, milk and round poppy seeds, bring to boiling, cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the other ingredients, let cool before using.

BEIGLI # 2

My mother (who I can't remember ever making a beigli) sent me this recipe that she found at recipelink.com She feels the filling is too fancy and recommends omitting the jams and wine. I think it sounds pretty good as is.

Beigli (Hungarian Walnut Pastry/Cookies)
From: David Fokos

PASTRY:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 pound lightly-salted butter
1/2 cup milk -- warm (but not hot)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package dry yeast
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg -- well beaten
powdered sugar -- to sprinkle

WALNUT FILLING:
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons white wine
2 pounds walnuts -- chopped medium
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest (or grated lemon peel)
3 tablespoons apricot jam
3 tablespoons orange marmalade
1/2 cup golden raisins

Combine sugar and wine and bring to a boil; pour over all the other filling ingredients and mix well.

For pastry, put flour in a large bowl and cut in butter with a fork, pastry blender or food processor, until the size of peas. Make a well in the center and add warm milk, sugar, and yeast. Mix the milk, sugar, and yeast well until the yeast dissolves (do not incorporate the flour yet). Let stand for 10 minutes or until bubbles appear in the yeast mixture.

Add egg yolks and sour cream. Mix until ingredients come together. Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth. Cover with a towel and let stand for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, cut the dough into 4 sections. Roll out each one, one at a time, on a lightly- floured board, until rectangular, and roughly the size of a placemat (or a little smaller). Cover each of the 4 rolled-out pastry with 1/4 of the filling. Spread the filling out to about 1 1/2 inches (38 mm) from the shorter edges of the pastry, 1 1/2 inches from one of the long edges, and about 3 inches (76 mm) from the other long edge. Fold the 1 1/2 inch long edge over onto the filling. Now fold the 1 1/2 inch short edges in towards the center of the pastry, so that the filling will not come out the ends when the pastry is baked. Continue to fold (or roll) the long edge of the pastry over onto itself until the whole thing is rolled up like a towel.

When all rolled up, place pastry on a cookie sheet, and pat down a little to form a slightly flatter pastry (i.e. not round). Brush the pastry with beaten egg, and with a knife, make about 8 half-inch cuts in the top of the pastry. Allow to stand for 20 minutes then brush again with egg.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes (or until done, i.e. cake-like, not doughy inside). If the top starts getting too dark (before the center is done) you can lay a piece of aluminum foil on top of the rolls to stop the top from browning further. When cool, slice thinly, (1/4 inch slices are good) and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

After baking, the beigli can be kept in a plastic bag in the refrigerator (if it lasts that long!), or in foil and a plastic bag in the freezer for several months.

BEIGLI # 3

This is a recipe that my Dad uses. It is unusual because it tells you to let the dough rest overnight. We all know how that improves bread dough. It also uses the least amount of yeast and the most flour of these three recipes. My Dad got this recipe from my aunt Roszika, who is known as a really good cook in the family. She stresses that it is important to keep the dough cool while you are working with it. Think piecrust. It makes four rolls. The recipe can be cut in half.

7 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 cups butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 oz compressed yeast
1 tsp rum
Pinch of salt
Enough sour cream to bind it into a dough
Egg yolks for egg wash
Divide it into 4 balls, keep overnight in a cool place (not the refrigerator)
Knead up the balls and let rest 30 minutes. Roll out, spread with filling. Put seam down on parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg yolk, wait 10 minutes and brush again. Poke each roll several times with a fork bake at 350 for about an hour. If browning too fast, cover with foil. Cool completely before slicing.

My Dad doesn't use a filling recipe. He told me to "take some ground walnuts or poppy seed and cook it in a little milk. Add enough sugar to make it sweet. Add the rind of a lemon too. To the poppy seed filling you should also add some raisins. If you like cinnamon, you can use a little. Spread some cherry jam on the beigli dough before you spread the poppy seed filling). If you are not this adventurous, you could use one of the fillings listed in the other two recipes given, but remember to double the filling recipe if you are making the full version of my Dad's beigli recipe.