Beigli - Hungarian Christmas Roll_2018

Traditionally made at Christmas time all over Hungary. All household holds onto its traditional recipe, which has been passed down to generations. Here i am sharing my recipe that I have learned at school, with some minor modifications. I must add that I have rushed this up too quickly, hence it has opened up, but the taste is there for sure.

The pastry:

500g Plain Flour

50g white Sugar

8g Salt

8g Dry Yeast

200g Butter

4 whole Eggs

100ml Milk

Mix above ingredients, except the eggs and the milk. Make sure the butter is well mixed into the flour, but not overworked, meaning it is still cool.

Add 4 eggs and the milk, and mix by hand.

You will get a dough approx 1100g in weight.

Divide the dough into 3 equal portions (3x367g)

The Walnut filling:

400g fine ground Walnut

320g White Sugar

40g Sultanas

1 Whole Lemon Zested

70g sweet bisquite crumb (use sponge fingers finely grated)

10g Honey

40g Orange zest

100g Water

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves

Dash of Rum - optional

Mix all up in a pan, heat gently till all combined nicely.

Mine come to 1100g.

Poppy Seed Filling:

450g Poppy Seed finely grinded

100g Honey

10g Lemon Zest (approx 2 lemon)

330g white Sugar

40g Sultanas

100g Semolina (approx)

100ml Water

1 Apple finely grated

Heat the water, honey, sugar, lemon zest till combined, add all other ingredient and stir for 2-3 minutes.

let it cool down.

Mine come to 1200g.

Please note, the above pastry is only enough for either the walnut or the poppy filling. If you intend to do 6 rolls (3 walnut, 3 poppy) you need to double the pastry.

Divide the filling into 3 equal portions. Roll out the dough, one portion at the time, and spread the filling evenly. Fold in the sides about 5-6mm, then roll it up.

Brush with egg yolk, then with egg white. Place it into the fridge overnight. Before baking, brush it again with egg white. Bake in 180c for 20-25minutes.