Buchteln mit Marillenmarmelade & Vanillesauce

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 2 h

A few weeks ago I visited my grandmother in Styria. We always struggle to find time for grandmother-granddaughter special time since we are both quite busy. So we were glad to find two days at the end of August and decided to make most of it – also when it comes to cooking/dining ;)

My grandmother was born a few years before the beginning of WWII. Before she moved to Upper Austria to live with her grandmother during the war, she spent her childhood in Vienna. My great-grandmother – a wonderful Viennese lady – had a small house in the suburbs of Vienna including a big garden with a huuuuuge apricot tree. Every summer we would visit her to help to collect the ripe fruits, and she taught us how to make apricot confiture and apricot dumplings. My grandmother naturally was taught many traditional Austrian recipes by her mother, which she now passes on to her children and grandchildren. My grandmother is a real blessing – she was very present during my childhood and still often visits us in Salzburg or Vienna. She probably is also the coolest grandmother ever. She has a smartphone, a laptop AND a tablet (plus the necessary W-LAN); she is not afraid to drive – even if it is the crazy traffic in Vienna; she uses gmail, Facebook & Dropbox; she still climbs mountains; she is very open minded – also politically – AND – most importantly – dances to Mos Def on birthdays parties :) And all of that at the age of 80 !!!! – and yes, she most certainly does not look her age!

So on that weekend in August I asked her to teach me how to make traditional Austrian „Buchteln“. A pastry-like dish that is usually filled with jam and is either served with powdered sugar or vanilla sauce. We followed the recipe of a reeeeally old cookbook that is written in old German blackletter. Kind of cool, huh?:)

And here it is:

Ingredients:

• 400 g wheat flour
• 20 g dry yeast
• 125 ml milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 50 g sugar
• 150 g butter
• salt
• 1 tbsp rum (optional)
• apricot jam (or any other kind of jam)

The preparation of Buchteln is quite easy – it will take you some time, though. The dough has to rest two times for at least 45 minutes, and you will need to follow the recipe very strictly. It will be worth it, though :)

Preparation:

1. Combine flour, milk, sugar, salt & the egg yolks in a mixing bowl using a whisker.
2. Melt 50 g butter in a small pot and let it cool until lukewarm (37°C).
3. Dissolve the yeast in the melted butter and add this mixture to the dough. Whisk until you get a solid non-sticky dough.
4. Now set aside to rest for 45 minutes.
5. Sprinkle your countertop with flour and flatten the dough using a rolling pin.
6. In a casserole dish melt 100 g butter and set aside.
7. Cut the dough into small squares.
8. Top each square with a little bit of jam and form small balls around it. Make sure to firmly „close“ the balls properly.
9. Cover each ball with melted butter and place them in the casserole dish – side by side.
10. Set aside to rest for another 45 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake until golden brown and fluffy.

Serve with vanilla sauce or powdered sugar and enjoy!

For the vanilla sauce, you can either use vanilla pudding powder and cook it with milk and sugar, or you can make your own & wayyyy better vanilla sauce following this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 120 g sugar
• 1/2 l milk
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar

Preparation:

1. Combine egg yolks, vanilla sugar, egg and half of the sugar with a little bit of milk using a whisker.
2. Meanwhile heat the rest of the milk in a pot and dissolve the other half of the sugar in it.
3. Little by little add the egg and sugar mixture from before and stir well! At this point reduce to medium heat and make sure the milk does not boil.
4. Remove from the stove and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. Work the whole sauce through a strainer to get rid of the small egg-fluff.

Serve both the Buchteln & the vanilla sauce while still warm.