The joy of eating fresh pastry

I think I mentioned it before that the only good thing in my pregnancy is that it makes me think about all kinds of Polish food I haven’t cooked for ages or simply have never tried to cook/bake it at all but, remembering it from Poland I crave it like crazy these days. If I crave it means that to eat it I need to make it myself.

There is only one Polish store near where we live and it’s not very well equipped in Polish (Eastern European) pastry.

Eastern European pastry is totally different from what’s here. Of course, we have cookies and candies that are all the same but those particular sweet buns called “drożdżówki” are something unique. There are countless kinds of those in Poland. With white cheese, with jams, with all kinds of fresh fruits, with poppy seeds paste, raisins, cinnamon, and there is a countless combination of using those ingredients in those pastries. The best thing is that they normally are very big, and one of my favorite memories from Poland is getting one or two for breakfast from the nearest bakery, fresh and packed with fruits…

If you’re interested in some pictures of those buns this is a link to google gallery. I’m drooling right now just looking at them….

So instead of just drooling and thinking how good they were in Poland, I decided to try to make them. I found very easy and fast recipe on Every Cake You Bake blog.

My first attempt was about 2 months ago (and I have no idea why I didn’t blog about it then). I’m actually happy I didn’t because today it seems like it’s a perfect day to do so and I explain it why. I made those a few weeks back when our friends from East Coast were visiting Bay Area. The day they were leaving I gave them a bag with those buns.

The next day I saw a few pictures my friend posted on FB:

It’s always nice to know that people like your food. Isn’t it. 🙂

Yesterday I got an email that one of them was injured at work and was rushed to the emergency room and had to get stitches on his hand and that he is in a lot of pain. Ouch….

Yesterday as well, before I got that email I baked a new batch of those sweet buns.

So, today thinking about how much my friend liked them I decided (to send the recipe to them so they can make it at home hoping that it might put a smile on my friend’s face) and to post a few pictures and the recipe here on my blog hoping that making and eating it could bring a smile on somebody else’s face.

It works that way in my and my husband’s case.

From this recipe, you’ll get a family portion, so I recommend to make the first batch from half the dough and freeze the rest of it in a plastic bag for further use. That’s what I do. I actually split the dough into 3 parts. 1 part equal about 12 or 14 buns.

Ingredients:

8-9 cups all-purpose flour

0.17 oz active yeast (I used one envelope of active dry yeast)

1 cup of sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

4 egg yolks

pinch of salt

2 1/2 cup of lukewarm milk

14 Tbsp (200 g) unsalted malted and cooled butter.

Filling:

A LOT OF FRESH FRUITS YOUR CHOICE

1 egg beaten

Crumbs:

10 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar

pinch of salt

Directions:

In a big bowl pour 8 cups flour (reserve one cup for if the dough is too loose at the end), make a hole inside it and put yeast inside that hole. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar on it and pour 1/2 cup of warm milk over the yeast. Let stand for about 15 minutes until the yeast is bubbly. Meantime in a different bowl beat the eggs and yolks with salt, add sugar, vanilla, and milk. Pour the wet mixture over the flour and yeast. Knead the dough. It should be fairly loose. Add melted butter and knead it more. If the dough is too loose gradually add more flour.

Let it stand covered for an hour or until doubled in size.

After the dough is ready, take 1/3 of it and put on a well-floured surface. Roll it in a large rectangle about 1/3 inch thick. With a sharp knife cut 4×4 inch squares. Diagonally lay a line of your fruits. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of it 🙂 If you use apples cut them into small cubes and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Seal opposite corners over fruits (like on one of the pictures above). Place them on a baking sheet and let it stand for about 15 minutes.

In meantime make crumbs. Rub with your fingertips the flour mixed with sugar, salt, and cold butter cut into small pieces until formed into lumps.

Brush buns with beaten egg, sprinkle with crumbs. The more crumbs the tastiest the pastry!!!

Bake in 350 F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Eat warm or cold. They are delicious both ways 🙂 They are great for breakfast with a cup of coffee or after dinner for a sweet dessert. They are so good with any kind of fruit. The first time I made them with strawberries and blueberries. Second time with apples sprinkled with cinnamon. Yesterday I used raspberries and blueberries. With raspberries, they have an extra sour kick which really surprised my husband when he took his first bite. lol

 

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16 thoughts on “The joy of eating fresh pastry

  1. amy

    oh yum, those look so good…i think i may actually try to make them sometime soon…i still have some blueberries in the freezer from the summer. don’t you love it when you try something and it actually turns out good? i do! : )

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      It’s so frustrating sometimes when I really really want something, I make it and it turns out to be not so tasty or I just burn it or do something wrong with the recipe… oh… I get so angry when that happens!!! So when things turns out to be good and tasty I’m the happiest girl ever! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Claudia

    I am looking forward to trying these asap! They sound so delicious. But here in Hawaii, it would be frozen berries or perhaps mango, guavas or maybe even banana with some frozen berries would be good.

    Reply
  3. Pingback: It’s A Chicken Yurt & The Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post Ed. No. 28 | Lil' Suburban Homestead

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