Hungarian layered chocolate nut pastry for purim

20 Good-sized

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
20 grams [.7 oz OR 2 tbsp.] solid yeast *
⅓ cup Orange juice
500 grams [1 lb + 1.5 oz OR 4 cups] flour
350 grams [12.25 oz OR 1 1/2 cup + 1/2 tblsp.] margarine
2 Eggs
1 cup Plus
3 tablespoons White sugar
2 Lemons, grated rind of
½ tablespoon Lemon juice
250 grams [8.75 oz OR 1 cup] chopped almonds
3 tablespoons Jam (we used strawberry jam)
1 tablespoon Cocoa powder
1 teaspoon Powdered coffee
1½ tablespoon Water
1 Egg yolk

Directions

Source: Jewish cooking class taught by Bilha Widmann 1. Grease a baking pan of size 30 x 38 cm [12 x 15 inches], with margarine or Pam spray.

2. Preheat oven to 180 C [356 F].

3. Mix the yeast with the orange juice. Let sit for a few minutes.

4. Add to yeast mixture: the flour, 300 grams [10½ oz OR 1¼ cup + 1 tblsp.] margarine, eggs, 1 ½ tblsp. sugar, grated rind of 1 lemon, lemon juice. Mix well and knead till pliable. Let the dough sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

5. Make the filling: mix together the chopped almonds, 1 cup sugar, and grated rind of 1 lemon.

6. Divide the dough into 3 parts, and roll each part into a rectangle the same size as the baking pan. The last part (which will go on top) should be a bit larger than the pan, to allow for shrinkage.

7. Lay the first part of the dough in the baking pan. Brush with half the jam. Sprinkle with half the filling. Top with the second part of the dough, brush with the rest of the jam, and sprinkle with the rest of the filling.

Top with the third part of the dough (the part which was rolled out larger than the pan size), and seal the edges well. Prick this top part in several places with a fork.

8. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 - 45 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown on top.

9. While pastry is baking, make the glaze: combine 1 ½ tblsp. sugar, cocoa powder, powdered coffee, and water in a small pot. Heat on stove, and stir until well mixed. Remove from heat, and carefully fold in the egg yolk. Add 50 grams [1¾ oz OR 3 ½ tblsp.] margarine, and stir until combined.

10. After pastry is done and has cooled, spread the glaze on top of the pastry. Glaze may have to be gently reheated to make it spreadable.

11. Cut into squares and enjoy! My teacher told me that the traditional way to serve this is to put the squares into papers similar to but larger than petits-four papers, to show off the layers.

Notes:

1. This pastry is yummy and moist! I highly recommend it! According to the teacher, this keeps for a week, but I can't imagine it staying around for an entire week!

2. Since we were making this in a class and were pressed for time, we glazed the pastry and ate it before it was completely cool. It was delicious; warm, soft, and fresh! 3. I think some of you in the US are worried about raw eggs, and I guess that the icing theoretically contains an uncooked egg yolk. Maybe you could leave the icing on very low heat when you add the uncooked yolk, to make sure that it cooks.

* All ounce amounts are ounces by weight, NOT volume.

Posted to JEWISH-FOOD digest V97 #062 by Karen Snyder <100130.1562@...> on 97.

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