Christmas Recipe - LONG!

[Guest guest]

Hi,

 

I think that the Christmas recipes should start a little early --so

here I am to make a contribution.

 

This is for a traditional Hungarian cookie that was passed on through

many, many generations of our Hungarian family. These were made

*every* Christmas without fail and in huge quantities! For me, it

would not be Christmas without all of the wonderful traditional

Hungarian foods!

 

Now, note that the Hungarians used a lot of sour cream -as this recipe

does. In my opinion, it is a part of the recipe that makes these

literally (and I do mean literally) melt in your mouth.

 

I have gone into greater detail on this recipe because I know these

things ensure the success of the cookies.

 

It really is a super, super simple recipe --it's just time consuming

to a certain extent (Okay, maybe only because of the quantity I make).

 

Enjoy!

Andrea

 

 

 

Hungarian Kifli

 

1 pound Butter

4 cups Flour

3 egg yolks

1 cup sour cream

 

Apricot, raspberry, walnut, poppyseed or prune fillings

Powdered sugar

 

The biggest thing to remember with these cookies is to work the dough

at a minimum! The less handling, the more likely that these will

literally melt in your mouth! I will always use a pastry cutter (the

horseshoe shaped wires thingy with wooden handle).

 

Work/cut butter into flour until it looks like corn meal (placing the

mixture in the refrigerator each time when the butter starts to get

too soft). Mix egg yolks with sour cream. Make well in center of

flour/butter mixture, put egg/sour cream mixture there. Blend with a

fork until ball is formed. Refrigerate dough until firm. Cut off

amount needed to roll out, but return the rest to the refrigerator.

You want this dough chilled at all times.

 

Lightly flour working surface and rolling pin (do again as needed… try

to use a minimum of flour). Roll sections of dough into rectangles,

until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 " diamond shapes (cut into long

strips and then cut cross-wise at an angle to form diamond shape).

Fill with ~ 1t. Lekvar filling (do not over-fill, use less if

necessary). Fold in and pinch 2 ends only (I pinch one end into the

other and then gently pull-and-wrap the excess under the cookie. This

way they don't pop open during baking). Place on lightly greased

cookie sheet (I find with the amount of butter in them that I don't

have to grease at all when the sheet is a non-stick type). Bake at

350° for 15 – 20 minutes. Do not let burn –every oven is different

and you need to get to know the amount of time to bake.

 

Remove from oven and cookie sheet and dust generously with powdered sugar.

 

 

 

My favorite filling is the apricot –hands down. But, I must appease

others also… You can purchase Solo brand fillings or make your own

–homemade really does taste awesome and one can tell the difference!

 

Apricot (Lekvar) Filling

 

1 lb. of dried apricots

enough water to just cover

1 cup of sugar

 

Put the dried fruit into a sauce pan and just cover with water . Cook

over medium/low heat. Do not let all of the water evaporate or it

will burn. Just continue adding a small amount of water as needed to

keep this from happening. When the fruit is soft add sugar and

continue cooking until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat. Let

cool slightly and then puree. Remember that this must be a very thick

`jam'. It will just run right out of any pastry you are using it for

if it is too runny. If you find that yours is still too runny after

pureeing it, you can always just throw it back into a pan a gently

cook it further. Always watch it carefully as it can burn easily.

[Guest guest]

Yum! Sounds wonderful, Andrea! Thank you!! :-)

 

Kelly

-

" Andrea " <itsmedrea1

 

Wednesday, December 01, 2004 10:19 AM

Christmas Recipe - LONG!

 

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I think that the Christmas recipes should start a little early --so

here I am to make a contribution.

 

This is for a traditional Hungarian cookie that was passed on through

many, many generations of our Hungarian family. These were made

*every* Christmas without fail and in huge quantities! For me, it

would not be Christmas without all of the wonderful traditional

Hungarian foods!

[Guest guest]

-

Andrea

Wednesday, December 01, 2004 10:19 AM

Christmas Recipe - LONG!

 

Hungarian Kifli

 

Andrea,

This is hands down my most favorite cookie of all time!!!!!

Every year it's mandatory I take a ride into Detroit before Christmas and

visit a little Polish bakery for these and Angel Wings!

Thank You so much for sharing the recipe with us.

Linda P

 

 

[Guest guest]

, " Linda Parkhurst "

<parkberry@t...> wrote:

 

> Andrea,

> This is hands down my most favorite cookie of all time!!!!!

> Every year it's mandatory I take a ride into Detroit before

Christmas and visit a little Polish bakery for these and Angel Wings!

> Thank You so much for sharing the recipe with us.

> Linda P

>

 

 

Linda...

 

You are so welcome!

 

But be ready for a surprise! Hungarian Kifli are *better* than the

Polish Kolatchky (Okay, maybe it's just my wise opinion -or- my

Hungarian nature coming out -LOL).

 

The Polish version is made with cream cheese. No cream cheese for

this Hungarian!

 

I really think you are gonna enjoy it!

 

And the Angels Wings! Oh, those are made every year also! We grew up

calling them Pigs Ears from the Ukranian side of the family tree

(which was first a part of Hungary once upon a time) and Angels Wings

from the Hungarian side.

 

I will be listing more of my traditional Hungarian Christmas recipes.

Tomorrow will be our Nut Rolls, Apricot Rolls... all kinds of rolls.

 

Andrea

[Guest guest]

Good morning Andrea

Your delightful cookie recipe started a very fun conversation in my household.

My SO is Czech/Polish and grew up in NY City -- she started in on the how prunes

are called Lekvar -- long story short we had to google this to find out that

Lekvar is a sweet filling of apracot or prunes.

We'll have to try these cookies - Thanks for the fun morning. Getting hungry

for holiday food!!

Rita

 

 

 

 

Andrea <itsmedrea1 wrote:

 

Hi,

 

I think that the Christmas recipes should start a little early --so

here I am to make a contribution.

 

This is for a traditional Hungarian cookie that was passed on through

many, many generations of our Hungarian family. These were made

*every* Christmas without fail and in huge quantities! For me, it

would not be Christmas without all of the wonderful traditional

Hungarian foods!

 

Now, note that the Hungarians used a lot of sour cream -as this recipe

does. In my opinion, it is a part of the recipe that makes these

literally (and I do mean literally) melt in your mouth.

 

I have gone into greater detail on this recipe because I know these

things ensure the success of the cookies.

 

It really is a super, super simple recipe --it's just time consuming

to a certain extent (Okay, maybe only because of the quantity I make).

 

Enjoy!

Andrea

 

 

 

Hungarian Kifli

 

1 pound Butter

4 cups Flour

3 egg yolks

1 cup sour cream

 

Apricot, raspberry, walnut, poppyseed or prune fillings

Powdered sugar

 

The biggest thing to remember with these cookies is to work the dough

at a minimum! The less handling, the more likely that these will

literally melt in your mouth! I will always use a pastry cutter (the

horseshoe shaped wires thingy with wooden handle).

 

Work/cut butter into flour until it looks like corn meal (placing the

mixture in the refrigerator each time when the butter starts to get

too soft). Mix egg yolks with sour cream. Make well in center of

flour/butter mixture, put egg/sour cream mixture there. Blend with a

fork until ball is formed. Refrigerate dough until firm. Cut off

amount needed to roll out, but return the rest to the refrigerator.

You want this dough chilled at all times.

 

Lightly flour working surface and rolling pin (do again as needed… try

to use a minimum of flour). Roll sections of dough into rectangles,

until 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 " diamond shapes (cut into long

strips and then cut cross-wise at an angle to form diamond shape).

Fill with ~ 1t. Lekvar filling (do not over-fill, use less if

necessary). Fold in and pinch 2 ends only (I pinch one end into the

other and then gently pull-and-wrap the excess under the cookie. This

way they don't pop open during baking). Place on lightly greased

cookie sheet (I find with the amount of butter in them that I don't

have to grease at all when the sheet is a non-stick type). Bake at

350° for 15 – 20 minutes. Do not let burn –every oven is different

and you need to get to know the amount of time to bake.

 

Remove from oven and cookie sheet and dust generously with powdered sugar.

 

 

 

My favorite filling is the apricot –hands down. But, I must appease

others also… You can purchase Solo brand fillings or make your own

–homemade really does taste awesome and one can tell the difference!

 

Apricot (Lekvar) Filling

 

1 lb. of dried apricots

enough water to just cover

1 cup of sugar

 

Put the dried fruit into a sauce pan and just cover with water . Cook

over medium/low heat. Do not let all of the water evaporate or it

will burn. Just continue adding a small amount of water as needed to

keep this from happening. When the fruit is soft add sugar and

continue cooking until mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat. Let

cool slightly and then puree. Remember that this must be a very thick

`jam'. It will just run right out of any pastry you are using it for

if it is too runny. If you find that yours is still too runny after

pureeing it, you can always just throw it back into a pan a gently

cook it further. Always watch it carefully as it can burn easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step By Step Instructions On Making Rose Petal Preserves:

http://www.av-at.com/stuff/rosejam.html

 

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[Guest guest]

, Rita Bohn <ritabohn2001>

wrote:

> Good morning Andrea

> Your delightful cookie recipe started a very fun conversation in my

household. My SO is Czech/Polish and grew up in NY City -- she started

in on the how prunes are called Lekvar -- long story short we had to

google this to find out that Lekvar is a sweet filling of apracot or

prunes.

> We'll have to try these cookies - Thanks for the fun morning.

Getting hungry for holiday food!!

> Rita

>

 

 

 

Hi Rita,

 

Yes the Lekvar refers to Prunes as well as apricots. I conveniently

left out the word prunes and that the same exact recipe can be made

with one pound of prunes instead of apricots. But..... I don't like

prune Kifli or Prune Rolls (some call it a Hungarian strudel). My mom

takes care of making those kifli and rolls some years and I make the

apricot and others.

 

So many good foods come from that area of Europe!

 

Hope you do enjoy them.

 

Andrea

[Guest guest]

Hi Linda,

Nothing better then those Polish bakerys and the resturants.

I use to enjoy going down to Detroit to the Farmers Market.

Rafils spice shop is one of my favorites. Don't think I

have made the trip in about 15 years.

Also liked the Nut Shop.

Nancy

 

This is hands down my most favorite cookie of all time!!!!!

Every year it's mandatory I take a ride into Detroit before Christmas

and visit a little Polish bakery for these and Angel Wings!

Thank You so much for sharing the recipe with us.

Linda P

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I'm very lucky - I don't need to go to a Polish bakery - I go see my aunt

Next week is the family baking frenzy ! It's about 8 - 10 of baking and fun !!!

This wonderful woman will be 93 in Jan and every year, anyone who wants to be

included, calls the week after Thanksgiving and gets a list of what ingredients

to bring. My grand mother used to do this and when she passed away, the

tradition was passed to the oldest daughter. On baking day, you show up at her

house and are assigned a job and the assembly lines are set up on the dining

room table, in the kitchen and in her patio room (She has another stove out

there for cooking in the summer so she doesn't get the house hot making home

made goodies in the summer). After all the measuring, stirring, sifting, baking

& decorating, everythignis divided up according to your contribution and family

size. You leave with your back seat over flowing with all kinds of fantanstic

goodies - including the goddies she makes ahead of time because she doesn't want

to share her special recipes I'll be 49 in a few weeks and the only years I

wasn't there were the 2 years I lived in Fla. This year, I'm taking one of my

grand daughters with me. I think Grandma would be proud to see how her family

has kept this going all these years and passed it along to other generations.

There will be 4 generations baking together that day - I have a few aunts that

are great grand mothers.

Paula ........in Michigan

Coming soon Farm Fresh Soaps & Candles

 

 

scentsl

Wednesday, December 01, 2004 9:12 PM

Re: Christmas Recipe - LONG!

 

 

 

Hi Linda,

Nothing better then those Polish bakerys and the resturants.

I use to enjoy going down to Detroit to the Farmers Market.

Rafils spice shop is one of my favorites. Don't think I

have made the trip in about 15 years.

Also liked the Nut Shop.

Nancy

 

This is hands down my most favorite cookie of all time!!!!!

Every year it's mandatory I take a ride into Detroit before Christmas

and visit a little Polish bakery for these and Angel Wings!

Thank You so much for sharing the recipe with us.

Linda P

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

, " Paula Coon " <paulacoon@e...>

wrote:

> I'm very lucky - I don't need to go to a Polish bakery - I go see my

aunt Next week is the family baking frenzy ! It's about 8 - 10 of

baking and fun !!! This wonderful woman will be 93 in Jan and every

year, anyone who wants to be included, calls the week after

Thanksgiving and gets a list of what ingredients to bring. My grand

mother used to do this and when she passed away, the tradition was

passed to the oldest daughter. On baking day, you show up at her house

and are assigned a job and the assembly lines are set up on the dining

room table, in the kitchen and in her patio room

> Paula ........in Michigan

> Coming soon Farm Fresh Soaps & Candles

 

 

Oh Paula,

 

This sounds heavenly! We would have a small group of my Mom and us

daughters (5). Now it's mostly just me and my daughter --okay mostly

just me.

 

Maybe I need to drum this up a bit around here. It would be so much

fun and I am sure that time would just fly by.

 

Andrea

[Guest guest]

My mom was 1 of 12 children, 7 of 'em girls. When Grandma passed in Jan of '74,

she had 48 grandchildren. There is no such thing as a small family gathering or

project !!!! LOL One of my aunts will be driving almost 3 hours to get there

and will also be bringing her 2 daughters(she also has 5 boys), a couple of

daughters-in-law and a few grand daughters. That group of 9 usually needs 2 vans

to get them here There will be at least 35 of us, probably closer to 50 or

more. I know that so far there will be my aunt, the hostess, her 3 daughters and

1 daughter-in-law, 9 grand daughters, 3 of my other aunts, 23 cousins, my self,

1 or 2 of my daughters and at least one of my grand daughters. But when all the

flour settles, I'll have about 25 dozen cookies, some of Aunt Rita's zucchini

bread with zucchini from her garden, black walnuts from the tree on my grand

parents farm that now belongs to an aunt & uncle, a couple of jars of jam from

Uncle Joe & Aunt Shirley's berry patch, ... all kinds of wonderful goodies I

can't get anywhere else. I loved doing as a child and now I enjoy it even more.

There's no way to describe feeling of having that many generations of family

members gathered together to carry on a family tradition. I almost think I enjoy

'Cookie Day' more than Christmas !

Paula ........in Michigan

Coming soon Farm Fresh Soaps & Candles

 

 

 

Oh Paula,

 

This sounds heavenly! We would have a small group of my Mom and us

daughters (5). Now it's mostly just me and my daughter --okay mostly

just me.

 

Maybe I need to drum this up a bit around here. It would be so much

fun and I am sure that time would just fly by.

 

Andrea

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

What a wonderful family and memories you have. Enjoy

Rita

 

Paula Coon <paulacoon wrote:

My mom was 1 of 12 children, 7 of 'em girls. When Grandma passed in Jan of '74,

she had 48 grandchildren. There is no such thing as a small family gathering or

project !!!! LOL One of my aunts will be driving almost 3 hours to get there

and will also be bringing her 2 daughters(she also has 5 boys), a couple of

daughters-in-law and a few grand daughters. That group of 9 usually needs 2 vans

to get them here There will be at least 35 of us, probably closer to 50 or

more. I know that so far there will be my aunt, the hostess, her 3 daughters and

1 daughter-in-law, 9 grand daughters, 3 of my other aunts, 23 cousins, my self,

1 or 2 of my daughters and at least one of my grand daughters. But when all the

flour settles, I'll have about 25 dozen cookies, some of Aunt Rita's zucchini

bread with zucchini from her garden, black walnuts from the tree on my grand

parents farm that now belongs to an aunt & uncle, a couple of jars of jam from

Uncle Joe & Aunt Shirley's berry patch, ... all

kinds of wonderful goodies I can't get anywhere else. I loved doing as a child

and now I enjoy it even more. There's no way to describe feeling of having that

many generations of family members gathered together to carry on a family

tradition. I almost think I enjoy 'Cookie Day' more than Christmas !

Paula ........in Michigan

Coming soon Farm Fresh Soaps & Candles

 

 

 

Oh Paula,

 

This sounds heavenly! We would have a small group of my Mom and us

daughters (5). Now it's mostly just me and my daughter --okay mostly

just me.

 

Maybe I need to drum this up a bit around here. It would be so much

fun and I am sure that time would just fly by.

 

Andrea