Puszi's Recipe for Four Beigli

My Hungarian aunt, Puszi, sent us Beigli in my sister Veronica's suitcase. She sent it with a note which I have included below to show you its authenticity and as a homage to my aunt who was a very good cook. I've included a typed version for those who find her writing difficult to decipher. Both the letter and recipe are transcribed and I have tried to keep her "Hungarian-English" again as a homage to her.

I have also added pictures to explain the assembly process with thanks to szerbo.com

The Pastry

500 grams plain flour

200 grams cold butter

100 milliliters of lukewarm milk

100 grams of castor sugar

20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp dry yeast)

2 egg yolks (the white of the eggs is used to smear the pastry before baking)

2 dessertspoons of sour cream (also used to smear the pastry before baking)

Pinch of salt

Activating the Yeast

Mix together the lukewarm milk and yeast, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. Let it stand for 15 minutes.

Making the Pastry

In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour until the large butter pieces vanish and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add castor sugar, salt, egg yolks and activated yeast and knead until you get a soft, smooth, but not wet, dough. If you intend to prepare the rolls later, put the dough in the fridge to prevent the butter from melting.

The Filling

600 grams of ground poppy seed

600 grams of vanilla castor sugar

120 gram semolina

400 ml (~1 1/2 cup) milk

100 grams of raisins soaked in water or quince paste cut into small pieces

The zest and juice of two lemons

Bring the milk and sugar to a gentle boil, then add the other ingredients. Cook stirring until poppy seeds soak up the liquid. Set aside and cool.

Making the Beigli

Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. Roll the first ball out to a rectangular shape on a floured pastry board. Take quarter of the poppy seed filling and spread it on the dough while leaving approx. 1-2 cm empty edges all around.

Fold in the edges:

Then, roll up the dough:

Place it in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Now prepare the second poppy seed roll in the same way.

Put all four Beigli in one tin and smear all four with the egg white and sour cream. Put the tin in a cool place for 3 to 5 hours to let the egg yolk wash dry and the dough rise. After resting, smear again with egg white and sour cream and put into a hot oven (180 C) for 10 minutes after which, turn the oven down to 120 C and bake for a further 30 minutes.