Kifli

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kifli (IPA: [ˈkifli]) is a traditional Hungarian pastry made by cutting sheets of soft flour dough into triangular wedges, and wrapping those wedges to create a crescent-shaped morsel, which is then baked (permitting the dough to puff). Its name was adopted by a widely popular early nineties pop group.

The sweeter variant of kifli is a cookie, where the dough often contains vanilla (in which case it can be called a vaníliás kifli), and the wedges are wrapped around a filling of sweetened nuts, usually walnuts "diós kifli", poppy seed "mákos kifli" or pecans, or jam "lekvár" (often plum or apricot), and/or raisins. After baking, they are also lightly sprinkled with confectioner's sugar or cinnamon. Alternatively, they can be dipped into hot chocolate. Hungarian plural: kiflik

Legend has it that kifli is the progenitor of the croissant (q.v.).

The name comes from a Turkish word and can be found all over Eastern Europe - with different meanings, albeit. In Romania for instance, the word "chiflă" simply means "(bread) roll".

[edit] Recipe

Kifli Crescents

6 cups flour ½ cup sugar 3 sticks butter 2 sticks Imperial Margarine 5 egg yolks 1-teaspoon vanilla ½ pint sour cream Egg wash Confections’ sugar Fillings: Apricot butter or European raspberry or 8 ounce ground walnuts mixed with 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup milk

In small bowl with egg yolks, stir in vanilla. Add sour cream and mix well. Sift sugar and flour. Cut in butter and margarine. Make a well and add egg mixture to form a dough. Shape into log and divide dough into 8 pieces. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. (If you refrigerate overnight, let warm the next day at room temperature).

Roll out pieces like pie dough until 1/8-inch thick. Cut with 3-inch round cookie cutter. As you roll out each piece, add whatever scraps you have to the next piece.

In center of each round, place 1 teaspoon fruit filling from a pastry bag, or place 1 teaspoon of nut filling. Fold over in half and notch ends with knife to seal the open end. Transfer to parchment-covered baking sheet, and then twist each end with thumbs to form a crescent. Don’t mix pastries with fruit filling and those with nut filling on the same baking sheet because they bake differently. With a pastry brush, brush egg wash (1 egg with 1 tablespoon of milk) across tops.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. For even browning, turn pan and bake 8 to 10 minutes more until golden brown on top and bottom. If you are baking two pans in the oven at a time exchange the pan on the top rack with the pan on the bottom rack halfway through baking. When done, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

Yield: 20 dozen

See also: Austrian Vanillekipferl