This is an old recipe I have inherited from my great-grandmother. I love the taste and the special preparation technique, too. It has a lot of funny names in Hungarian like water walker, but we have called it water-raised loaf. My great-grandma raised it in the well they had in the yard. But later when we made it at home we just used a big pot. It takes time to prepare but the taste worth the effort!
This is how I make it
I mix the ingredients of the pastry: 400 g white flour, 2 eggs, 15 g fresh yiest, one tbs sugar, 0.5 dl milk, a pinch of salt, 1.5 dl sour cream,1.5 dl melted butter and the grated zest of one lemon.
I knead the pastry with the spirals of my mixer for about 15-20 minutes until it starts to separate from the bowl.
When it is ready I take a clean tablecloth and plaster it with fat (my granny used goose fat but any fat or even butter is also good). You have to lay it on thick, because this is going to protect the pasta from being wet. My sweetheart's daughter readily helps me in this part of the process.😊
I put the pastry in the middle of the tablecloth, make a knot and fix it on a wooden spoon.
I put tepid water in a large pot and put the "package" into it.
I leave it there for 1 or 2 hours (it depends on the temperature of the room and the water) until it rises to app. it's double size (mine already started to run out from the tablecloth after an hour).
I put it on the table, form a loaf of it and cut it into eight pieces.
I pour sugar into a plate (I used brown cane sugar).
I roll a long stick from the pastry (app. 20 cm long and cover it with the sugar.
I fold and twist the stick and put it on a baking plate.
I preheat the oven to 180 degrees and put the pastry in for app. 20 minutes until they become nice golden brown.
Voila! It's ready. It is best to eat while it is warm. You can eat it just as it is, but I also like to make some fresh fruit sauce to serve it with (this time I mixed strawberries and raspberries).
Food Challenge
Starter Monday
(soups and starters)
Veggie Tuesday
(salads and vegetarian dishes)
Pasta-fans' Wednesday
(pastas, pizzas and other dough-based food recipes)
Rapid Thursday
(quick dishes)
Sweet Friday
(pies, cookies and other sweets and desserts)
Global Saturday
(recipes taken from the traditional, national kitchen of any country)
Meat-lovers' Sunday
(beef, pork, chicken, fish, seafood etc. recipes)