Hajas Kifli

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbflourfine flour; a small part is worked into the leaf lard
• 13¼ ozpork leaf lardminced or worked smooth, kneaded with some flour, spread on the dough while folding
• 1 tspsaltfor the dough
• 7 ozjamfirm homemade jam, e.g. apricot or mixed fruit butter, as filling
• 1⅔ ozYeastproofed with a little sugar in lukewarm liquid; not in every source
• 2 tbspsugarfor the yeast dough
• ¼ cupoilfor the dough
• ½ cupwaterlukewarm, for the dough
• 2eggyolk or whole egg in the dough, yolk or beaten white for brushing
• powdered sugarfor dusting after baking
• 1¼ cupsmilklukewarm, as dough liquid instead of water (optional)
• 2⅛ cupsyogurtlukewarm, as dough liquid (optional)
• ½ cupwinedry, e.g. Welschriesling, for the yeast-free dough (optional)
• 2 tbspsour creamfor the yeast-free dough (optional)
• 3 tbspRumpartly in the dough, partly in the lard mixture (optional)
• 1lemonjuice, worked into the leaf lard (optional)
• 1 tspvanilla sugarmixed with the icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method

1. Mince the pork leaf lard finely, or work it until completely smooth, then knead it with a small portion of the flour into a supple paste and set it aside.
2. Crumble the fresh yeast into the lukewarm water with the sugar, stir, and leave it somewhere warm to proof until it starts to bubble.
3. Knead the rest of the flour with the salt, the yeast mixture, the sunflower oil and one egg (or just its yolk) into a soft, smooth dough, then let it rest or rise briefly.
4. Roll the dough out into a rectangle, spread it with about half of the lard paste, fold it up and leave it covered to rest for 10 to 30 minutes.
5. Roll the dough out again, spread on the remaining lard paste, fold it once more and let it rest, covered, for another 10 to 30 minutes.
6. Roll it out a third time, this time without any lard paste, fold it and give it one last rest; preheat the oven to 170–390 °F while you wait.
7. Now roll the dough out thinly and cut it into squares or triangles. Put a little firm jam on each piece, roll it up into a crescent or fold it over, and press the edges together well so nothing leaks out.
8. Set the crescents on a greased baking tray, brush them with the remaining egg and bake in the preheated oven at 170–390 °F for about 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Let the Hajas Kifli cool briefly, then dust them generously with icing sugar.

Tips and variations

There are plenty of ways to make this dough: without any yeast at all, using a dry white wine such as Welschriesling, sour cream and egg yolk instead; as a yeast dough with yogurt, rum and oil, with the leaf lard worked together with lemon juice and rum; or with lukewarm milk in place of the water. Some bakers don't fold the leaf lard in but simply roll the spread dough up into a log, and others just fold the squares in half rather than shaping crescents. If you're using a yeast dough, it pays to let the shaped crescents rise for another 30 minutes before baking. For serving, mix a little vanilla sugar into the icing sugar – your kitchen will smell like a proper winter bakery.