Lekváros Bukta

Ingredients

• 1½ lbflourfor the dough, plus extra for rolling; sometimes mixed with strudel flour
• 1⅛ cupsmilklukewarm, for the yeast and dough
• 1¼ ozYeastor dried yeast
• 2¾ ozsugara little of it to activate the yeast
• 1 tspsaltfor the dough
• 3egg yolkfor the dough; some sources use whole eggs
• 3⅛ ozbuttersoft or melted, for the dough, the pan and brushing
• 10½ ozjamthick and bake-stable, e.g. plum, apricot, raspberry or apple; for the filling
• ½ ozvanilla sugarabout 2 sachets, for the dough or dusting
• 1lemonunwaxed, grated zest (sometimes juice) for the dough
• 1eggbeaten, or just the white, for brushing
• 1 ozpowdered sugarfor dusting
• sunflower oilinstead of butter in the dough or for brushing, keeps the buns soft (optional)

Method

1. Proof the yeastWarm the milk until it's just lukewarm, crumble in the fresh yeast and stir in a little of the sugar. Cover and leave it until the yeast wakes up and turns foamy on top.
2. Combine the dough ingredientsIn a large bowl, mix the flour with the rest of the sugar, the salt, the vanilla sugar and the grated lemon zest. Add the egg yolks, the soft or melted butter and the yeasty milk.
3. Knead and let the dough riseKnead everything into a smooth, soft dough until it turns bubbly and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover it and let it rise somewhere warm for about 45–60 minutes, until doubled in size.
4. Roll out and cut squaresRoll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1 cm thick and cut it into squares roughly 8–10 cm across.
5. Fill with jam and shapePut a teaspoon of jam in the middle of each square, roll the dough up around it and pinch the ends firmly shut so nothing leaks out in the oven.
6. Arrange in the dish, rise againButter a baking dish and set the buns in seam side down, packed closely together. Brush the tops with beaten egg, melted butter or sunflower oil and let them rise again for 15–30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 355 °F.
7. Bake until goldenBake the buns in the preheated oven for 20–30 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Glaze, dust and serveBrush the buns with milk or melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven, let them rest briefly, then gently pull them apart. Dust with powdered sugar, mixed with vanilla sugar if you like, and serve lukewarm or cold.

Tips and variations

They're wonderful drowned in vanilla sauce, made by whisking milk, cream, vanilla, egg yolks and sugar over a pan of simmering water. Instead of rolled squares, you can shape the dough into balls, press a hollow into each one and spoon the jam in there. Swapping the butter for sunflower oil, in the dough or for brushing, keeps the buns soft; margarine instead of butter or whole eggs instead of yolks work too. If you fancy, replace some of the flour with strudel flour, fill them with chocolate hazelnut spread instead of jam, or bake them with a little space between them rather than packed tight.