TRDELNIK RECIPE (CZECH WALNUT CINNAMON PASTRY)
INGREDIENTS
- 480 grams (16.95 oz) all-purspose flour
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 150 ml (7/8 cup) milk
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- olive oil, for greasing trdlo sticks
For the topping
- 1 cup walnuts
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a large bowl, combine sifted flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, yeast and salt.
- In a medium bowl or large glass, whisk together 2 egg yolks, milk and melted butter.
- Combine dry and liquid ingredients and mix well. The dough will be quite dense.
- Form the dough into a ball, place it in a bowl, cover and let it rise in a warm place until it almost doubles in volume.
- Meanwhile, roll old magazines into a stick and secure it with a cooking twine. Tightly cover each stick with aluminum foil and tuck edges inside of a magazine.
- Place walnuts into a tightly closed zip-lock bag and pound it with a rolling pin until walnuts are nicely chopped. Transfer the walnuts into a medium bowl and combine them with sugar and cinnamon.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy.
- Preheat the oven to 390 F.
- When the dough increased in size, on a lightly floured surface roll it into a disk approximately 2-3 millimiters width.
- Using a small knife, slice the disk lengthwise into 10-15 mm thick strips (thickness doesn't matter much).
- Grease each trdlo stick with olive oil. Tightly wrap strips of dough around trdlo sticks making sure each strip slightly overlaps each other.
- Each trdlo stick should fit up to 3 trdelnik pastries with 1 inch distance between them.
- Brush each trdelnik with egg white and generously coat into a walnut and sugar mixture.
- Place trdlo sticks on a rimmed baking dish making sure pastry doesn't touch the bottom or sides of a dish.
- Bake trdelnik for 15-20 minutes until it's golden on each side.
- Remove trdelnik from the oven and slowly slide off the trdlo stick.
