Sweet Pretzels out of Homemade Puffpastry
Easter is almost over, and many of us were lucky enough to be able to eat one succulent dish after the other. I hope that in Luxembourg, some men got an Easter egg from their lovely ladies! In Luxembourg there is a tradition: on “Pretzel Sunday” a man has to give his beloved a pretzel and in return he will receive an Easter egg from her. The opposite is done on leap years. Whoever wants to read more about this tradition can do it here .
The magazine “Kachen” published a recipe for homemade pretzels this year from the Fischer bakery and I had to try it. I already published some recipes with store baught puff pastry ( “Achtchen” ), but I wanted to try on my own! And out came the most delicious and buttery croissants and pretzels I have ever tasted..so thank you very much to the Fischer bakery for the recipe!
You can find the recipe and detailled instructions here. I will therefor not describe the process in detail. However I would like to give a few tipps about how this procedure is made a little easier.
First: I used butter instead of margarine. I do not trust margarine 🙂 Many of you might think that butter is bad for you and has so many calories? As a biochemist I am a fan of the following philosophies: I will rather trust “the enemy that I know” and one should “enjoy everything in moderation”. Everything is bad for you if you have too much of it – “the dose makes the poison” (Paracelsus). Even butter is not harmful if enjoyed in reasonable amounts. The most important point however is that butter makes the dough easier to handle, as it will stiffen upon refrigeration.
Second: add the butter to a simple “Ziplock” bag, spread it equally and use a kitchen scraper to form a rectangle. It doesn’t need to be very precise, however if the butter is rectangular, it will ease further steps.
Third: Do not roll out the dough too thin. The thicker it is, the easier the next steps will be. The dough broke during the last step for me, and the whole working space was full of butter. It was not a problem as I was at the end of the proceedure, however it was a little tricky forming the pretzels and croissants with a greasy dough.
Making this dough at home is by far not as complicated as it is always said. It does require some time, patience and a little experience. Thats why I would not try and integrate it in my daily routine! Et voilĂ :)
How did your first time making puff pastry go? I would love some feedback and some comments!