Buchty

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Meet Honza...

Honza is a Czech fairy tale hero. He's mainly characterised by being poor (Chudÿ Honza), dull (Hloupÿ Honza) or lazy (Línÿ Honza).

In Czech fairy tales, he's the dull, lazy and inept son of village farmers. His parents send him into the world to gain experience and seek his fortune. On his way, he meets seemingly impossible obstacles - and dragons. Finally, he returns home rich, famous and married to a princess. 

In many versions of the story, his mother says goodbye to him at the start of the journey and gives him a bag of freshly baked buns, some may even have a rural cheese filling. 

These are Buchty - sweet buns baked in the Czech Republic and across Central Europe since the early 17th century. 

Buchty is characteristically soft, slightly sweet and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Traditionally, they are a breakfast treat, served with good coffee, hot chocolate or tea. 

It wouldn't be unusual to find them filled with plum jam, cottage cheese (farmer cheese), poppy seed, walnut, beetroot or even cooked carrot. 

Our Buchty will be plain, but when the dough has been divided and is ready to be shaped into balls, that is the time to incorporate your filling(s).

INGREDIENTS

20 cm square cake pan

450 gms strong white bread flour

120 gms tepid milk (semi-skimmed or whole fat)

6 gms instant active yeast

40 gms butter (melted) - preferably unsalted, but if you only have salted, reduce the salt below to 4 gms 

50 gms caster sugar

5 gms crushed sea salt

3 eggs (beaten) - medium size

for the topping

40 gms melted butter (optional - infuse with one tablespoon spiced rum)

poppy seeds (optional)

icing / powdered sugar for dusting

for the filling (optional)

plum conserve

cream or cottage cheese

poppy seeds

apricot jam

METHOD

1. Prepare the square tin

2. Place the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

3. Melt the butter in a pan, add the milk and allow to cool.

4. Add the beaten eggs to the milk mixture. 

5. Add the yeast to the milk mixture, stir and then add to the flour mixture. 

6. Bring together and knead into a soft and silky dough. Cover and leave to double in a warm place.

7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knock back and weigh. 

8. Divide into 16 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a round. 

If you intend to fill your buchty - follow the instruction below:

For the filled buchty - roll out each piece into a circle. Place the filling in the middle of the circle and bring the edges together to form a ball. Shape the ball once again.  Now move on to the next stage.

9. Melt the remaining 40 gms of butter. Roll the balls in the butter and place next to each other in the square tin. If you want a poppy seed topping, now sprinkle the buchty with poppy seeds. 

10. Cover and leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled. When ready to bake, spoon any remaining butter over the rolls. 

11. Preheat the oven to 190⁰C / 375⁰F and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. 

12. Cool on a rack. 

Buchty will freeze - when you are ready, thaw them and warm them through in a hot oven. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

If eating fresh, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar before serving. 

PS Taste-tester verdict? 

The following day....

Happy baking....Veselé pečení

Personally, I think Honza should have left home a few years earlier!