Last weekend I came across a competition on Chow for the best original muffin recipe. Now, I love muffins, quickbreads, that whole kind of snack/brunch category is right up my alley. (Remember pancakes, anyone?) But I don’t have a favorite recipe, I usually just throw together what’s at hand along the lines of a basic muffin recipe and enjoy the results, so I don’t know why I was seized with the competitive spirit and determined to enter the contest.

We buy a loaf of Struan bread almost every week – it’s just a prepacked sliced loaf made by Brother Juniper’s Bakery, perfect for morning toast or lunchbox sandwiches. A couple of times I’ve made my own, following Peter Reinhardt’s version in Artisan Breads Every Day, and it’s delicious, but it’s hard to make the timing work to end up with a nice fresh loaf at breakfast, which is when I would like it most. But muffins, those can be whipped up in a few minutes and out of the oven in just a few more, and aha! I had my original muffin recipe.

Granted, dashing off a new combination the day before the contest closed doesn’t quite live up to the “favorite muffin recipe” challenge, so maybe it’s no surprise it didn’t make the finals. I have to say, though, this is a sleeper. On its own, it’s basic without being plain: the texture from the oats, cornmeal and rice give it a fabulous crumb, and there’s something almost savory about it, past the sweetness of the honey and brown sugar. With a jam center, though, you have a surprise finale, and I think you wouldn’t go wrong tossing in some fruit or nuts as well. I may not have gotten to the second round of the contest, but a new and delicious recipe is no loss!

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Struan Muffins

Yes, this recipe calls for cooked brown rice. White rice is fine! Next time you make rice (or even get some with your takeout), just put a couple of spoonfuls in a bag and freeze it, then you’re ready to bake any time.

Ingredients

Makes 12 muffins

• 1¼ cups flour
• cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons cooked brown rice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• ¼ cup jam (optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
• Whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cornmeal, cooked rice, and brown sugar in a medium bowl.
• In a large measuring cup, beat together the buttermilk, oil, eggs and honey until well mixed. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and allow to sit for about 1 minute for ingredients to hydrate.
• Spoon into prepared muffin pan. For jam centers, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the batter into each muffin cup and drop a teaspoon of jam on top, then cover with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the tops with poppy seeds.
• Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

I have been reading about Kim Boyce’s cookbook Good to the Grain for a few months now, and lo and behold, I got my very own copy for my birthday this past week. The concept behind these recipes is baking with whole grain flours not (only) for health reasons, but to enjoy the specific flavors each grain brings. I’m sold!

The first recipe I aimed to try was the one for scones with a layer of jam in them — perfect Saturday breakfast fare. Alas, my stop at the grocery store yesterday didn’t yield barley flour, only flakes, but if there’s anything I learned from living outside the US, it’s not to let a pesky lack of ingredients stop me from making something delicious. I bought the flakes with the intention to process them to a flour at home.

I made a few other changes to the recipe as written, mainly because, well, frankly I am lazy. Boyce directs you to cut up cold butter into small cubes and work them into the dry ingredients with your fingers. I grated the butter straight from the fridge into the dry ingredients and then rubbed it into the flours. I didn’t feel like opening two sticks of butter, so I just used 6 tablespoons in the scone dough itself, and reserved two to melt for the topping. I was perfectly satisfied with the richness so I don’t think you’ll miss the tiny bit of extra butter.

However, the scones did spread rather more than would be ideal and ended up rather thin, and I suspect that the coarseness of the ground barley flakes was an issue. Pulsing the flakes in our little food processor didn’t make a uniform, fine flour, and probably I should have compensated by adding a little extra measure. The scones were light and tender in any case, and I really liked the little extra texture the uneven grind of the barley added. Boyce says the dough will be sticky, and it was; I struggled a bit to get the unbaked scones onto the baking sheet. However, with a sheet of baking parchment under them, after baking they lifted off without a crumb left behind, even where the jam oozed out and made some tempting caramelized puddles. With a cup of coffee, these really were the ideal weekend breakfast.

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Strawberry Barley Scones, adapted from Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain

I used low-sugar strawberry jam from (where else) Trader Joe’s; Boyce includes a recipe for making your own jam, but that’s for another time.

Ingredients

Makes 8 scones

• 1 cup plus 2 Tbs/150 g barley flour (add an extra tablespoonful if you grind your own flour from barley flakes)
• 1 cup/100 g all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup/50 g brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1¼ tsp kosher salt
• 8 Tbs (113 grams) cold butter, divided
• ½ cup/235 ml buttermilk
• 1 egg
• ½ cup/8 Tbs strawberry jam
• 1 Tbs granulated sugar

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/190° C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt, breaking up any lumps.
• Grate about 6 tbs of butter into the dry ingredients; melt the remaining 2 tbs and set aside to cool.
• Working quickly with your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a mixture of small to medium lumps of butter well-coated with the flour. Do not overwork the mixture, you don’t want the butter to get too warm.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Pour this mixture into the dry mixture and mix until just combined. The dough will be sticky.
• Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface. Divide the dough in half, and pat one half into a circle about ¾” thick and 7″ across. Spread the jam across the top. Pat out the other half of the dough into a circle the same size (make sure there is plenty of flour on the work surface) and place it on top of the jam layer, pressing down slightly.
• Cut the dough into 8 wedges using a knife or bench scraper, and (very) carefully place them onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving a good inch or so of space between them.
• Brush each wedge with the melted butter, and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are starting to brown.

Along with those of his great-aunts, Katicza and Agota Gyurkovics (pictured above),  he has a few recipes by a magnificent woman Countess Marica Ordody, whose godfather was Kossuth Ferencz (son of Kossuth Lajos) and some from his mother Valeria. We will post some of these recipes. The very first one I wanted to try my grandma’s recipe for Linzer bars. I love linzer and my dad always asked my mum to make linzer like his mum used to make. So I was curious about two things.

1. How does my grandmother’s  linzer taste, obviously.

2. Would my dad recognize the taste and would he mention that “this is like my mother used to make it” or is he just cruel to my mum and he wants to make her something that does not exist.

Grandma

The test won in the 1st case but lost in the 2nd. I loved this Hungarian linzer. It is very easy to make and tastes great! After feeding crumbs to my dad (it is a small recipe… not too much left) he did not instantly recognize it as a miracle from the past though. When I told him that it is my grandmother’s recipe he said… oh yeah that’s right…that’s how my mum used to make it. So, some success but I was expecting more. After this I had a third question: why did’t he show the recipe to my mum, because if she knew it is so easy she would have been delighted.

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Linzer Bars/Cake/Cookies

This is a small recipe so do not make it as your main dish.

Ingredients

Makes 4-5 portions.

• 1 stick/113 grams butter
• 1¼ cup/240 grams sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2.2 ounces/60 grams crushed almonds
• 3/4 cup + 2tbs/100 grams flour
• small jar of you favorite jam (I used cherry)
• a few blanched almonds for decoration

Method

• Work the flour, butter, sugar, egg yolks, and crushed almonds into a dough.
• Roll them 1/2 inch/2 cm thick into your desired shape: it can be one big square, one big circle or small circles. This might be a bit tricky with the rolling pin because the dough is very fragile and may fall apart. I used my fingers and pressed it into shape. Reserve a little bit of dough to make shapes on the top of the linzer. I made a lattice. Or tried to  — as I mentioned, the dough was very fragile.
• Spread the jam over it, and add a dough design if you choose. Place blanched almonds on top for decoration.
• The recipe says you should bake them in a very hot oven. So I tried 350 F (180 C). I baked them for 25 minutes, but I think 30 minutes or a higher temperature might work better. The dough under the jam was slightly undercooked.
• When the sides and the lattice are getting golden, take out the linzer and let it cool.
• Do not touch! Let it cool completely. And enjoy.

It’s Carnival season around these parts – before Lent the shops are decorated, kids’ costumes are on the racks, and doughnuts – sišky, fánk, or vdolky, depending on where you are – seem to be frying up everywhere you turn. I’m not complaining, or maybe I am, because it’s hard to get enough exercise in the winter to work off those deep-fried treats; anyway, a warm sugary puff is a pretty delicious way to beat the snowbound blues.

While I was researching recipes, I found most of them call for filling the doughnuts with jam after you fry them, using a piping tool. That was definitely more trouble than I’m willing to go to these days, but I remembered seeing a method for filling doughnuts before frying. It was an unlikely source – a Martha Stewart recipe for Hanukkah sufganiyot – but it was effective.

A couple of the doughnuts puffed up around the seal, but none of them leaked any of their fillings of jam or nougat (like Nutella). Success!

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Filled doughnuts

Ingredients

Makes about 12 doughnuts

• 1 cup/240 ml milk
• 2 oz/28 grams butter
• 3½ –3¾ cups/400-420 grams flour
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1/3 cup/60 grams sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, separated
• ½ cup jam and/or nougat (or even frosting) for the filling
• Additional sugar to roll the doughnuts in

Method

• Heat the milk and butter together in a small pan until just below boiling. Set aside and allow to cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, stir together 3½ cups flour, yeast, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt. When milk mixture has cooled, add it to the dry ingredients along with the egg yolks (reserving the whites for later). Mix to form a soft dough, then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and still a bit sticky, adding more flour a tablespoon at a time if it’s very sticky. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover, and leave in a warm place to rise for 2 hours or until doubled (or in the fridge overnight).
• When dough has doubled, turn it out onto a lightly-floured surface and roll out to about 1/8″ (0.5 cm) thin. Using a 2″/7 cm round cookie cutter, cut out circles; you can re-roll the scraps until you use up all the dough; you should get about 24 circles.
• Brush a circle with the reserved egg whites, then place about a teaspoon of filling in the center of the circle. Top with another of the dough circles, and pinch along the edge to seal. Repeat until all the circles have been used.
• Cover the doughnuts with a cloth and leave for 20-30 minutes or just until puffed.
• In the meantime, heat about 2 cups/0.5 liter of vegetable oil in a large pan. When a scrap of dough sizzles when you drop it in, the oil is hot enough.
• Fry the doughnuts in batches, being careful not to overcrowd them. Cook each doughnut for about 3 minutes or until golden brown, then turn and cook another 3 minutes.
• Place the cooked doughnuts on a layer of paper towels to cool for a minute or two; while they are still warm, roll them in granulated sugar and serve.

If you visit Central Europe, you are almost certain to come across one of the few symbols from the socialist era that remains beloved today: the Little Mole, known variously as Krtek, Krtko, Kisvakond, Krecik or die Maulwurf. Our kids love to watch Little Mole cartoons on YouTube, and since the vast majority of them are short, sweet, and dialogue-free, they’re OK with me too. (There are a few peculiar exceptions that I generally don’t show the children.) The mole and his friends have fully embraced capitalism and now are emblazoned on t-shirts, toys, games and books, and are part of the wave of fashionable nostalgia that hit this region a few years ago.

While he is popular all around the Central Europe, the Little Mole shows his Czech origins from time to time. For his friend the frog’s birthday, he bakes koláče, a typically Czech pastry that can be filled with jam (as seen here), poppyseed filling, sweetened cheese or nuts.

Koláče aren’t reserved for festive occasions, they’re a substantial snack with tea or coffee, or an indulgent breakfast. They are also called frgale, which certainly sounds fancy; they can be dressed up by making patterns with different types of filling, which looks especially elegant if you make one big koláče.

Here’s a recipe and a couple of different filling variations, to be mixed and matched as you like.

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Koláče/Czech pastries

I’ve listed the fillings separately, since they’re useful for other types of pastry.

Ingredients

Makes 8 koláče

• 1 cup/20 ml milk
• 2 oz/50 grams butter
• 3½ cups/500 grams flour
• 1/3 cup + 1 Tbs/80 grams sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 packet instant yeast
• 1 egg + 1 yolk

1 or more filling, in next recipe

Method

• Heat the milk and butter in a small pan until almost boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
• Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir together. Add one egg and mix until a sticky dough forms. Scrape down the sides of the bowl until it is fairly clean, cover it with plastic and leave the dough to rise for 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.
• When the dough has doubled in bulk, divide it into 8 equal portions (each should weigh about 4 oz or 100 grams) and roll into balls. Cover them with a cloth and leave them to rest while you make the filling, see recipes below.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/190 C. Whisk the egg yolk with about a tsp of water to make an egg wash
• Gently flatten each ball to make a circle about 3½” across (9 cm)and form a well in the center. Spoon about 2 Tbs of filling into the well.
• Brush the exposed dough with the egg wash, and bake on a greased (or even better, parchment-paper lined) baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

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Sweet fillings for pastry

Each of these recipes will fill at least 8 koláče. If you have filling left over, you could use it to make turnovers with frozen puff pastry dough, or fill any other type of pastry that suits your fancy.

Ingredients for poppyseed filling

• 1 cup + 2 Tbs/150 grams poppy seeds
• ¼ cup/ 60 ml milk
• ¼ cup/ 25 grams sugar

Method

• Grind the poppyseeds in a spice or coffee grinder until they form a paste.
• Mix with the milk and sugar in a small pan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes.

Ingredients for sweet cheese filling

• 9 oz/250 grams soft cheese, such as turó/tvaroh or ricotta
• ½ cup/ 50 grams sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• zest of one lemon
• 1 Tbs butter, softened
• 1 egg

Method

• Cream the butter and cheese together with the sugar. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, and vanilla.

Ingredients for walnut filling

• 7 oz/200 grams ground walnuts
• 1 cup + 2 Tbs/120 grams sugar
• 2/3 cup/150 ml milk
• zest of one lemon

Method

• Mix all ingredients together in a small pan and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.