Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Mákos Guba, The Traditional Hungarian Christmas Dessert

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This dessert brings back so many memories from my childhood. In Hungary the Christmas tree is decorated on the Holy Night (December 24) in immediate families. For us, Christmas is a private, family holiday and we don’t go to parties. Most families decorate the tree together, but some families keep the tradition that the tree should be a surprise for children, who believe it is brought by angels.

When I was a child I entered the room with my brother only when the small tree bells rang. Everything was magical: the smell of the Christmas tree, lit candles and sparklers on the tree. Gifts were laid around the tree with small labels saying who they were for. We usually sang one or two Christmas songs, then opened the gifts and spent the night together.

The menu for the Holy Night in Hungary is very traditional. We usually have fish soup made from carp, followed by fried carp with french fries or potato salad. As a dessert we eat beigli, a special pastry roll filled with poppy seed or walnut.

Also a Christmas classic, mákos guba is a dessert made with poppy seeds and honey. Poppy seed is a popular ingredient all over Central-Eastern Europe and there are many dessert recipes in the Hungarian cuisine that call for it.

Mákos guba is baked in the belief that the poppy seeds bring good luck and lots of money in the new year. A quick way to make it is using a day-old, dry kifli, a crescent-shaped pastry, but you can use any type of roll or bread.

I make it the traditional way from yeasted dough as I learnt from my grandmother years ago. She was the one who was responsible for mákos guba to make it for the whole family. My dear granny passed away only two months ago and we miss her so much. This Christmas my mom and I are responsible for making this sweet, traditional dessert that reminds us how life precious and we have to respect what we have.

To get my recipe visit The Travel Belles’ website here.

Brioche Bread

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I rarely bake yeast dough pastries, although I love them. I only try to eat as less white flour (all-purpose flour) pastry cakes as I can. My all time favourites: the ribboned carnival doughnuts, my grandma’s sweet braided bread and the cinnamon rolls. All these pastries are light because of the all-purpose flour. If we bake them from whole wheat flour… well, the experience is not the same. So every once in awhile I let myself to be tempted…

And I encourage you to do it too! This coming weekend indulge yourself and your loved ones with this beautiful sesame seeds brioche bread. Is there anything better than having a slice of lukewarm brioche spreaded with creamy butter and homemade jam for breakfast? What do you think?

The first time I saw Peter’s video about making this brioche, I fell in love with this bread. Let’s just say I didn’t hesitate too long to bake it.

Brioche Bread

Ingredients

– 250 ml lukewarm water
– 3 and 1/2 tablespoons lukewarm milk
– 8 g dried yeast
– 4 tablespoons cane sugar
– 490 g plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
– 40 g butter, cubed
– 2 organic eggs
– 2 teaspoons salt
– sesame seeds

Method

In a small bowl combine water, milk, dried yeast and sugar. Allow yeast to proof (until it gets foamy).

In a big bowl combine flour, butter and salt. With your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add foamy yeast, one egg and mix everything with your hands until you get a sticky dough. Lay the dough on a floured board and knead for 5 minutes. If it’s necessary add a little more flour to it but not too much or the bread will be tougher. Shape the dough into a ball, place back into the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and let it rise for 30-40 minutes or until it has doubled in bulk.

Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto the floured board. Knead again for a few minutes and shape it to fit in a loaf pan (25 cm / 9,75 inch long). Cover with the kitchen towl and let it rise again until 30-40 minutes (doubles in size).

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C (360F).

In a small bowl beat the egg and brush a generous amount over the brioche. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 180C (360F) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before slicing.