Buchteln
Buchteln are Austrian and Czech yeast buns baked packed tightly together in a buttered dish. Each is dipped in melted butter before going in, so they pull apart with your fingers and their sides stay soft and pale. Inside is plum jam, though Vienna also fills them with poppy seed or curd cheese. They are served warm, dusted with icing sugar and classically with vanilla sauce. They count as a dessert, though in Austria they often stand in as a sweet main course.
Your own work in that: 40 min.
- Dough 20 min
- Rising 75 min
- Shaping 20 min
- Proving 40 min
- Baking 35 min
- Cooling 20 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneStart the yeast
Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk, add a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of flour, stir and leave 10 minutes until it bubbles.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 220 ml lukewarm milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 60 g sugar · 80 g butter, melted · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Knead the dough
Add the rest of the flour and sugar, the eggs, salt, lemon zest and melted butter. Knead 10 minutes until smooth, soft and coming away from the bowl.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 220 ml lukewarm milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 60 g sugar · 80 g butter, melted · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Leave to rise
Cover the bowl and leave somewhere warm for 60–75 minutes, until doubled.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 220 ml lukewarm milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 60 g sugar · 80 g butter, melted · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
The dough should double.Divide the dough
Turn onto a floured surface — the dough weighs about 990 g — and divide it into 12 pieces of about 82 g. Flatten each into a 10 cm round.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 220 ml lukewarm milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 60 g sugar · 80 g butter, melted · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Fill
Put a level tablespoon of jam (about 20 g) in the middle of each round, pinch the edges tightly shut and shape a ball, seam down.
Ingredients: 250 g thick plum jam · 80 g butter for dipping and the dish · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Seal well — jam likes to escape.Pack the dish
Butter a dish of about 24 × 30 cm. Dip each ball in melted butter and set them side by side, three rows of four — they start about 2 cm apart, and the gaps close as they prove and bake.
Ingredients: 250 g thick plum jam · 80 g butter for dipping and the dish · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Tightly packed — they should join up.Prove and bake
Cover and leave 40 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C and bake 30–35 minutes, until golden on top.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 220 ml lukewarm milk · 25 g fresh yeast · 60 g sugar · 80 g butter, melted · 2 pcs eggs · 1 tsp salt · 1 tsp grated lemon zest
Cool and serve
Cool 20 minutes — hot jam scalds. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm, ideally with vanilla sauce.
Ingredients: 250 g thick plum jam · 80 g butter for dipping and the dish · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Before you start
Vanilla sauce
The classic accompaniment is a thin custard: heat 250 ml of milk with half a vanilla pod, pour it slowly onto 2 yolks beaten with 40 g of sugar and cook gently, stirring, until it thickens — never letting it boil.
Other fillings
Thick apricot jam, poppy seed paste or curd cheese with raisins all work. The filling must be thick; a runny one leaks during baking.
Storage
Best on baking day. They keep 2 days under a cloth; refresh 5 minutes at 160°C. They freeze for 2 months.
