Slovak Pastry
Recipe makes about 50 3 inch pastries
Inexpensive but time-consuming, this authentic specialty allows you to spend time instead of money, and smells wonderful while baking. The repeated folding and rolling of the layered dough results in many tender pastry layers. Decorticated cardamon just means the papery tan hull is removed, leaving little black or brown seeds whuch are then ground for use in the pastry.
Pastry
2 pounds butter, preferably European style unsalted
2 pounds (8-1/2 cups) self rising flour, divided
Juice of 2 lemons
6 egg yolks, well beaten
1 and 1/2 cups water
Raisin Walnut Filling
1 cup soft butter
1 tablespoon decorticated cardamom seeds, crushed or ground
4 cups brown sugar
4 tablespoons evaporated canned milk
OR 1/2 cup whipping cream
3 cups golden raisins
2 cups chopped and crushed walnuts
Powdered sugar to garnish, about 2 cups
Take one half of the flour and cut in the butter as if making pie crust. This makes a buttery crumbly mixture.
Mix the remaining one half of the flour with the water, lemon juice and egg yolks. Knead for a full 20 minutes, or until it looks like blistery bubbles are forming under the skin.
Roll out on floured board to a rectangle of one-half inch thickness. If it is too springy to roll, let it rest 20 minutes and it will cooperate (the gluten relaxes).
Spread the crumbly mixture of flour and butter across 1/2 of the rectangle. Fold the other half over, capturing all the butter mix in a layer inside a dough “pocket”, lightly pressing the sides together to keep the crumbs in. Then fold in half again. It will be almost 2 inches thick. Cover and place in refrigerator for 2 hours to relax the dough and firm the butter. I use a dish towel which I have wetted and wrung out as a cover.
While the dough is resting, make the raisin nut filling. Place the raisins in a sauce pan, add just enough water to cover. Simmer the raisins in water until puffed soft, stirring once or twice. Drain off the liquid. Let cool. NOTE: The raisin water is sweet and can be saved to cook oatmeal or as the liquid in a cookie or yeast bread recipe.
Finish the filling by melting the butter and mixing the cardamom into it. Then stir in the brown sugar and enough evaporated milk or cream to enable you to spread mixture easily. Next mix in the cooked, cooled raisins and the chopped nuts and blend well. Set aside.
Take the dough out of refrigerator and roll out once to 1/2 inch thickness, fold, cover and put back in refrigerator for 1 hour. It will be about 1 inch thick.
Repeat rolling and folding and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from refrigerator, place on floured board and cut into six flat parts. Roll out one part at a time to a rectangle of 1/8 inch thickness about 6×12 or 9×9 inches. Cut into 3 inch squares.
Spread some raisin-nut filling near the top edge and center and roll top edge to bottom. Press open corners together, so the filling will not leak out. The cookie looks sort of like a fat bed pillow. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet seam side down.
Bake on cookie sheets or thin baking pans in a 400 degree F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. They should be just golden, not dark brown.
When cool and just before serving sprinkle some powdered sugar across the tops.