Puff pastry Berlin "Ushki"
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Berliner Pastry is a delicious ear-shaped pastry made from puff pastry.It's generally accepted that this dessert originated in Germany, where they're called "pig's ears" cookies. Unfortunately, no one knows for sure where these pastries originated, but everyone knows that both Germans and Slavs love to munch on them with tea and cocoa!
Essentially, the recipe for these sweets isn't complicated or difficult, but it does consist of two parts: puff pastry and fondant, or perhaps icing. Therefore, to make these famous and delicious Berliner pastries, you first need to choose a good puff pastry recipe. You can significantly speed up the process by buying ready-made pastry at the supermarket, but making your own is far more rewarding.
Puff pastry for Berliner pastries
This recipe for yeast-free puff pastry was probably used by our grandmothers and, of course, by Soviet pastry chefs. It's perfect for cakes, puff pastries, and "ears."
The best part is that this recipe is simple and doesn't require expensive ingredients, yet the resulting dough is just as good as store-bought. Incidentally, this method of preparation is also known as "German-style dough."
For the dough you will need the following ingredients:
- sifted wheat flour - 4 tbsp.;
- natural butter - 450 g;
- ice water - 1 tbsp.;
- chicken eggs - 2 pcs.;
- citric acid - 0.5 tsp;
- salt on the edge of a teaspoon.
Place 3.5 cups of flour on a clean surface lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper. The flour should form a mound, with a depression at the top, like a volcano crater, as shown in the photo. Crack the eggs into this crater, add citric acid, water, and salt. Knead the dough with your hands. It shouldn't be too sticky or hard. Then wrap it in plastic wrap or a towel to prevent it from drying out and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Cut the butter into pieces and place it in a bowl, add the remaining flour. Mash everything until it becomes a paste.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1-1.5 cm. Place the butter mixture in the center, spreading it out as shown in the photo. The recipe calls for folding the edges of the rolled dough into an envelope—folding the top and bottom edges toward the center, then the right and left edges. Using a rolling pin, carefully roll out the resulting envelope to the same thickness as the first time.
Roll this dough layer again, but slightly differently: fold the right and left sides toward the center, as in the photo, then fold like a book and chill for 20-30 minutes, wrapped in plastic wrap. Then roll it out and fold it again in the same way, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill. Repeat this process 2-3 more times. Finally, roll it out to a thickness of 1 cm.
Puff pastry is ready to use!
Berlin cakes with white icing
The most common recipe for these cakes uses white icing. However, if desired, you can add food coloring and make the icing any color of the rainbow. This will create cheerful "pig ears" somewhat reminiscent of colorful American doughnuts.
According to the recipe we will need:
- puff pastry - 250 g;
- brown sugar - 70 g;
- vanilla.
Prepare the dough by rolling it out lightly and dusting it with flour. Once rolled out, trim the edges to form a smooth rectangle. Sprinkle half the sugar and vanilla on top. Visually determine the center and begin rolling it toward the center from the left and right sides, as shown in our photo.
This recipe calls for traditional "ears," so they should be the same size as you're used to. To do this, roll out the dough and cut it into 2-cm-thick pieces. Sprinkle them with the remaining sugar.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the "ears" on it. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 5-6 minutes on each side. The cakes should be nicely browned.
For white glaze you will need:
- powdered sugar - 3 tbsp;
- vanilla sugar corn starch - 1 tbsp;
- juice of half a lemon;
- Purified water - 1 tbsp.
This glaze recipe is incredibly simple. All you need to do is mix all the ingredients together until smooth and refrigerate. It's crucial to use cornstarch, as potato starch is generally not used in baked goods due to its distinctive flavor.
Drizzle the glaze over the finished "ears," as shown in the photo, and refrigerate for 40-50 minutes. Serve the finished Berliner pâtisserie with herbal tea, cocoa, or any other hot beverage.
Berlin cheesecakes
To add some variety to the traditional puff pastry "ears," you can add a twist—cottage cheese, to be exact!
So, you need to cook from the following products:
- puff pastry - 250 g;
- cottage cheese - 150 g;
- sugar - 70 g;
- raisins - 50 g;
- any jam - 100 ml.
Roll out the dough and spread the cottage cheese, raisins, and sugar over it, distributing them evenly. Roll and cut as in the previous recipe.
Bake the Berliner in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes on each side. Top the finished dessert with jam, condensed milk, or any other topping of your choice.
