Hungarian Pastry: Butterhorn Braid

Marc and I are back at the VA today.. If you think about it send up a prayer for us. They are reevaluating his disability today. :/ The VA has him at 10% but he has been in a wheelchair and on crutches since June.

When we go to the VA we never know how long we will be gone, and we always have to leave at some odd hour….so I make things ahead that the kids can grab for breakfast when they get up. I don’t know if this is actually Hungarian or not but I found it in one of my old cookbooks. It is reminiscent of Danish pastry. It has a very tender and slightly sweet crumb, buttery and flaky. Be sure and use the full fat sour cream, the low fat or fat free just won’t work. I braided it rather than doing the traditional crescents because…well because I wanted to!

Butterhorn Braid

4 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tbs sugar
1 envelope of yeast
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
3 egg yolks, room temp
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp

Mix flour, sugar, and salt. Mix yeast into flour. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Add beaten egg yolks, sour cream and vanilla. Set dough aside.

Filling:
Beat the reserved three egg whites until stiff. Add 2 cups of sugar, gradually. Fold in 1 cup of chopped pecans and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.

Roll sough into a rectangle. Spread filling down center and then cut and braid. Place on a silpat covered baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Serves 12

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