Make Ahead
Karelian pastry
- Prep time 3 hours
- Cook time 15 minutes
- makes 40
Author Notes
This is an iconic Finnish pastry. I remember my great grandma would make me these every Saturday when I was a kid. These pastries can be a bit finicky at first, but when you master the technique you will end up with perfect Karelian pastries. The Finnish rolling pin used for making karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pastry) has no handles and has a distinctive shape compared to typical rolling pins. It is traditionally slightly tapered and elongated, with a more rounded or oval cross-section. The pin is often smaller and more delicate, allowing for precise control when rolling out the thin, oval-shaped dough for the pastry. It is important to roll the dough out into an oval shape, around the size of your hand and approx. 1.5-2 mm thin. Also it is important to leave the porridge to cool down overnight, because if you don't do this step, you will end up softening the crust with the warm porridge, resulting in the crust ripping. —ilmari sillanpää
Ingredients
- rice porridge
-
400 milliliters
water
-
400 milliliters
porridge rice
-
1700 milliliters
milk
-
1 teaspoon
salt
- rye crust
-
200 milliliters
cold water
-
1 teaspoon
salt
-
250 milliliters
rye flour
-
300 milliliters
wheat flour
-
25 grams
butter
Directions
- Make the porridge the day before you are going to make the pastries. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add the rice. Boil on medium heat until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Add the milk in small portions at a time, mixing constantly, to prevent it from burning. When all the milk has been added, and the porridge is simmering, put on a lid. Mix occasionally. when it's done, add the salt and let cool. Cover with cling film. Let cool overnight in the fridge.
- Prepare the dough by adding all the ingredients, except the butter to the water. Mix until combined. knead in the butter. the dough should be firm but flexible. Make a long roll out of the dough and divide into 40 parts. Form discs about 5mm thick out of the dough and dust them thoroughly with flour. Let the discs rest under a kitchen towel to prevent drying. Dust off excess flour using a pastry brush. Use the piirakkapulikka to form ovals about the size of your hand and approx. 1.5-2mm thin. Dust the ovals with flour, and cover with a kitchen towel. Lay some of the ovals on the table and in the middle of each one add 1.5-2 tablespoons of the porridge, leaving some space around the porridge. Gently fold the edges of the crust towards the center. Form small, tight pleats: make small, uniform pleats along the length of the pasty. The pleats should be fairly close together and evenly spaced, following the shape of the oval. when you are done, fold the wrinkles at the ends of the oval towards the center, on to the porridge. Transfer onto a baking tray. There is no need to leave a lot of space between the pastries, because they will not grow in size.
- Bake at 275-300°C (520-570°F) without baking paper or with a silicone mat, that can withstand at least 300°C for 10-12 minutes.
- Melt 75 grams of butter and mix with warm milk. brush the finished pastries with the milk-butter mixture. Cover with a kitchen cloth.
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