Kifla recipe, please?
Kifla is a Romanian holiday delicacy (at least for my family, which originally came to this country from northern Transylvania, close to the current-day Hungarian border), consisting of a sweet bread dough rolled with a walnut/sugar (I think brown sugar) filling. It is one of my childhood cravings, but unfortunately, my Romanian grandmother is no longer around to share her recipe (which anyway would have been something like "a handful of this, a pinch of that"). Does anyone by chance have a good kifla recipe?
laurie
Jan 16, 2008 05:45AM
My family is also from Transylvania - so we also ate kifli. What I remember, though, is something more like a pastry dough rather than bread dough. Anyway I'm going to suggest you do a google search for KIFLI (not kifla) and you'll find dozens of recipes. One of those will probably be what you remember. It seems that every village, every family, every cook had her own version of kifli. I suspect this is still true today. I visited that area last summer and it's still pretty unspoiled by globalism!
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Wow, I'd never heard of it referred to as kifli before! It sounds as though you are describing it perfectly! Thanks for the spelling tip; I'll try it. You're right about the unspoiled nature of the Transylvanian countryside; the only traffic jam I encountered on a trip a couple years back was caused by a flock of sheep! What part of the country is your family from?
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My mother was from Oradea and my father was born in Medias Aurit, which is not far from Satumare, but he lived for many years in Cluj. What a place that is. We did a family roots trip last summer through those towns, plus another one, even more remote - Comlausa. The womens' Sunday dress outfits were unbelievable. The food - the mamaliga! - was fantastic.
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Google "Beigli" and you should find what you are all searching for. The leavened, egg bread pastry ("Kalács") is pale yellow, breadish, slighty sweet and has a hard, shiny brown crust, right?
"Kifli" are the smaller, white, crescent-shaped pastries with the texture of short bread and are also filled with walnut or poppy seed confection.
Cheers.
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Ohhhh, bingo, this sounds like it! I'll Google beigli and let you know. . . .
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Over Christmas, I made my neighbor's holiday recipe for kolache, which is what you describe: very rich pastry wrapped jelly-roll style around a ground walnut/sugar/egg white/vanilla filling. (Just did a search for kifli, and it's not the same, since kifli seems to be an individual pastry, and my neighbor's kolache is a loaf.) If you're interested, I'll post her recipe. She said it's a czech pastry, but perhaps a different name for the same item? I think kolache is a very broad term.
It was quite delicious.
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I posted the recipe in the following thread, which was looking for the same pastry with a different name, orahnjaca, from Croatia. does this look familiar?
Note that it has an unusual way of incorporating the butter, by hand kneading it after all the other ingredients have been combined, i.e. into the dough. This might be a concession to not having a mixer, but I've never seen it before. Has anyone else?
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/482752
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Nyleve, my family is from the countryside outside of the Satu Mare, so our kin are pretty close! We spent one night in Cluj during our "roots" road trip and really enjoyed that college town. As for the Sunday finery, are you describing the Gypsies (I was fascinated to see that covered wagon encampments were still common!) or the folk dress of the Maramures region, which is a little north of what we're describing?
Nyleve and Leucadian, I also checked out kifli on Google and, while it reminds me of cookies that my grandmother made, it isn't the kifla that I'm describing. Kifla as I know it is a sweet bread, somewhat similar to a coffee cake, except the walnut and sugar mixture is rolled into the dough (kind of like a jellyroll) then baked. These aren't individual servings, but loaves of bread about the size of a loaf bread you would buy at the grocery store. As a kid I would eat it for breakfast with a little butter or as a snack. Does this ring a bell?
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What you're describing sounds more like a babka type thing. We would often have babka for breakfast - even the chocolate kind! - warmed up slightly and served with butter. But our kifli probably comes closer to rugelach really - individual rolled pastries with a rich pastry dough, not yeast.
We came upon the Sunday dress when we travelled up toward the Ukranian border - yes, north of Satu Mare. Had a wonderful lunch in Comlausa at the home of a family friend who still lives there. Gorgeous vegetarian cabbage rolls (made with rice and mushrooms), delicious local cheese, this delicious green bean dish (a little saucy and nicely overcooked), a veal stew of some sort, sliced meats and vegetables and - of course - homemade slivovitz which could just about singe your eyebrows off. It was an amazing experience to be eating the same food my parents would have had in a place near where they were born.
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Oh, your photos are wonderful! I'm going to look up Comlausa; I'm betting it's in Maramures, which is close to the Ukranian border. And the description of your feast makes my mouth water. I have never seen a vegetarian version of Romanian stuffed cabbage (another important staple of my youth). Is the slivovitz similar to the pulinca (homemade plum liquor) that we were served in just about every home we visited?
I'll Google babka and let you know if that fits the bill. . . .
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You know what - I think it was actually palinka, not slivovitz. My memory is playing tricks on me. My father always kept a bottle of slivovitz in the cupboard - so that's what I remember. But the stuff we were served in Romania was palinka. You'd take a sip and, at first you would feel it burning as it went down your throat. But then it would disperse into your body - the extremities were first to go. Arms and legs. My cousin and I loved it because it reminded us of our hippie drug days.
And yes, it was in Maramures. Absolutely.
When my husband and I first got married, my dad used to offer him a shot of slivovitz most evenings before dinner. This was, for my husband, a bonding moment.
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Well, you are braver with the palinka than I was! A mere whiff of it made my eyelids do summersaults. . . .
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Yeah, but once you get through the somersaults it's great.
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Laurie - I come from Northern Romania (Bucovina), and in Romanian, for me 'chifla' means 'bread roll' (nothing fancy, btw). Chifle with a famer's cheese sweet filling are 'branzoaice'.
What you describe, especially given its festive nature, sounds more like 'cozonac cu nuca' to me. In my family, we only make it with raisins, but the fillings can range from walnuts and honey to poppy seeds and jam, Here are some pictures - let me know if you need a recipe.
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Ok, I've researched both beigli and babka, and beigli (which is Hungarian) looks the closest to what I know as kifla. Which makes sense, since the villages where my grandparents were born are very close to the present-day Hungarian border (and were once under Austro-Hungarian rule), and the streets signs are still bilingual (Romanian and Hungarian) even to this day. Babka also looks similar, but not as close as beigli. Thanks to both of you for your help!
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Here's my family's recipe from Slovenia. Not sure if this comes close, but in any case, they're wonderful. Traditional Christmas cookie for us.
Kifle
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 small cake yeast
1/2 cup margarine
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sour cream
Sift flour and salt into mixing bowl. Crumble in yeast. Cut in margarine with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add egg yolks and sour cream and mix well. Form into a ball and place on a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Divide dough into 3 parts. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for about 2 hours.
Filling:
1 cup finely ground walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
Heat oven to 375. Combine walnuts and sugar. Fold into beaten egg whites. Add vanilla and blend. Set aside. Sprinkle board with powdered sugar and roll each part of dough into a 9-inch circle. Cut each into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Fill the wide end of each wedge with a rounded teaspoon of filling and roll from wide end to point. Tuck point underneath. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar.
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This sounds delicious, and very similar to some wonderful cookies we buy locally at a little produce market. I'm going to give this a try!
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Laurie, your description of kifla sounds like Slovenian potica to me. I have family recipes for that wonderful bread as well, but have been too intimidated to try it. If you have success with beigli, please post the recipe.
My family came from an area of eastern Europe that was under Austrian rule at the time of their journey in the early 1900's. Courageous people with a wonderful talent for baking. Wish I had paid more attention as a child when grandma was demonstrating her art. That woman rarely left the kitchen unless she was in the garden tending the vegetables.
Hope you enjoy the kifle recipe!
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Laurie,
My husbands Step-Grandmother was from Romania & She and her Church (St. Micheal Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church in Aurora, IL) every year they make Kifla Bread at Easter & Christmas. It is a must in our household! I have three recipes for this bread in their church recipe book. Unfortunately his Grandmother has passed & I am not sure which recipe is the closest they used. Searching online myself, looks like some of the diff. bread variations are sweeter than others, and some make more of a paste with the nuts, but theirs used chopped walnuts, sugar & cinnamon, & some also add brown sugar, which is the way I make it. If you would like I can scan all three & you can see which works best for you. I am making this today so it was funny to see this posted as years ago I searched & didn't find anything on Kifla.
Diane
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By all means, post all you have.
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OMG, Diane, I'm from Aurora, and my father's side of the family belonged to St. Mike's!!!! My aunt until a few years back used to send me kifla made by the church ladies (she used to be part of the baking team). I would LOVE the recipes you have!! Bingo, you've hit a home run on this one! Thank you!!
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My husband is from Aurora. His family didn't go to Saint Michael's but went to St; George. As a matter of fact, my mother-in-law still attends St. George's Church. Some of my husbands cousins still go there,too. I even have a couple of recipe books put out by St. Michael's. I make the kifla recipe and it is made with sour cream and has a walnut filling. I usually make it for Easter and Christmas. The women at St, George's used to make it every Christmas but they don't any more. I think the younger generation really isn't into it. My kifla recipe is almost exactly like the kifle recipe in a previous post. My husband and I make stuffed cabbage for Easter. I just had to reply when I saw you were from Aurora. I consider myself Romanian by marriage.
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Hah! That's great! I relate; I consider myself Colombian by marriage. . . .
You know, you reminded me that somewhere packed in a box I have a Xeroxed copy of an old St. Mike's cookbook. I'd totally forgotten about it until now; I haven't looked at it in years. I'm doing to dig for it and see if I can't find that kifla recipe. Thanks so much for the tip! And best regards to your husband.
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The St Michael's cookbook that I have with all the romanian recipes in it is the 80th anniversary one. I make the recipe called the two hour nut roll. As a matter of fact, I am making kifla tomorrow. My grandson's preschool teacher is from Romania. He is the only student she has ever had here in Texas with romanian blood. We are making the kifla for her. I am teaching my daughter how to make it. I wonder if St. Michael's is going to put out a hundred year anniversary cookbook. I looked to see if they had a website like St, George and they don't. I will have to ask my mother-in-law about it next time we talk. If they do, I definitely want one!
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I'm going to ask some family about the next cookbook edition and let you know! The photocopied cookbook I have is at least 10 years old (probably much older) and is titled "Romanian American Cook Book" and published in Cleveland (like Aurora, a town with a large Romanian population) by the Unirea, FRCW, and Ladies Auxiliaries of the Romanian Catholic Parishes, U.S.A. There's a recipe in there for "nut rolls" which sounds like kifla. I'll try it pretty soon and report back. . . .
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This is so wonderful! I've googled Kifla occasionally for years looking for a recipe, ever since Elizabeth Ratz (who went to St.Michaels in Aurora) gave us several every year that my mom did her taxes for her. (that was back in the 70's.) I got loved it, and never could find a recipe that was quite what she made -- too sweet, too heavy, too many flavors in the filling, always something. If you'd post recipes that would be fabulous, and if you find out if St Mike's is going to put out a cookbook, I'd sure appreciate a head's-up. I moved away from Aurora years ago.
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I am originally from the Aurora area and my husband's family attended St. Michael's. I was so surprised to see a mention of Elizabeth Ratz. She was my husband's grandmother's (Mary Sunas) very good friend. I have the 1980 version of the church cookbook. It contains several Kifla/kifli recipes but none of them is credited to Mrs. Ratz. I also had the pleasure of knowing Margaret Matei a Romanian woman and St. Mike's parishioner who gave me a lot of secrets about authentic recipes though none of them for kifle. I had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth when she was in the nursing home where I then worked. I would be happy to post the recipes that are in the cook book but am especially interested in obtaining another copy. A 100th year anniversary cook book would be fabulous too.
If anyone knew these Romanian women and what towns they came from I would love to hear from you.
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it's funny, i was reading your post and it immediately reminded me of a korean dish called hoddeok...basically a bready, pancake-y thing filled w/ brown sugar and walnuts...what a small world...:o)
http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/01/29...
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The recipes in the St. Mike's cookbook are from Emma Bonye, Margaret Matyas and Lillian Zizich. They are very similar to one another. They are all a yeast dough made with sour cream and have a walnut, sugar (white and/or brown) and cinnamon filling. It is a "log" if you will where the nut filling is rolled inside. There is a spiral effect when it is sliced. It is excellent toasted with butter. I have had another version of the filling which some of the ladies made using poppy seed.
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My mother is Serbian and this is her recipe for Kifli. This recipe doesn't use yeast.
Dough:
4 large egg yolks
2 sticks of softened butter
1 cup of sour cream
4 cups of flour
Mix dough ingredients together, form into walnut size balls and refrigerate overnight.
Filling:
4 egg whites
2 to 2 1/2 cups of finely ground walnuts
1 1/14 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
Mix filling ingredients together.
Roll out dough balls to about a 6 inch circle. Spread filling on dough to about 1/4 inch from edges. Roll up like a jelly roll and bend to form a horseshoe shape. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. If you run out of filling you can use any kind of jam for the rest of the cookies.
My mother said that the word kifli means crescent (hence the shape). She said that the shape was taken from the crescent in the Turkish flag and was to remind them of their opression under the Ottoman empire.
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OH BRAVO! THis IS THE exact recipe i grew up with Serbian GG and Grandmas rolling and telling stories in Serbian as tiny hands made little walnut size dough balls. Thank You! Thank You for your post. We use a cup of hot milk in our filling of ground walnuts- no cin and no lemon juice. But who is to say what got lost in translation. Kefla!
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I wonder if you're confused about the name. In my family, Kifli are crescent-shaped almond cookies, rolled in sugar before baking. Are you perhaps thinking about Dios and Macos (don't know how to spell these names in Hungarian, sorry) -- one is a thin bread rolled around a poppy-seed filling; the other is a thin bread rolled around a walnut and something else filling. I think I have the recipes at home. Does that sound right?
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My grandmother was Polish, my grandfather was Hungarian, and my gramma made Kifly. The dough was cream cheese and flour. When you rolled the dough, use granulated sugar. One filling was pulverized walnuts with grated apple and sugar, the other was cooked prunes with grated sugar. My favorite. And I don't eat many sweets. I have the recipe if you want it. These are not a loaf. These are the crescent shaped cookies.
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