RECIPE / ONE REALIZATION
Puddingbrezeln may look intricate, but with a bit of planning and patience, you’ll be rewarded with bakery-worthy results. This recipe—adapted from Bake to the Roots, the award-winning blog by Marc Kromer—requires some advance prep: both the dough and butter layer rest overnight, and the pudding filling benefits from chilling. Give yourself enough time to follow each step carefully, especially when folding the laminated dough and shaping the pretzels. The result is a delicate, flaky pastry filled with creamy vanilla pudding and topped with a bright lemon glaze—well worth the effort. Marc Kromer is a Berlin-based graphic designer and award-winning food blogger known for his American-inspired treats. He is the author of Cookie Mania, which features both classics (like chocolate-chip cookies) and innovative twists, such as sesame-miso cookies.
← Back to the dish overviewRECIPE INGREDIENTS
METHOD
The night before baking day, cut a piece of baking paper and sprinkle it with some flour. Slice the cold butter into chunks and place them on the floured paper. Cover with some more flour and another piece of baking paper. Use a rolling pin to flatten into a 1 cm (0.4-inch) thick square. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the crumbled yeast, butter, egg, egg yolks, and milk. Knead for approximately 6 to 8 minutes, until slick. Shape the dough into a ball and cover loosely with some plastic wrap. Place the ball into a bowl and refrigerate overnight (8-10 hours).
You can make the filling either the night before or on the day of baking. Pour ¾ of the milk and heavy cream into a saucepan. Thoroughly combine the remaining milk with sugar and cornstarch in a separate bowl and set aside. Slice the vanilla bean pod lengthwise and deseed. Put the seeds and the pod into the saucepan and bring the blend gently to a boil. Next, remove the pod and add the cornstarch mixture. Mix continuously until the pudding thickens. Remove from the flame and stir in the egg yolks. Leave to cool a bit, then put some plastic wrap directly over the pudding to stop the skin from forming. Leave to chill completely.
The next morning, remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured work counter. The rolled dough should be square-sized, about double the size of the butter block. Add the hardened butter on top of the dough at a 45º rotation (the edges of the butter should point out to the sides of the dough). Fold the dough edges over the butter, creating an envelope-like shape. Seal the butter in by pressing the seams together.
Triple the length of the square by rolling it out into a rectangle. Fold the ends towards the middle on top of each other to acquire a 3-layered square. Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for half an hour. Take the dough out and repeat the process of rolling and folding once more. After another half an hour in the refrigerator, roll the dough out to a 35x45cm (14x18-inch) square. Slice it lengthwise into 3 cm (1.2-inch) strands. Shape the strands into pretzels and place them on baking trays covered with baking paper. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
Set the oven to 220°C/430°F. Stuff the pretzels with the filling and bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown.
Mix confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice (not too thick), then brush the baked pretzels with the glaze and leave to cool completely before serving.