Hungarian Almond Roll with Blueberries and KAMUT

This Almond Roll with Blueberries and KAMUT, is a spiraled nut roll made with 30% home-milled wholegrain KAMUT.  The cooked filling of finely ground almonds, dried blueberries, lemon zest, milk, and sugar provides a deliciously sweet flavor and the crunchy texture makes a delightful treat.

Gigi’s Hungarian Almond Roll is the inspiration for our monthly bake for the Bread Baking Babes.  Pat of Feeding My Enthusiasms picked this recipe while thumbing through old magazines for therapy during the pandemic.  The original recipe is from an article in Sunset Magazine in 2001.

In the Sunset Magazine article, the author wrote,

In December, the doorbell rings often – a little refreshment on hand to offer guests is in order. My friend Gigi showed me how to make this lovely, spiraled nut roll, from a recipe her mother brought from Hungary. Chilled airtight, it stays fresh up to a week and makes a delectable alternative to cookies.

According to Pat, our host kitchen this month, even though we are far from December, it is always nice to have a treat on hand, and with warm weather in the northern hemisphere, it’s also nice to have something already baked that can be kept up to a week in the fridge for a cool, simple, but delicious snack, dessert or tea-time goodie.

This nut roll is similar to the Povitica we made last month, but the difference is in the cooked filling and the crunchy texture.  They are both great bakes, but to me, this almond roll tastes more like a crunchy pastry or cookie. Not complaining.  I love the deliciously sweet cooked filling for this nut roll. Although I think perhaps, I’ll reduce the sugar a bit the next time I make it.  And, I want to try a completely whole grain version.

My thoughts on making this nut roll:

Rolling out the dough:

Take your time.  Use a table that’s high enough to work on but low enough so you can lean over the dough while rolling it out. This gives you more charge over the dough.

Last month, I used my normal work surface with a floured cloth, but the counter was a bit too high.  This time, I placed the cloth on my kitchen table which made things much easier.

I didn’t roll the dough out into an even square so I just folded the sides to make it even before rolling it up.

Make sure the filling is completely cooled before dotting the rolled-out dough with it.  My filling was still a little warm so the dough stuck to the cloth even though I had floured it.  Not to worry. If that happens, just keep a dough scraper handy and gently scrape as you roll.  The butter in the dough helps keep it together even if it tears a bit.

I think I cooked my filling a bit too long because it didn’t spread without tearing the dough.  I just kept the dots of filling as is on the dough. I thought this would affect the look of the filling once it was baked, but the dots of filling looked fine.  The first couple of slices had a little less filling, but other than that, it was evenly distributed throughout the roll.

Don’t worry if the filling oozes out of the nut roll while baking.  Just let it harden a bit, scrap it off, and enjoy.

Adding whole grain flour to the dough:

I used a portion of coarsely milled wholegrain KAMUT flour.  It provided a wonderful flavor and color. Although I haven’t tried it yet, I do think a whole wheat version would work.

About the egg wash:

I used the leftover egg white instead of the extra egg yolk called for in the original recipe.  I liked the effect of the egg white wash. It provided a lovely sheen and didn’t make the outside eggy at all.

About the yeast

I reduced the yeast from 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast to 1 ¼ teaspoons of instant yeast.  This way, I was able to give the dough a little longer rise on the counter without over proofing it in my hot kitchen.  This also helped with rolling out.  The dough didn’t snap back.

If you are baking in a cooler kitchen, you could use more yeast, or just extend the proofing time.

About the salt

Unless this was just an omission, the original recipe didn’t include any salt.  That was one of the first things I noticed so I made the executive decision to add some salt but not too much.  It helped with the flavor and color of the nut roll.  Although I put the salt as optional, I think it was needed.

Relax. Bake. Enjoy

I thoroughly enjoyed this bake.  I had a little trouble rolling out the dough on the last bake so I decided to be one with the dough this time instead of fighting with it and getting frustrated.  It made a difference and the result was pure joy – the baking and the eating part.

Hungarian Almond Roll with Blueberries and KAMUT

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: One 2 lb. Nut Roll 1x

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Description

This Almond Roll with Blueberries and KAMUT, is a spiraled nut roll made with 30% home-milled whole grain KAMUT. The cooked filling of finely ground almonds, dried blueberries, lemon zest, milk, and sugar provides a deliciously sweet and crunchy texture and flavor and makes a delightful treat.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

Dough:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole grain KAMUT flour or other whole grain flour
• 1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt, optional
• 6 tablespoons warm water
• 1 large egg yolk
• About 6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

Almond Filling

• 1 cup unblanched, sliced almonds
• 3/4 cup dried blueberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 tsp grated lemon zest (Approx. 1 small lemon)
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Egg Wash

• 2 tsp water
• 1 egg white
• Pinch of salt

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Instructions

Nut Roll:

1. All ingredients should be at room temperature except warm water, which should be about 108-110 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole grain flours, sugar, salt, and yeast. Add the water, egg yolk and butter pieces and stir until evenly moistened using a wooden spoon or spatula.
3. To knead with a dough hook, beat at medium speed until dough pulls cleanly from bowl, about 5 minutes. To knead by hand, scrape dough onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes, adding flour (as little as possible) if necessary to prevent sticking; return to bowl.
4. Cover dough with plastic wrap or bees wrap and let rise in a warm place until it’s puffy enough to hold an impression when pressed with a finger (dough won’t double in volume), about 1 hour. (I let mine rise about 1.5 hours.)
5. With dough hook or your hands, punch air out of dough; lift dough from bowl and shape into a smooth ball. Set on the center of a floured pastry cloth or clean, smooth-textured dish towel. Pat dough flat; with a rolling pin, roll into a 14-inch to 15-inch square.
6. Spread or evenly dot Almond Filling over dough to within 1-inch of edges. Lift cloth from one side to roll dough into a compact loaf. Gently lift loaf and lay, seam side down, on a buttered 12-inch x 17-inch baking sheet. Pinch ends to seal, then fold under.
7. Cover loaf loosely with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until dough is slightly puffy, about 45 minutes.
8. In a small bowl, mix the egg white with water and a pinch of salt. Whisk until frothy. Brush loaf with egg mixture; discard any remaining.
9. Bake loaf on the center rack in a 325-degree F regular or convection oven until rich golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool at least 1 hour. Serve at room temperature. Cut cross-wise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

Almond Filling:

1. In a food processor, whirl the unblanched almonds to a fine meal.
2. In a 10-12-inch nonstick frying pan, combine almond meal, dried blueberries, sugar, milk, and grated lemon zest.
3. Stir over high heat until mixture is thick enough to hold a clean trail for a few seconds when you draw a spoon across pan bottom.
4. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Let cool at least 30 minutes.

• Category: Sweet Bread / Pastry

Happy Baking!
Cathy