Rustico Buttergipfel

55 g unsalted butter I

225 g unsalted butter II
30 g flour
15 g cold water

7 g dry yeast
20 ml lukewarm water
160 ml col water
14 g malt syrup , or 30 g dark honey
12 g salt
1 large egg
380 g flour

My Grandma used to "toast" the butter for almost every pastry - either at the time of preparing or just before serving. It gave just a small "intonation" of difference to the colour but such a complete finish to the taste. At the time I did not care what and why she did that - to me it was just an extra unnecessary work. Later on at the university I realized how the separation works and what a difference it makes to the taste. French call it beurre noisette and use it mostly for pastry and savoury hot sauces, Indians call it ghee and cook mainly with it, in Germany and in the German part of Switzerland, chefs use this "toasty" butter for the buttergipfels.  The process is a simple separation into butterfat and milk solids, called clarification. This reduces the nonfat liquid and gives the butter thick, clear, nutty flavour.

Cook the first quantity of butter at medium heat to a stage where its colour looks a lot like amber and a very nice "baked butter" aroma is sensed. (As my little helper concluded: "This smells like pancakes!"- because of the aroma that comes from greasing the pan for the pancakes). The butter should be watched closely as it could be burned very easily. Leave it to cool at room temperature.

Place the second quantity of butter, flour and 15 ml cold water in bowl, large enough to allow mixing. With a wooden spoon or by hands, homogenize the ingredients into a ball. Have two equal size sheets of clear foil ready - big enough to accommodate a rolled piece with measurements 15 x 22 cm.  Place the buttery ball on one of them and roll with a rolling pin to a rectangle (size 15 x 22 cm). Cover with the second foil and refrigerate for 15-20 min (#1 on the following picture).

Tip: I used one of the foil pieces to form the buttery ball, avoiding too much mixing by clear hands as the butter melts really fast because of the warmness of the hands).

In a bowl of a mixer with the dough attachment, scale the flour, salt, malt syrup and the egg. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and add it to the bowl without having a contact with the salt. Add the cooled "toasted" butter and the cold water. Mix at very low for 1-2 min just to form a soft dough. Wrap in foil and place in the fridge for 30 min. Gluten will not have time to start developing but will certainly do that in the following folding procedures. 

Lets start rolling!

Take the dough and the butter block out of the fridge. Roll the dough to a rectangular shape 24 x 45cm. Place the butter block over it - the longer side of the butter block lays over the shorter side of the dough - 22 cm butter block to 24 cm side of the dough - this way the butter covers one third of the rolled dough (#2 on the following picture). Using your fingers, spread the butter over, covering two thirds of the dough - it is an easy procedure as the butter block has not been chilled for a long period of time and is quite workable (#3 on the following picture). Follow the pictures to fold it properly. Slightly "seal" the edges without firm pressing. Wrap in foil and place in the fridge for an hour. The dough will need to be fold in thirds three times. "Accommodating" the butter block is not considered as one of these three folds. Every time the dough comes out of the fridge, turn it clockwise at 90, having the last folded edge on top. This will distribute the butter more evenly and will stretch the dough in every direction.  Folded dough after the first turn (#6 on the following picture) does not require "sealing" the edges.

After the last rest in the fridge, roll the dough in a rectangular shape 32 x 72 cm. Have the working surface heavily dusted with flour, avoiding dough sticking after resting.

Let the rolled dough rest for 10-15 min. This will prevent from shrinking after cutting. Cut it lengthwise      in the middle. Divide in 8 cm each side of the big rectangle, then connect in diagonals as on the picture.  Each triangle is a future buttergipfel. Make a small cut in the middle of the base of each triangle.  Fold in a buttergipfel as in the picture.

Arrange the buttergipfel in a pan sheet. Egg wash. Sprinkle popi seeds (or sesam seeds) for a rustic look and taste.

Bake at 200C until golden. Have a heatproof filled with water bowl in the oven.

Cool the ready buttergipfels on a wire rack.

Serve with cottage cheese, feta, mozzarella and with ... Chocolate, of course. After all, everything is about our chocolate passion.

Buttergipfels over a butter block