I had these at the Budapest Saturday flea market while wandering around the antique and vintage stalls. I liked them so much I wanted to recreate them at home. I do love anything poppy seed – it’s like legal drugs.

The word kifli and other variants, means ‘horned’. The shape is lunar, like a crescent moon, so there may be a pagan origin, worship of a goddess. The crescent shape is considered the oldest for pastry. The lunar shape may also be a trace of islamic, Turkish culture as Hungary was occupied by the Ottomans for centuries. You can still see traces of this in modern Hungary, in the Turkish baths and the serving of pickled turnips with meals, for instance.

Any stale ones can be made into an Austrian recipe, Kipfelkoch, which is a bit like a bread and butter pudding, but with croissants and apple.

Poppy seed Kifli

I had these pastries at a flea market in Budapest. I love anything poppy seed but you can also get a walnut paste stuffed version.

Course Afternoon Tea, Desserts, Elevenses, Snack

Cuisine Hungarian

Keyword Eastern European food, Hungarian recipes, Kifli, Pastries, Poppy seed recipes

Serves 15

Ingredients

For the pastry:

250 g plain flour
1 tbsp fast acting yeast
35 g icing sugar
100 ml warm milk
1 egg
125 g butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp salt

For the filling:

225 g poppy seeds
125 ml milk
60 g butter
75 g caster sugar
4 tbsp honey
1 lemon, zest of

For brushing onto pastry:

1 small egg, whisked

Instructions

Mix the flour, yeast, icing sugar, warm milk (make sure it isn't too hot or it'll kill the yeast), egg to a bowl or stand mixer and mix until well incorporated.
Add the salt and the butter, lump by lump until mixed.
Cover and set aside for an hour or overnight in a cool place.

To make the filling:

Grind up the poppy seeds in a Vitamin or similar.
In a small saucepan on a low heat, add the milk, butter, sugar, honey, lemon zest. Heat gently until the butter is melted, then add the poppy seeds. Stir in well then remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To assemble:

Put the pastry onto a floured clean surface and divide into 15 balls (around 45g each).
Roll out each ball into a strip approximately 11 cm (4 inches) wide by 18cm (7 inches) long. The ends should be slightly thinner.
Pick up a ball of the ground poppy seed mixture with your hands or a spoon (it's quite solid so can be handled) and roll with your hands into a thin sausage about 15cm long (6 inches). Place in the middle of the pastry strip.
Fold over the pastry, sealing it with your fingers. Then push up the ends to make a crescent shape. Place on a silpat, silicone sheet or parchment paper on a flat baking tray.
Preheat the oven to 180C (360F) and continue to make the crescent shapes with the pastry and poppy seed mixture. You will probably need 2 baking trays if you are baking them all at once.
When the crescents, kifli, are all made, brush them with egg.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden.
Serve with coffee.

Hungarian poppy seed pastry ‘Kifli’ recipe