Buchteln

The tops take on a golden-brown color, while the sides that touched their neighbors bake up pale and soft. Buchteln are a Central European sweet made by packing small parcels of yeast dough together in a pan, baking them, and pulling them apart one by one. They came from Bohemia to Vienna and took root in Austria, Czechia and the surrounding areas. Some are larger and wrapped around a fruit filling, while others are small and have no filling. Even though they are baked packed together in the same way, they taste different.

Spreading butter between the filled pieces of dough

Flour is combined with yeast, milk, eggs, sugar and butter to make a smooth dough. Some versions start with a preferment and then add the remaining ingredients, while others knead everything together from the start. After the dough has risen well, it is divided into small pieces. Each piece is rolled out into a circle and topped with filling, and the edges are gathered together to close it.

Typical fillings are apricot jam and powidl, a thick plum spread made by cooking plums down. Poppy seeds, Topfen and nuts are also used. The sweetness and acidity of fruit, the mild flavor of dairy and the fine, grainy texture of poppy seeds each give a filling its own character. The filling is not kneaded into the dough. Instead, it is wrapped and tucked into the center.

Some poppy seed fillings also include milk or fat. In an example from the Tsuji Culinary Institute’s correspondence course, blue poppy seeds are steeped in milk, sugar and honey, and cake crumbs are added. This mixture is combined with marzipan, butter, egg yolk, rum and cinnamon and then wrapped in the dough. The result is a soft filling that combines the fine seeds with crumbs of baked cake and milk.

Each piece is dipped in melted butter and placed seam-side down in a greased pan. The pieces are set close together, with room left to expand as they rise, and are left to rise once more before baking. The butter between them keeps the pieces from sticking together too much, which makes the baked buns easy to pull apart one by one. A crust forms on top, while the parts that touch neighboring pieces bake up soft.

Small unfilled Buchteln and vanilla sauce

Dukatenbuchteln are a small version named after the ducat, a gold coin. They are baked without filling and served with vanilla sauce. With fruit-filled Buchteln, the dough and filling are enjoyed together. With unfilled ones, the sauce adds sweetness and a moist texture. The sauce coats the small pieces of dough, and the aromas of milk and egg come together in a single bite.

The sauce is also made in different ways. Some sauces are thickened by heating milk and egg yolks, some also use starch, and others fold half-whipped cream into a chilled egg-yolk sauce. The sauce is served either warm or cold. Flavor and texture vary not only with size but also with whether there is a filling and which sauce is served alongside.

A name from Czech and the journey to Vienna

The Czech word buchta, its plural buchty and the diminutive buchtičky are the source of the Austrian Buchtel, plural Buchteln. In western Austria and neighboring Bavaria they are also called Rohrnudeln, and in dialect Wuchteln. The name of this sweet changed form as it crossed from one region to another.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, cooks from Bohemia came to work in the homes of Vienna’s townspeople, and dishes made with yeast dough spread along with them. By the Biedermeier period (1815–48), Buchteln were known in Vienna too. The dough used in homes and shops is said to have shifted from coarse rye flour to wheat flour. It is not known which household first made them.

An anecdote from Hermannskogel near Vienna tells of M. Nebenhay, a shopkeeper of the Biedermeier period, who sold “Ternobuchteln” with winning numbers for the number lottery “Terno” baked inside. They are said to have been popular with pilgrims on St. Agnes’ Day and on the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

A specialty of Café Hawelka

At Café Hawelka in Vienna, co-owner Josefine Hawelka baked Buchteln from her own family recipe and served them to guests, and they became the café’s specialty. This homemade sweet, baked packed together in a pan and pulled apart one by one, also came to be loved in a café setting.

The Buchteln that Josefine baked were passed down to her son Günter. In an interview with the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, her grandson Amir said that he still follows the original recipe and serves them from 8 p.m. Unlike sweets that can be ordered with coffee at any time, they are a house specialty that guests wait until evening to enjoy.

Eaten with the liquid from stewed dried fruit or with bean dishes

Regional ways of eating Buchteln are not limited to jam-filled sweets. In the Innviertel, they were once made with rye on weekdays and wheat on Sundays, and eaten with the liquid from stewed dried plums or dried pears. In the Weinviertel, there is also a fast-day meal in which unsweetened, unfilled dough is served with a bean dish. Depending on the region, they may be a sweet treat, a bread eaten as part of a meal, or a sweet main dish.

In the Tennengau area of the state of Salzburg, people once believed that eating Rohrnudeln on Easter Sunday would ward off stomachaches in the year ahead. This local custom is recorded in the official register of traditional foods. This baked sweet also had a place on the table during annual festivities.

Buchteln belong to the same family of yeast-dough dishes as steamed Dampfnudel and boiled or steamed Germknödel, but they differ in cooking method and brown on top. Packing the dough together and baking it in the oven produces both the shape that can be pulled apart and served one piece at a time and the crust on top.

Glossary