Wallachian Frgál with Blueberries

A large, thin-crusted Czech pastry from Wallachia, piled with blueberries and streusel and brushed with butter and rum.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Czech

Keyword Czech pastry, frgál, Valašsko

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 20

Rising and resting 1 45

Total Time 2 30

Servings frgále

Calories 2535kcal

Author Petra Kupská

Ingredients

For the dough

½ cup milk lukewarm, divided
¼ cup granulated sugar divided
2 teaspoon active dry yeast
6 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon lemon zest freshly grated

For the posypka topping

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
8 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Plus

1 egg beaten, for brushing the rim

For the filling

4 Tablespoon fine breadcrumbs unseasoned
5 cup blueberries fresh
4 Tablespoon granulated sugar

For the rum and butter topping

6 Tablespoon unsalted butter
3 Tablespoon spiced rum Czech tuzemák or Austrian Stroh

Cups - Metric

Instructions

Pour half of the lukewarm milk into a bowl, stir in 1 teaspoon of the granulated sugar and 2 teaspoon active dry yeast. Let it sit in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes, until foamy.
Melt 6 Tablespoon unsalted butter in a small saucepan and take it off the heat to cool a bit. Stir in the remaining milk; the mixture must not be hot. Whisk in 1 egg yolk.
Combine 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, remaining sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 Tablespoon lemon zest in a large bowl.
Make a well in the middle, pour in the the foamy yeast and the wet mixture. Roughly combine with a fork so it comes together. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes with a dough hook on medium or 10 minutes by hand. The resulting dough should stay soft and slightly tacky, not runny.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 and ½ hours, until doubled.
For the streusel, rub 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, and 8 Tablespoon unsalted butter between your fingers until crumbs form. Refrigerate until needed.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board, knead it briefly, and divide it into balls of about 8.5 oz (250 g) each; the base recipe makes 2 frgály. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
Working with one ball at a time, roll it out with a rolling pin or your fingers on a round piece of parchment paper, lightly greased and floured, into a circle about 12 inches (30 cm) across. Shape a low rim about ½ inch (1 cm) high around the edge, then brush it with 1 egg, beaten ahead with a fork.
Sprinkle the dough with 2 Tablespoons of the breadcrumbs. Spread about 2 ½ cups (360 g) of the blueberries on top, starting at the rim and filling in toward the center. Sprinkle with about 2 Tablespoons of the granulated sugar, and cover with an equal share of the streusel. Let the frgál rest for 15 minutes while the oven preheats to 380 °F.
Bake for about 20 minutes. After about 12 minutes, lift the edge with a spatula and check that the bottom is coloring; if the edges brown too quickly, cover the frgál loosely with aluminum foil.
Melt 6 Tablespoon unsalted butter for the topping and stir in 3 Tablespoon spiced rum. As each frgál comes out of the oven, drizzle it generously with an equal share of the mixture.
Roll out, fill, and bake the remaining frgály the same way.

Notes

Two frgály: the basic recipe makes two 12-inch pastries. Divide the breadcrumbs, the filling, the streusel, and the butter and rum mixture in half, one half per frgál.
Oven: temperatures are for a conventional oven; for convection, lower by 25 °F.
Edges: the rim bakes faster than the fruit-covered center, so wait the full 20 minutes and shield the edges with foil if they brown too quickly.
Frozen blueberries: do not thaw them. Toss with a spoonful of flour and add straight from the freezer; the breadcrumb layer catches the extra juice.

Nutrition