Quick handmade pretzels
It turns out it isn't only Germans that have childhood memories surrounding German food. We went to visit our friend Lauren in LA, as a born and bred New Yorker there is one thing she misses here in California: fresh pretzels on every street corner. So, she started baking them herself. Even though New Yorkers slather all sorts of mustard over them, which Germans might find somewhat strange, the love for pretzels is the same. Lauren lives in West Hollywood, just off Melrose Avenue, and shares her lovely sunny apartment with handsome tomcat Grayson. How great to see a German favourite being baked so far from home.
LAUREN, WHAT'S COOKING?
Apart from my friends (and proper Chinese egg rolls), there isn't really much I'm missing from my past New York life over here in LA. You just can't beat the Californian sunshine. One thing I love about New York are the traditional food stands, especially those with fresh German style pretzels and I couldn't really find them so easily here. So, I just started to bake them myself. I perfected my recipe after a lot of trying out and I found it only really works with food grade lye. It's a slightly dangerous ingredient but really essential. If you are handling it carefully, it's super easy and somehow exciting too! And the tasty warm pretzels you get are so worth it!
INGREDIENTS FOR 10 PRETZELS
500g flour (bread flour or type 550 or 405), 2 packs of instant yeast, 1 tsp table salt (10g), 50g soft butter, 250g warm water, rock salt
FOR THE LYE SOLUTION
1,5 litre water, 1 tsp salt (10g), 50g food grade lye (sodium hydroxide) – order online as it's hard to get, but it is the essential part for real pretzels! Also get rubber gloves and goggles or glasses as the lye is highly caustic and causes burns if not handled with care!
HOW TO BAKE THEM
Pour the flour into a heat resistant bowl; add the instant yeast, salt and the warm water then mix and knead with your hands to an even dough until all the flour is integrated. Let rest for 5 minutes. Now break the butter into little pieces and add bit by bit to the dough ball. Make sure to distribute the butter evenly and create a buttery mix. Now return the dough ball to the bowl and cover with a plate or towel and place it on top of a hot radiator or into your oven on 50 C Celsius. Now wait for about 30 minutes and watch your dough expand and DOUBLE in size. In the meantime prepare some baking paper on your baking trays.
Once the dough has fully expanded, start kneading the dough again, then separate it into about 10 even balls (ca. 85g each). Next, shape each ball into a long string of about 50 cm/2 feet. Make sure to leave the middle about as thick as a thumb and the ends as thin as a pencil. The typical pretzel shape has the strands meeting in the middle and twisting around each other. Feel free to experiment with your shapes. You can try forming rolls, sticks or even heart shapes. Put your pretzels or other shapes onto your baking sheet to expand once more, then put into the fridge for about 10 minutes to make them easier to handle in the lye solution.
Prepare the lye with highest caution. Lye is a highly caustic product and also used to clean drains- in small diluted quantities it is safe to use for cooking/baking, but you should wear gloves and protect your eyes. Bring 1,5 litre of water and the salt to the boil in a stainless steel pot or in a glass dish. Do not use any metal spoons but stick to plastic utensils. Take the pot of the boil and carefully bit by bit add your lye. It will bubble and hiss, but if you are careful it is completely safe.
Your pretzels should have hardened slightly in the fridge. Pick up one pretzel at a time either with a wooden or plastic utensil and slide it into the lye solution. Let it swim in there for 30 seconds, pressing it under water from time to time. Do not to leave them in the solution any longer as they will start to tasty soapy. Then place your pretzel onto the prepared baking tray and cover with the rock salt straight away. Continue until all your pretzels have been through the lye bath and let them rest for about 15 minutes on the baking tray once again. If you want an extra sheen you can also brush a little egg yoke on top, but there is no need if you have left them in the lye long enough.
Now heat the oven to about 200 C/ 395 F. Slide your baking tray into the middle of the oven and bake until perfectly brown and smelling deliciously. (about 25 minutes)
Now, enjoy your German treat with some butter or in true New York style with some mustard. GUTEN APPETIT!
YOUR GERMAN LESSON: Schnelle hausgemachte Brezeln