Sweet rolls filled with Jam – Kифла

This recipe is a sweet variation of Serbian rolls or kiflice, the name by which they are commonly known at western Balkans. The rolls are beautifully buttery and with the very soft texture. The fragrant jam filling is a nice finishing touch, providing for a deliciously tender mouthfeel.

The sweet raised dough in this recipe is laminated with the butter, but not in a classic French way. Unlike the dough for croissants or Danish pastry where the layering or lamination is accomplished by repeated dough folding and rolling, here the process is much more simplified. Rested dough is simply divided into 5 balls which are individually rolled out into 15 cm (6″) disc. The discs are stacked up with the cold butter grated in layers and sandwiched in between the individual discs. The whole stack is then carefully rolled out in a large circular shape which is about 5 mm (1/4″) thick. Using a pizza cuter or a sharp knife the dough is divided into 16 even sections, or as even as you can make them. Each section is filled with a teaspoon of apricot jam and then rolled up. Rolls are left to rise for about 45 minutes and then baked about 15 minutes. Nothing tricky, nothing complicated, it is straight forward and can be done in about 1.5 hours!

An apricot jam is a traditional and preferred jam for filling, but any other jam can be used. I used a beautifully aromatic orange jam with chunks of orange zest, and the rolls turned out fantastic!

The recipe has been adapted from “Prstohvat soli” food blog.

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Sweet rolls filled with Jam - Kифла

Sweet rolls with apricot jam!

Course

Bake, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine

Balkan, Serbian

Keyword

sweet rolls with Jam

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Passive Time

45 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Sweet Rolls

• 500 g all purpose non bleached flour
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 20 g fresh compressed yeast or substitute with 3 tsp dry active yeast or 2 tsp instant yeast
• 125 ml milk lukewarm
• 125 ml filtered water lukewarm
• 1 large egg
• 125 g unsalted butter chilled
• 1/2 cup apricot jam

Egg wash

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp heavy cream or substitute with milk or water

Additional

• confectioner's sugar for dusting

Course Bake, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack Cuisine Balkan, Serbian Keyword sweet rolls with Jam Prep Time 30 minutes Cook Time 15 minutes Passive Time 45 minutes Servings servings Ingredients Sweet Rolls 500 g all purpose non bleached flour 3 tbsp granulated sugar 1 tsp fine sea salt 20 g fresh compressed yeast or substitute with 3 tsp dry active yeast or 2 tsp instant yeast 125 ml milk lukewarm 125 ml filtered water lukewarm 1 large egg 125 g unsalted butter chilled 1/2 cup apricot jam Egg wash 1 egg 1 tbsp heavy cream or substitute with milk or water Additional confectioner's sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Divide the butter into 4 equal parts and chill.
2. In a large mixing bowl sift flour, mix in salt and 2 tbsp of sugar.
3. In a small sauce pan warm up milk and water till is lukewarm (36-40 ºC or 98-105 ºF). Mix in and dissolve 1 tbsp of sugar.
4. With your fingers crumble and dissolve yeast in the milk mixture. Cover and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
5. Add activated yeast mixture and egg to the flour and mix in the dough. Note: Depending on flour you use you might need to add little extra water if the mixture is too dry or extra flour if the mixture is too wet.
6. Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes or until smooth. Always use a windowpane check to make sure the gluten is sufficiently developed!
7. Shape the dough into a ball, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. Divide the dough into 5 equal parts and shape each part into a tight ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

   
9. Line large baking pan with the parchment paper.
10. On a lightly dusted counter roll out the first ball into a 15 cm (6") disc.
11. Using a box grater, grate 1/4 of chilled butter on top of the disc.

    
12. Roll out another ball on a lightly dusted counter, transfer the disc on top of the grated butter. Grate another 1/4 of butter on top of it.
13. Repeat the same process with another 2 balls. The last, 5th disc will be without butter.

    
14. Cover the disc stack and let rest for 10 minutes.
15. Carefully roll out the whole stack into a large disc until the thickness is about 5 mm (1/4"). You want to make sure you don't push too hard and have the butter tearing through the dough. You can flip the dough back and forth, lightly dust with flour to make sure it doesn't stick to the counter.

    
16. Using a pizza cuter or knife cut the disc into 16 triangular sections.

    
17. Put 1 tsp of jam on the wider, bottom end of each triangle. Fold two side corners of the dough piece to encase the jam and the roll the dough to the top of triangle. Set on the baking pan, rolled tip on the bottom.

    
18. Repeat the same process with the rest of the rolls. Leave enough space between the rolls for the rise.

    
19. Cover the rolls and keep at room temperature for 45 minutes.

    
20. Prewarm the oven to 200ºC (392ºF), rack in the middle.

    
21. Brush each sweet roll with the egg wash and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

    
22. Transfer to the cooling rack and let cool completely.
23. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

 

 

 

 

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