Buchteln

Buchteln are sweet yeast buns filled with apricot jam, baked packed tightly in a buttered dish and dusted with icing sugar. They are Austria's soft, pull-apart bun, baked so close together that each one rises against its neighbours and stays soft on every side but the top.

What it really is

A rich, slightly sweet yeast dough is rolled out, cut into rounds and each one is filled with a spoonful of apricot jam before being pinched shut and rolled into a smooth ball. The balls go into a buttered baking dish packed edge to edge, rise once more, and bake until only the exposed tops turn golden — the sides and undersides, pressed against their neighbours, stay pale and stay soft.

Packing them tight is the whole method, not a space-saving habit. Baked with room to spread, each bun would brown all over and lose the tender, steamed-soft sides that come from baking shoulder to shoulder.

How it is served

• Warm, pulled apart by hand at the table rather than cut with a knife.
• Dusted with icing sugar, sometimes with vanilla sauce poured over.
• As a Mehlspeise main course as easily as a dessert, in the same way as Kaiserschmarrn.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag gluten, egg and dairy; the yeast dough carries all three.
• Say which jam fills them if it is not the classic apricot; plum is a common alternative.
• It is naturally vegetarian, worth flagging plainly among heavier Austrian mains on the same menu.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.