Janet * Orechovnik (Slovak Nut Roll)
Ms. Dubrovsky* liked to schedule her doctor’s appointments for Monday mornings because that left her plenty of time to prepare. All weekend long she worked away in the kitchen, and when Monday rolled around, she would arrive at the doctor’s office with arms full of Slovak nut rolls and shoeboxes full of kolaches. At night, her doctor, David, would return home to his family, who would congregate in the kitchen eagerly awaiting his return. “Anytime we heard Ms. Dubrovsky was scheduled for an appointment, we knew that David would be bringing home nut rolls,” Janet says, smiling. “They were delicious.”
Janet
This went on for years, until eventually Janet decided it was time for a proper thank you. “I think Ms. Dubrovsky always thought she was thanking David, but I felt like she was the one who deserved a thank-you,” Janet explains. “So I wrote her a thank-you note, and I asked her if she would be willing to share her recipe for nut rolls.”
Ms. Dubrovsky’s response was almost overwhelming. Not only was she thrilled to provide her recipe, scrawled out in beautiful flowing cursive with detailed instructions and notes, but she also passed along one of her favorite cookbooks and a four-page handwritten letter. The letter began:
Dear Janet,
I’m so happy that you like this ethnic baking. I didn’t bake a whole lot until I retired from a lifetime of work, 16 years ago. I did, however, help my mom when I was a child — 75 years ago, we baked together almost every day. It was all yeast baking, a way of baking she learned from her own mother in the mountains of Slovakia…
In her mother’s village, Ms. Dubrovsky continued, one had to be resourceful, as there was no yeast available in stores. Instead, her mother learned to make her own yeast starter that had to be fed daily and kept warm. The letter goes on to talk all about baking with yeast, how to form the dough for the nut rolls, how to grind the walnuts into a paste, and how a bit of applesauce keeps it all nice and moist. Not a detail is skipped, nor a step overlooked. Sometimes, though, the things you know best can be the hardest to explain:
It is surprising to me that procedures done by rote – such as with baking – are rather difficult to describe in a step-by-step fashion. But I have a good excuse if I don’t do it well – I just call it a senior moment!
Of course, even with the most carefully crafted instructions, when it comes to baking, it doesn’t hurt to cross your fingers. In closing, Ms. Dubrovsky wrote:
Put the nut roll in the oven, say a prayer, and hope for the best! Enjoy the nut rolls and the book in good health, and know that someone on Glen Street* in Whiting, Indiana loves you very much.
“It was the sweetest letter I’d ever read,” Janet tells me, smoothing out the creased pages with her hand.
Janet hasn’t heard from Ms. Dubrovsky for a while now. As Ms. Dubrovsky grew older, and baking became difficult, she started buying nut rolls to bring to the doctor’s office, and then one day she stopped coming altogether. Janet made her nut rolls for the first time just a few weeks ago, hoping they would turn out well, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to “recreate this fabulous memory of Ms. Dubrovsky.”
And yet, Ms. Dubrovsky’s instructions must have been thorough. The nut rolls turned out perfectly — glossy and golden, flaky and tender, the outer edges barely holding everything together. Inside, paper-thin layers of dough — delicate but dense — blanket a paste of ground walnuts and both brown and white sugars. Their rich texture makes the nut rolls almost cake-like, but they are simple breads that are not too sweet.
Just like Ms. Dubrovsky’s.
Three Quick Questions…and Janet’s Answers
It’s your last meal. What do you have?
Well, my favorite food groups are potatoes, fat, and cheese. So I figure I’d have the perfect breakfast: a cheddar cheese omelet, with hash browns or french fries, and challah toasted with butter. It’s my last meal, so why not? And no egg whites in the omelet — real eggs.
Your kitchen is burning down. What’s the one thing you grab?
I would take my old lemon juicer, called the “Juice-it,” which isn’t made any more. It’s super powerful and it’s just wonderful.
Do you have a favorite cookbook?
Ok, so I have about 2,500 cookbooks. I’ve been reading them all my life, and I don’t do drugs and I don’t smoke and I don’t drink, so that’s what I spend my money on. I think cookbooks are fascinating. But if I had to choose a few, I would choose the New York Times Cookbook, which is the first cookbook I ever bought. I’d choose Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, which is the book my husband bought me my first Mother’s Day. And then I’d choose anything by Gil Marks; I love everything he’s written.
*Name and street name have been changed.
- FOR THE DOUGH:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks, beaten (set aside the egg whites)
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- ½ cup cold milk
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 package dry yeast
- FOR THE NUT FILLING:
- ¾ lb ground walnuts (about 3 cups whole walnuts)
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- FOR ASSEMBLY:
- 2 egg whites (saved from dough)
- 2-3 drops vanilla, divided
- ½ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup milk
- In a small bowl, mix the vanilla and milk together then dissolve yeast in the mixture. Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (like you would for a pie crust) until the dough resembles a course meal. Add the beaten egg yolks (setting aside the egg whites, covered, in the refrigerator) and the yeast mixture. Mix together briefly with a wooden spoon, then knead with your hands against the sides of the bowl until everything is blended together and the dough is no longer very sticky. Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer with a dough hook. Form the dough into a ball, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
- When you are ready to put together the nut rolls, prepare the filling: mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, and brown sugar. Divide evenly into two bowls and set aside.
- Remove your dough from the refrigerator; divide in half and place on a floured work surface. One at a time, roll out each piece of dough to a 14” x 13” rectangle. Turn the dough so that one of the longer edges is facing you. Mix your reserved egg whites with a drop of vanilla. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, brush some of the egg white mixture over the top of the dough. Then smear about ¼ cup applesauce (or a little less) over the dough to keep the nut roll moist. Sprinkle one of the bowls of nut filling over the dough, leaving about a 1-inch margin on each side of the rectangle but the far end, where you can leave a little less room (about ½-inch margin).
- Start rolling the dough away from you, into a spiral, keeping the spiral firm and tight. When you’ve made several turns, fold the 1-inch side margins inward, and then continue to roll all the way up, pinching the seam once rolled. Place the nut roll, seam down, on a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, use just enough milk combined with a drop or two of vanilla to brush the top of the rolls (this will make the rolls nice and shiny). Repeat the process with remaining dough.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes, then bake for 30-35 minutes until the rolls are a deep tan color. To serve, cut the nut rolls crosswise into slices.
What a beautiful story and recipe! I thought I had a lot of cookbooks, but with 2,500, Janet’s collection is pretty impressive.
Jess – same here! The collection is pretty amazing – just shelves upon shelves of every cookbook under the sun. I could get lost there (and wouldn’t mind a bit)!
These remind me somewhat of keiflies, a Hungarian pastry my mom used to make in mass quantities for the holidays. Just lovely.
Oh wow, just googled those! They look delicious!
This is a very traditional and popular desert in Slovakia especially at Christmas. Regards from Slovakia!
When you say to refrigerate Slovak nut roll pastry overnight, approximately how many hours? I am so happy to have come across your recipes. Thank you so much.
Hi Antoinette, I’d say around 8 hours is ideal!
Hi Antoinette!
I’ve never baked before, but wanted to try making a nut roll my gradmother used to make. Tried your recipe and it came out exactly like the ol’ relatives!
Lots of flavour here.
Thanks much.
Mike
Do you have a recipe for a cottage cheese pie or poppyseed strudel ?
Hi. I just recently moved into the culinary field. I love food! I love the story you have here as well. I wanted to try making this for the first time
So I find your recipe, and I start telling my Mom about this story….and she whips out a blue edition of the same cookbook you have on the page here from my Dad’s Mom! She was from Czechoslovakia! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I want to try to embrace my Czech culture through cooking and baking. Thank you for the head start. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wow, small world! This recipe is wonderful. Merry Christmas to you, too!
Just LOVE the ethnic foods goin to try this for the holiday!
A very nice story. I also make the poppy seed and nut rolls. My grandmother taught my mother who taught me. My recipe was my grandmother’s and she got her recipe in the same cookbook you were gifted by Ms. Dubrovsky. I now have my grandmother’s copy (hers was the eighth printing) She used the Two hour nut roll on page 17. I use fleischmann’s dry yeast with water. For the filling we use 1 1/3 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 6tablespoons of melted butter for 1 lb of fine ground walnuts. For poppy seed: 1/2 lb seed, 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla,1/4 cup milk (room temp) you can add a little lemon zest to take some bitterness from poppy seed.
As Ms. Dubrovsky a little “divine” intervention always helps. I bless my oven in the sign of the cross in slovak, it has never failed me. I also think my grandmother is guiding me.
I look forward to trying Ms. Dubrovsky’s recipe, but try mine and see how you like it. Merry Christmas and happy baking!
Joanne will you please share the two hour nut roll that is on page 17 of the recipe book?
Great recipe,similar to my mothers, from Czechoslovakia. she also added. Raisens to her kolaches. thanks for your wonderful recipe!!!!!
Most Slovaks I talk to no longer remember what sourdough is…I wish I could find a recipe for a sourdough nut roll! Many sweet goodies are yeast dough based here in Slovakia. Thanks for the lovely story.
Looks amazing!! Having a few concerns though. What is the point of adding yeast if your putting it in cold milk and refrigerating it? I have already made the dough and is in the fridge now, but it has not risen at all after 6 hours. Is that normal?
Does this recipe only make 2 nut rolls? I have been looking for a long time for a nutroll recipe similar to my Slovak Grandmother made. Her nut rolls were soooo moist and loaded with nuts. This one is the closest one that I can remember from being a small girl and watching her make these. She use to have me grind the walnuts in this plastic grinder that suctioned to the table. You would put the nuts in the top and push them down with a plastic tube that fit in the hole while hand cranking and the nuts would come out the side. It was a lot of work but I wish I knew where I could get one of those.
How do you store a nut roll once it is baked? Must it be refridgerated or can it stay on the counter? Thank you.
From my experience they can be put in the freezer then thawed. Once thawed they can be left out. We usually keep ours wrapped in foil.
wonderful story! I grew up in Whiting Indiana. My grandma was from Slovakia and made nut rolls every Christmas! This brought a smile to my face!
I lived in Whiting also!
Been living in Canada for a long time now, originally from Slovakia :), went to our local farmer’s market where a young couple from Ukraine was selling these (in smaller size though). My heart doubled the speed and I couldn’t help myself!!! Ate it in a minute and brought tears to my eyes, memories about my childhood, my family, traditional food that after experiencing so many cuisines from all over the world I still find the best. If you ever have a chance to go to Slovakia, PLEASE, eat, drink don’t think about calories… it’s the best food ever.
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Do you have a recipe for her kolaches?
What a heartwarming story and what a generous loving woman she was! Thank you for sharing!
I love this receipe my mother also made it, I try really hard to keep up tradition along with the butter beans, sauerkraut, mushrooms, homemade bread an babiki for Christmas love it
Merry Christmas
Hello
I just want to clarify that you do nit warm the milk before adding the yeast?
Thank you
I have the same book from St. Johns Church in Whiting, IN. It was so cool to see this when I came to your page. I use to have a wonderful recipe for nut roll, but somewhere along the way it was lost. This one sounds like the one I had minus the applesauce. I can’t wait to try it!
I just made the dough, but will need to refrigerate it longer than 8 hours. Will that be a problem? I put the dough in the refrigerator at about 8:30PM, but won’t have the chance to bake the rolls until after work tomorrow evening at about 6:00PM. Hopefully that will work. My husband’s grandmother used to make nut rolls every Christmas, and we haven’t had any since she passed away almost 10 years ago. These look exactly the way hers did so I was excited to try the recipe. Thank you for sharing the beautiful story and recipe! Merry Christmas!
Sounds wonderful. We make nut rolls every Christmas. They are delicious BUT the filling always comes our both from the sides and the middle, I do pinch it. What am I doing wrong, please help. Any chance of buying that recipe book? Thank you and Merry Christmas
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