Bärlauch-Franzbrötchen – Wild Garlic Franzbrötchen

Franzbrötchen (literally French roll) are Hamburg’s iconic pastry. Basically, it is nothing more than a yeast Danish pastry with cinnamon, and yet the Franzbrötchen is something special for the Hamburgers. They are usually served in the afternoon with coffee or even for breakfast. This sweet treat was initially limited to the greater Hamburg area, but since the early 20th century, Franzbrötchen have become popular in many German cities. Today you can easily get a Franzbrötchen from many bakeries across Germany. They are now available in various versions, including with raisins, crumble topping, chocolate chips, marzipan and poppy seeds.
The Franzbrötchen gets its name because it was first made in Hamburg during the French occupation in the 19th century (1806–1814). It is a blend of the French croissant style (Plunderteig / puff pastry) and German baking traditions.
Today I’m turning this sweet pastry from Hamburg into something savoury with seasonal wild garlic. Wild garlic season has just begun! So I simply couldn’t resist. If you’d like to try the recipe, you’ll need to hurry, because wild garlic season is short and usually starts in late March. Around May, the plant begins to flower and the leaves lose their distinctive aroma.

Pastry	Filling
400 g Plain flour ½ tsp Sea salt 1 tbsp Sugar 7 g Instant dry yeast 80 g Cold butter, in pieces 150 ml Milk 1 Medium egg, beaten 150 g Butter, in pieces, softened ¼ tsp Fleur de Sel for topping	50 g Wild garlic, finely chopped 3 tbsp Blanched almonds, ground 2 tbsp Olive oil ½ tsp Sea salt

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast in the bowl of your mixer and mix together. Add in cold butter and rub in by hand until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then make a well in the centre. Pour the milk and egg into the well, mix together, then quickly knead into a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a rectangle, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 1½-2 hours.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1 cm thick. Spread butter evenly over one half of the dough, leaving a border of about 1 cm free. Place the other half of the dough on top, press the edges together firmly, cover and chill for about 30 minutes. Roll out the dough again on a lightly floured surface into a 1 cm thick rectangle. Fold the short sides in towards the centre, then place one half on top of the other so that you have 4 layers of dough. Cover and chill for 1 hour, repeat the process, then cover and chill for a further 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make wild garlic filling. Place all the ingredients in a measuring jug and purée.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 25x50 cm rectangle. Spread the wild garlic mixture evenly over the whole surface of the dough. Roll up the dough from the long side, then cut into 12 pieces. Use the handle of a wooden spoon or chopstick to press down in the middle, creating the typical Franzbrötchen shape. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush with a little water and sprinkle with Fleur de Sel.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Bake the Franzbrötchen for 20 minutes until golden crispy. Remove and cool on a wire rack.