Sklandrausis

Ingredients

• Rye flour400 g
• Warm water180 ml
• Butter80 g
• Potatoes500 g
• Carrots600 g
• Soured cream200 ml
• Eggs2
• Sugar80 g
• Caraway seeds1 tsp
• Cinnamon1 tsp
• Salt1 tsp

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Knead a dough from the rye flour, warm water, melted butter and salt and rest it half an hour.

   40 min

2. 2

   Boil the potatoes and carrots separately until completely soft.

   30 min

3. 3

   Mash the potatoes with soured cream, an egg, caraway and salt into a smooth purée.

   10 min

4. 4

   Mash the carrots with soured cream, an egg, sugar and cinnamon into a separate purée.

   10 min

5. 5

   Roll the dough thin, cut rounds and shape rims with your fingers, folding the edges up.

   20 min

6. 6

   Spread the potato purée as the first layer and the carrot over it, levelling with a spoon.

   12 min

7. 7

   Bake at 200 °C for twenty-five minutes and dust them with cinnamon while still hot.

   30 min

About the dish

The pastry is rye and unleavened, without eggs or raising agent. It rolls thin and holds a rim, and the flavour comes entirely from the filling.

There are exactly two layers and in a fixed order: potato below, carrot above. Reversed, it looks different and counts as an error in Kurzeme.

Sklandrausis is a Kurzeme pastry with European protected designation of origin since 2013. It is the only Latvian food with that status.

Worth knowing

• — Build a tall rim. A low one will not hold two layers of purée and the filling runs onto the tray.
• — Roll the dough thin but not translucent. Rye dough tears easily and does not stretch like wheat.
• — Sklandrausis is eaten warm or cold but not hot. The filling has to set, or the layers merge.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

320 kcal

Protein

7 g

Fat

12 g

Carbs

46 g

More from Latvia

• Grey peas with speck — Grey peas cooked soft with onion and rendered smoked pork. Latvian winter and Christmas food.
• Rye bread layer dessert — Layers of dark rye breadcrumbs, whipped cream and cranberry jam.
• Skābputra — Cold barley porridge on soured milk, Latvian field-day food.