Karelian pies are traditional Finnish pastries made with a rye flour-based dough rolled thin and filled with various fillings. I went with an unsweetened rice pudding filling that (after baking) is topped with ‘egg butter’ which, as the name implies, is made of eggs and butter. Very heavy, very hearty, but super delicious and just one or two will fill you up. This might be one of the most unique and strange bakes I’ve done as of late. Someone suggested it in the comments section of one of my videos and I’m very happy to have been introduced to this unique and delicious treat.
The dough is made of rye flour and spelt flour, but you can swap the spelt for wheat flour if you like. The egg butter is an optional addon and it’s pretty rich. The pies are good enough without it. If you do decide to make the egg butter, I’d suggest adding a little bit of mustard and some herbs to make it more interesting. Basically, like egg mayo. But I’ll leave that to you.
This recipe makes 8 pies.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the dough –
100g (3.5oz) wholegrain (dark) rye flour
50g (1.75oz) spelt flour
3g (0.1oz) salt
15g (0.5oz) butter
80g (2.8oz) water
For the filling –
150g (5.3oz) short grain (pudding) rice
300g (10.6oz) water
50g (1.75oz) butter
5g (0.17oz) salt
500g (0.5qt) full fat milk
For the ‘egg butter’ –
4 boiled eggs
80g (2.8oz) softened butter
Salt and pepper to season
Optional teaspoon of mustard and herbs to mix in.
Method
- Make the filling. Bring the water up to a boil. Add the rice and let it cook for 5 minutes or until almost all the water has been absorbed. Add the salt and the butter. Add the milk. Let it come up to a boil, turn the heat down, and leave to simmer for around 30 minutes.
- Make the dough while the filling is cooking. Dissolve the salt in the water. Add the butter and spelt flour. Mix well and then add the rye flour. Mix to a dough and knead it a little to make it smooth.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls. Cover and leave on the side.
- Pour the cooked filling into a bowl and leave it to cool down. I made the filling and the dough a day ahead of time and left them in the fridge. On the next day I let them come up to room temperature to make them easier to work with. You can make the pies on the same day as soon as the filling has cooled down and set.
- Pre-heat the oven to 230C (445F) fan on or 250C (480F) fan off.
- Roll out each piece of dough to a thin oval. Spread the filling evenly leaving a little edge. Pinch the sides together starting from the middle and work your way to the ends. Arrange the pies on a non-stick paper lined baking tray.
- Bake for around 15 minutes until the pastry looks crispy and the filling has developed golden brown spots.
- Brush the pies with oil or butter once the come out the oven. Leave to cool down.
- Make the egg butter by chopping or grating the eggs and mixing them with the other ingredients. Top the pies with the egg butter once they have cooled down.
Enjoy your unique Finnish style treat!
