Baking Recipe: Basler Fastenwähe
Not much is known about the history of Fastenwähe, except an anecdote from the 17th century: It was said that this yeast based flatbread from the region of Basle, Switzerland, was only supposed to be baked on Sundays between Three Kings Day and carnival, or else...
By merely looking at it, you could call Fastenwähe a pretzel of sorts. But once you have tried this delicious and slightly chewy flatbread sprinkled with lots of cumin seeds, you will always remember its distinctive taste!
Makes: 1 portion
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 15 g (dry) yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 ml milk
- 100 g unsalted butter
Glaze:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon water
- Cumin seeds
Instructions:
1. Mix the yeast and sugar in a cup.
2. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl, then add the yeast.
3. Heat the milk to a lukewarm temperature and add the butter. Stir to melt the butter completely.
4. Blend the melted butter and milk into the large bowl and knead it until it no longer sticks to your fingers.
5. Remove the dough onto a flat surface and knead it for another 5 minutes.
6. Let the dough rest and double in size in a bowl covered with a kitchen towel.
7. Separate the dough into pieces and use a rolling pin to form oval shapes about 15 cm long.
8. Use a knife to cut four slits into each piece, carefully stretch and place the patties on a baking sheet. Let them rest for another 30 - 60 minutes.
You're almost done...
9. Preheat your stove to 200 degrees C/392 degrees F
10. Mix the egg yolk and water to glaze your patties, then sprinkle cumin seeds all over them.
11. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes
Et voilà! You have just created a batch of delicious Basel Fastenwähen!
Dimitri Burkhard
Dimitri loves discovering new trends and covers architecture, design, start-ups and tourism.
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Made an egg/dairy-free version yesterday, and my boys loved it. Should have used more cumin seeds, and the result wasn’t super chewy, so I’ll have to try again soon. BTW, about how many pieces should this recipe make? I think mine were maybe too large. Wish I could use an egg — it creates such a nice shine. Thanks again for the recipe!
Thank you for the feedback, Heddi! I made four (large) Fastenwähen using this recipe, although I could have probably made six smaller ones…
Cheers, Heddi:)
Faschewäie are delicious. But they are never really chewy…