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Food does more than just sustain us. It connects us with the people we make it and share it with. We asked ICE chef-instructors for their favorite memories with their moms from time spent in the kitchen. 

Lead Recreational Chef-Instructor Roger Sitrin says his mother's specialty was baking the perfect apple pie, which she'd make for holiday desserts or just to lift her own mood. Chef Roger's mother was often cooking to feed a family of six, and she was his inspiration for pursuing a culinary career.

Even the not-so-perfect dishes created memorable moments. Chef Roger remembers one meal of hamburgers, frozen in the center and charred on the outside, served with instant mashed potatoes from the box. "My mother was a funny cook," he says. "She was either a gourmet chef or a complete disaster."

For Chef Jürgen David, ICE's Director of Pastry Research and Development, quality time spent baking with his mom sparked his interest in pastry and baking. Growing up in Vienna, Austria, his favorite dish was buchteln.

Buchteln, or Austrian sweet rolls, are yeast-raised dough rounds served with vanilla custard sauce and often filled with apricot or prune jam. This dish was a staple of Chef Jürgen's childhood. His mom has been making buchteln — always from scratch — for as long as he can remember.

Chef Jürgen has fond memories of sitting in the kitchen with his mom and sister, watching the dough rise in a big bowl on the counter, waiting for it to be ready for the oven. "We used to eat them so quickly and when they were so warm that we'd get stomachaches," he says. "There were always leftovers, but they didn't last long."

This Mother's Day, Chef Jürgen took a page out of his mother's handwritten cookbook and showed us how to make buchteln with vanilla sauce. Check out the full recipe below. 

Learn more about earning a Pastry & Baking diploma at ICE.
 

Recipe

Buchteln with Vanilla Sauce

Ingredients

• 1000 grams all-purpose flour
• 400 grams milk
• 80 grams fresh yeast 
• 160 grams sugar
• 120 grams butter
• 100 grams whole eggs
• 40 grams egg yolk
• Zest of 1 lemon, grated 
• 10 grams salt
• Prune jam, for filling
• Melted butter, for brushing
• Powdered sugar, for dusting
• Vanilla custard sauce, for serving
   

Directions

1. Combine all of the ingredients except the salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed for about 2 minutes.
2. Remove the paddle attachment and switch to a dough hook attachment. 
3. Add the salt and mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes or until developed. Use the window pane test to assess the dough. 
4. Turn the dough out into an oiled bowl and bulk ferment for about 1 hour.
5. Gently turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll to about 16 x 14 inches. Cut into 3-inch squares and pipe a small amount of filling on each square. 
6. Gather the corners and seal well. 
7. Place the rounds seam-side down into a buttered baking dish and let proof for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. 
8. Brush with melted butter and bake at 350°F in a convection oven, until evenly browned and instant read thermometer reads 200°F. Brush with more melted butter while hot from the oven. 
9. Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving. 
10. Serve with vanilla custard sauce.