Wetzstoa and Baked Mice

It is time once again to post a traditional delicacy from the farm kitchen. Formerly made for many farmers’ markets, today as a dessert for the construction workers: Wetzstoa (they are elongated) and Baked Mice. It is a simple yeast dough recipe, which you then scoop out with a spoon and put into the hot fat. The Wetzstoa noodles are elongated; you scoop some dough out of the bowl and shape the dough into an elongated form like a small loaf. The name Wetzstoa comes from “whetstone” – when scything, you have a whetstone to sharpen the scythe, and that is probably where the name comes from, because the elongated pastry then also looks like the Wetzstoa when sharpening a scythe :-)

Make a small well in the middle of the flour, add a packet of dry yeast or half a yeast cube as well as the sugar, add lukewarm milk to the well and stir a little, let it rise for a few minutes. Add the salt on the side and also add the eggs. Knead the dough well and let it rise for one hour at room temperature. You use wheat flour for this recipe.

Then heat oil or clarified butter and, when the fat is approx. 160°C, scoop into the mixture with a spoon and put a spoonful into the hot fat. Through the simple scooping, a “mouse” is created, often with a little tail. Hence the name for this pastry. Bake slowly and turn every now and then. In any case, you can briefly prick it with a skewer to check if the dough is also completely cooked through inside. If nothing “sticks”, the pastry can be taken out onto a tray with paper towels. This way the fat drains off. Then sprinkle the Baked Mice or Wetzstoa with powdered sugar and enjoy. You can also freeze this pastry very well and use it another time for breakfast.

Enjoy your meal and have fun trying it out, wishes Katharina from Zittrauerhof in the Gastein Valley.

Would you like to learn something about our animals again in the next farm story? In the meantime, there is some very sweet new offspring :-)