Tante Miller was born Barbara Seine in Austria - Hungary. She was my grandfather's sister. My Great Aunt. She died in the 1950's when she was in her late seventy's.This was her recipe and until she died, it was made only by her. I am happy to share it with you. She was a wonderful cook and made this Butter Pretzel for every special occasion. It was a really a wonderful cake. It is full of butter, a lot of butter, and sprinkled with Pecan bits and finished off with an Almond icing. Do not be alarmed by the length of the recipe. It is not difficult. Once you have made this Butter Pretzel it will become a favorite of yours for special occasions. It is rich, but for special occasions......not too rich.

Regards, June Meyer.

• 1/2 lb. butter room temp.
• 1 lb. chilled butter OR 4 more sticks chilled butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 cups of warm milk
• 1/4 tsp. ground Nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground Cardamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 7 cup of flour
• 2 packs dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp. sugar

In cup, mix yeast, 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tsp. sugar and let yeast develop.
Cream 1/2 lb. butter or 2 sticks butter, sugar, eggs in mixing bowl.
Add warm milk and yeast mixture and beat well.
Add 6 cups of flour along with the salt, nutmeg and Cardamon till you have a soft dough.
If it is too sticky, add the last cup of flour.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Cover and put in a warm place till double in size.
Divide dough into 4 sections. One for each Pretzel.
Take one section of dough and divide it into 3 equal strips.
On floured surface stretch each strip of dough lengthwise to about 15 inches. Use fingers to do so.
DO NOT USE ROLLING PIN.
Take one stick or 1/4 lb. chilled butter and cut stick into 8 or 10 long narrow slivers of cold butter.
Lay these slivers of butter on top of each of the three dough strips, about 3 slivers to a strip. Use up all the butter in the stick.
Using fingers, enclose the slivers of butter by wraping the dough over the slivers. The object is to seal the butter in the strips.
Now BRAID the 3 strips with the butter enclosed. Do it gently and keep it loose.
Put the braided Pretzel into a circle in an ungreased pan.
Sprinkle over the top of Pretzel at least 1/4 of a cup of coarse chopped Pecans.
Bake at 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until light brown. Do not let the pecans burn. While Pretzel is still warm, drizzle over Almond sugar icing.
Continue with the other 3 sections of dough to make 3 more Pretzels.

Topping for Butter Pretzel

• 1 1/2 cups of coarse chopped Pecans, prefered
• 2 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp. of pure Almond Extract
• 2 tsp. of water

Mix 2 cups of powdered sugar with 1/2 tsp. of Almond extract and 2 tsp. of water.
Mix well, should not have any lumps. If this icing is too thick to drizzle over the Pretzels, thin with a little more water.

Makes 4 Pretzels.