Pretzel Bread Fish with Tuna Mousse
Irresistible pretzel bread fish with tuna mousse
Crispy pretzel bread meets a fine tuna mousse – a combination that not only wins you over in flavour but is also a feast for the eyes. Baked in a charming fish shape, this savoury pretzel bread fish is perfect for apéros, receptions or as a refined snack in between. The salty crust of the Lye harmonises wonderfully with the mild, creamy filling and delivers a balanced, delicious bite. Whether as an appetiser for special occasions or a little highlight on the buffet – this pastry suits many occasions and is guaranteed to be remembered.
Ingredients
LYE PASTRY DOUGH
TUNA MOUSSE (makes approx. 700 g — approx. 70 g per fish)
LYE AND FINISH
Step by step
Lye pastry dough
Mix and knead the dough
Dissolve the fresh yeast with the sugar in the milk and add the beaten egg. Add all of this to the flour and mix. Then add the butter and salt and knead into a smooth dough. If you have a Dough mixer, you can also make the dough directly in the machine.
Spelt flour light, 1 kg
Baking malt 500 g
Windowpane test
If you don't have a Dough machine, knead the dough well by hand for about 10 minutes. Do the windowpane test: if the dough tears, you need to knead it longer. If it stretches nicely without tearing, it's ready.
Rest for 30 minutes
Now form a ball, place the dough in an oiled Bowl, cover it with a plastic dough sheet and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Plastic dough sheets
Roll out and cut out the fish
Then roll out the dough 1 cm thick. Now you can cut out the little fish and place them on a tray lined with baking paper.
Cover the little fish again with a plastic dough sheet and let them rise for 1 hour. Then put them in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes or in the fridge for 1 hour. The chilling makes it easier to dip the fish into the Lye.
Now you can preheat the oven to 190 °C fan. While the fish rest in the cold, you can mix the Lye.
Applying the lye and baking
Safety first: gloves and safety goggles
When working with Lye, wearing protective gloves and Safety goggles is mandatory. Lye is caustic and can cause serious injuries. We don't want to scare you — but it's certainly good to have a healthy respect for handling Lye.
Caustic-resistant safety goggles
Caustic-resistant gloves size M
Mix the lye
Dissolve the lye pearls (20 g) in cold water (500 ml). Important: the pearls go into the cold water, not the other way round. Our range also includes ready-mixed liquid Lye — then this step is unnecessary.
To apply the Lye to the fish, use a rectangular container, for example a ceramic casserole dish, a Tupperware or a glass container. Do not use utensils made of aluminium or wood.
If you like, you can give the fish eyes with a Round piping nozzle. Finally, sprinkle them with a little Pretzel salt.
Pretzel salt coarse, 250 g
Round piping nozzle 10 mm
Small spatula with soft-grip handle
Bake for 15 minutes
Now bake the little fish at 190 °C fan for 15 minutes.
Tuna mousse and finish
Mix the tuna finely
Meanwhile, prepare the tuna mousse. To do this, finely mix 250 g each of white and rosé tuna.
Stir in mayonnaise, lemon and Aromat
Then put it in a Bowl, stir in the mayonnaise and add the juice of half a lemon and the Aromat.
Fill and top
Now cut the cooled fish open and spread each with approx. 70 g of tuna mousse.
Depending on your taste, you can additionally top the fish with onions, capers, tomatoes and/or gherkins. Enjoy!
Pretzel Bread Fish with Tuna Mousse
Ingredients
LYE PASTRY DOUGH
TUNA MOUSSE (makes approx. 700 g — approx. 70 g per fish)
LYE AND FINISH
Preparation
- Dough: Dissolve yeast with sugar in milk, add to flour with egg, add butter and salt, knead until smooth (windowpane test).
- Rest: Let rest as a ball, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Shape: Roll dough out 1 cm thick, cut out the little fish, let rise covered for 1 hour, then 20–30 minutes in the freezer.
- Applying the lye: With gloves and Safety goggles: dip the fish into the Lye (20 g pearls to 500 ml cold water), imprint eyes, Pretzel salt on top.
- Bake: 15 minutes at 190 °C fan.
- Tuna mousse: Finely mix both types of tuna, stir in mayonnaise, lemon juice and Aromat.
- Fill: Cut open the cooled fish, spread each with 70 g of mousse, top as desired.
Nutritional values per 100 g
Storage & shelf life
Everything for this recipe
Recommended from our bakery — exactly the sizes the recipe was tested with.
Ingredients
Spelt flour light, 1 kg
Baking malt 500 g
Pretzel salt coarse, 250 g
Equipment
Lye pearls for lye pastry, 500 g
Ready-to-use lye for lye pastries, 1 litre
Fish cookie cutter, 14.5 x 6.5 cm
Plastic dough sheets
Round piping nozzle 10 mm
Small spatula with soft-grip handle
Caustic-resistant safety goggles
Caustic-resistant gloves size M
Delivery in 1–2 working days · Free shipping from CHF 100
So your pretzel bread fish turn out perfectly
The 20–30 minutes in the freezer are the recipe's trick: chilled dough pieces keep their shape when dipping and don't soak up the Lye.
When mixing, the lye pearls always go into the cold water, not the water onto the pearls. And the container: ceramic, glass or plastic — never aluminium or wood, as Lye attacks both.
Stretch a piece of dough thin between your fingers: if it tears immediately, keep kneading. If it stretches almost transparent, the gluten structure is ready — the dough rises nicely and holds its shape.
Don't leave mixed Lye standing open: dilute it heavily with plenty of cold water, pour it down the drain and rinse the utensils thoroughly. Only take off your gloves afterwards.
FAQ
Treated with respect: no. Lye is caustic, which is why protective gloves and Safety goggles are mandatory, and the container must not be made of aluminium or wood. If you want to skip the mixing, use our ready-to-use liquid lye.
Baking soda from the supermarket only gives a weak lye effect – the fish turn out paler and less typical in flavour. For the genuine lye pastry result, lye pearls or ready-made Lye are the way to go.
Yes: you can bake the baked, unfilled fish the day before and store them in a Cookie tin. The tuna mousse keeps covered for one day in the fridge. Fill and top only shortly before serving – that way the pastry stays crispy.
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Related products
Hole grommet 10 mm
Plastic dough towels
Spelt flour light, 1 kg
Pretzel pearls for pretzel pastries, 500 g
Pretzel salt coarse, 250 g
Baking malt 500 g
Spatula small with soft grip handle
Caustic resistant safety goggles
Caustic resistant gloves size M
Ready-to-use lye for lye baked goods, 1 liter
Fish cookie cutter, 14.5 x 6.5 cm
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