Prepare the pastry: Place butter and sugar in a bowl and pour heated milk over it.

Dissolve yeast in water with sugar and let it stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.

Add eggs to the yeast mixture and beat well.

Add the yeast/egg mixture to the cooled milk mixture.

Sift flour with salt and add it to the bowl, mixing until a soft dough forms.

Let the dough rise until doubled in size.

Prepare the custard: Heat milk.

Mix sugar, salt, and flour together and stir into hot milk until thick.

Beat egg yolk and gradually add hot mixture to the yolk, then add back to the original mixture. Cook for 1 minute more and let cool.

Prepare the almond filling: Beat all ingredients together with a mixer.

Prepare the crumb mixture: Combine flour, sugar, and walnuts; mix in melted butter until well mixed.

Assemble the pastries: Divide dough into 3 or 12 portions.

Roll out each portion into a rectangle, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

Place fillings down the center of each rectangle in the following order: Custard, almond filling, crumb mixture.

Cut equal number of slits on both sides of the rectangle, leaving the center 1/3 intact with fillings.

Braid the strips over the fillings.

Place pastries in foil-lined pans and brush with egg white beaten with water.

Place halved maraschino cherries on top and sprinkle with more crumb mixture.

Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes for small pastries, 30 minutes for medium, and 35-40 minutes for large.