Soft Cheese Buns
The soft cheese buns are a traditional Romanian dessert well known and much appreciated by kids and adults alike. In Bucovina they are known as "Poale-n brâu".
Servings: 15 buns
Calories: 368kcal
Ingredients
Dough
- 600 g flour
- 50 g white granulated sugar
- 25 g live yeast
- 3 egg yolks
- 350 ml milk (warmed up at around 40°C or 104°F)
- 100 g butter (at room temperature)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 spoon lemon zest (or orange)
Cheese filling
- 500 g cottage cheese (the dry kind from farmers market)
- 1 egg
- 200 g sugar
- 1 vanilla sugar (or vanilla beans)
- 100 g raisins
- 100 g semolina
- 1 pinch salt
Assembly
- 1 egg
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- Mix in the yeast and the sugar, then add the milk while continuously stirring until the yeast dissolves.
- Add the yolks, butter, zest and a pinch of salt to the mixture and slowly start pouring the flour bit by bit, while mixing.
- Knead the dough well for 10 minutes, then place it in a covered bowl and let it stand in a warm place for one hour. During this time it'll double in size.
Prepare the cheese filling
- While the dough is nicely resting, mix the cheese with the egg and sugar. Then add the vanilla sugar or seeds and a pinch of salt. Slowly add semolina to this mixture until it becomes like a thick cream. Now add the raisins,
Assemble
- Spread the dough on your working surface in a 5-7 mm thick layer. Cut 15 equally sized squares out of it.
- Place one spoon of cheese filling in the middle of the square then close each bun by bringing together the opposite square corners two times.
- Place the buns in an oiled or buttered tray. Whisk the remaining egg and brush it over all the buns to provide a nice golden finish.
- Bake at 180°C / 356°F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
- After taking them out from the oven, store them covered in a cool dry place. They can be eaten during the next 2-3 days.
- Enjoy! :)
