Romanian baked curd cheese plăcinte

Name: Romanian baked curd cheese plăcinte
Ingredients: 550 g flour; 3 eggs; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1/2 teaspoon salt; zest of 1 lemon; 7 g dry yeast; 3 tablespoons sour cream; 40 ml olive oil; 250-300 ml lukewarm milk; up to 20 g flour to adjust the dough; 500 g sweet curd cheese; 4 tablespoons sugar; 8 g vanilla sugar; 5 ml rum essence; zest of 1 lemon; 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons semolina; 1 egg; 10 g powdered sugar optional

Dessert - Romanian baked curd cheese plăcinte by Lidia I. - Recipia

Romanian baked curd cheese plăcinte need the dough sealed well over the filling, then baked until golden and crisp. They’re sweet pastries filled with curd cheese, with soft lemon-scented dough and a tender center, nestled side by side in the pan. I use olive oil in the dough and don’t swap it for sunflower oil. Prep: 35 minutes. Cook: 25 minutes. Rest: 70 minutes. Total time: 130 minutes. Servings: 10. About 400 kcal and 19 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

For the dough

550 g flour
3 eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 lemon
7 g dry yeast
3 tablespoons sour cream
40 ml olive oil
250-300 ml lukewarm milk
up to 20 g flour to adjust the dough

For the filling

500 g sweet curd cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
8 g vanilla sugar
5 ml rum essence
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
2 tablespoons semolina

For brushing and dusting

1 egg
10 g powdered sugar optional

Preparation

1. Put the sifted flour, eggs for the dough, sugar, salt, lemon zest, dry yeast, sour cream and 20 ml oil in a bowl. Mix gently, then gradually add the lukewarm milk, starting with 250 ml. 2. Knead for 10 minutes, gradually working in the remaining 20 ml oil. Add the rest of the milk only if the dough needs it. It should be soft and elastic, and not sticky; if it remains sticky, gradually work in up to 20 g flour. 3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave the dough somewhere warm for 60 minutes, until it has doubled in size. 4. Mix the curd cheese with the sugar, vanilla sugar, rum essence, lemon zest, eggs and semolina. 5. Divide the dough into 19-20 roughly equal pieces. Line a 30 cm round pan with baking paper. Flatten each piece to 1 cm thick, put 2 teaspoons of filling in the middle and pinch the edges together over it, like a little pouch. 6. Arrange the little pouches side by side in the pan and brush them with the beaten egg. Leave them somewhere warm for 10 minutes and heat the oven to 180°C in the meantime. 7. Bake for 25 minutes, until the pastries are golden. 8. Dust them with powdered sugar, if you like.

Notes

I serve them with a glass of milk or black tea. Well-drained curd cheese keeps the filling inside the little pouches; if it’s sitting in whey, leave it to drain before mixing. If the cheese is grainy, mash it with a fork, and if the filling still seems soft, add 1 teaspoon semolina. You can replace the olive oil with the same amount of sunflower oil, and the pastries will be more like filled rolls than a flat pie. Covered, they keep in the fridge for up to 3 days; they contain gluten, dairy and eggs.