Sweet Cheese Pies
Equipment
- Two large bowls
- Small bowl
- Rolling Pin
- Baking tray/parchment
- Large spoon
Ingredients
- 700 g plain flour (2 ½ cups)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tsp dried yeast
- 400 ml milk (1 ½ cup)
- 10 tbsp melted coconut oil
- lemon zest
- a pinch of salt
For the filling
- 500 g cheese - homemade or similar to cottage cheese (not salty!) (2 pots)
- 3 egg yolks (save the whites for later use)
- a handful of raisins
- orange zest
- rum oil essence
- 1 tbsp semolina (optional/if needed)
Instructions
- Making the dough is similar to ciabatta bread; the main difference is that for the pies, we use milk and sugar. Also, the rising time is a lot shorter for this dough.
- Mildly heat the milk and melt the coconut oil. Mix the wet ingredients and, while still warm, pour the mix over the dried yeast combined with sugar.
- Allow a few minutes to activate the yeast, then sieve the flour over and box it until you obtain a firm but easy to manipulate dough. Let it rise for about three-quarters of an hour (or until it doubles in quantity).
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Place the cheese in a large bowl (the cheese has to be dry; remove any excess liquid before use). Add the egg yolks, sugar, raisins, orange zest and rum essence. Mix well until you obtain an even composition.
- If you believe it is too soft, add the semolina (increase the quantity if necessary; it will absorb the excess humidity.) The filling has to be balanced, not too soft, but not too hard either.
- Preheat the oven(180°/356°F/gas mark 4) and place a parchment sheet in the baking tray.
- Using a roller pin, spread half of the dough on the flowered worktop. Cut the dough sheet in squares of about 10-15 cm/5-6 inches. With a spoon, place a dollop of the cheese filling in the middle of each square.
- Gently pull out each corner of the dough and fold it to the middle until you cover the entire filling. I always make sure to pinch the edges softly and glue them together so that the cheese does not spread out in the oven. Also, compress the middle of the pie to help distribute the cheese evenly inside the pocket.
- Beat the egg whites with a little bit of sugar. Use a brush to splodge the top of each pie. The purpose of this step is to create a shiny and sweet film.
- Alternatively, use only the eggwhites for coating and sprinkle powder sugar when the pies are ready to obtain a snow effect.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes - or until the pies turn golden.
- Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
From these quantities, I obtained eight large pies and a small one.