52 Weeks of Baking – Week 1: Kohupiimakorbid (Curd Cheese Pastries)
Happy New Year everyone! 🎆
As always, the New Year starts with new resolutions and challenges. So, to get me back on the baking train (my last post was quite some time ago…) , my sweet baking friend Helena finally motivated me to start the subreddit’s 52 Weeks of Baking challenge. Basically, every week you have a different theme or topic to bake according to. Let’s see how far we get or if it ends up like many other New Year’s resolutions. 😉 If you want to join the challenge like me, just follow the link to find the weekly list and get inspired by the posts of other bakers. You are welcome to join this challenge at any point in time.
Week 1
The first week theme was New Year, New Recipe. So for the first week, me and Helena baked traditional Estonian-Russian Kohupiimakorbid (Curd Cheese Pastries) based on this Ragne Värk’s recipe. Although Kohupiimakorp is a classic pastry in Estonia, it was the first time for me and Helena to bake it ourselves. Usually you just pop into a bakery and get one. Even my family was surprised that we made them ourselves. But it is actually very easy! I have translated the original recipe from Estonian and edited it according to our experience.
Kohupiimakorbid (Curd Cheese Pastries)
Ingredients
Enriched Dough
- 250 ml milk
- 25 g fresh yeast
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 5 g fine salt
- 480 - 500 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g room temperature softened butter
Curd Cheese Filling
- 450 g curd cheese (also called farmer's cheese, tvorog or kohupiim in Estonian)
- 1.5 tsp vanilla sugar
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
For Brushing the Pastries
- 1 egg beaten
For a Final Touch
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° C. Warm the milk until lukewarm, about 37 degrees.
- In a separate large bowl, mix the the fresh yeast and 100 grams of sugar until incorporated.
- Pour the milk into the yeast and sugar mixture while stirring. Mix and let it sit for about 30 seconds.
- Add the all-purpose flour and salt, and then the softened butter, kneading well. It starts off as a rather shaggy and sticky dough but knead until the dough becomes smooth and does not stick to your hands and the bowl anymore. If needed, add more flour.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place under a towel until doubled, for about an hour*.
- To make the filling, mix the necessary ingredients until smooth.
- Once the dough has risen, form it into small balls (about 60 - 65 grams)** and place on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Let the the dough balls prove under a towel for about 15 minutes.
- After proving, using the bottom of a round glass, press a well in the dough balls that will hold the filling. The well should be quite deep. Brush the edges with the beaten egg mixture. Fill the wells with the curd cheese mixture. Use around 2 - 3 tablespoons of filling per pastry.
- Bake at 200° C for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown on the sides.
- Let them cool slightly before diving right into them. If you wish, lightly sprinkle some powdered sugar on them. Enjoy!
