Pască • Ricotta Mini Cakes •

Pască is a traditional Romanian and Moldovan pastry.[18] Especially made for Easter, pască is a tartwith a cozonac dough base filled with fresh cheese like urdă or cottage cheese, raisins, eggs and sugar. Other variants include sour cream, chocolate, or berries fillings.[19] The word Pască come from Latin, Pascha, meaning "Easter". ( Wikipedia, 2021)

Recipe inspired by @lauraadamache

▶️ Ingredients

Dough

▫️500 g flour

▫️80 g of sugar

▫️25 g butter

▫️15 g fresh yeast / 5 g dry yeast

▫️250 ml of skim milk

▫️2 yolks

▫️1 pinch of salt

▫️1 vanilla pod (seeds only) / 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Cheese filling

▫️400 g ricotta

▫️100 g of sugar

▫️2 yolks

▫️100 g raisins soaked in water and 1 tbsp of rum extract

▫️1 tsp grated lemon peel

▫️1 tbsp semolina course

Egg wash ingredients

▫️1 egg yolk

▫️2 tablespoons milk

▶️ Method

Dough preparation

1. Bring together in a large bowl the milk slightly warm, melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, yeast and 3 tbsp flour. Mix until well combined using a balloon whisk. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

2. Add in the yolks, flour and salt.

3. Knead the dough using a stand mixer or by hand for 5-10 minutes.

4. Transfer on a work surface and shape it into a ball using a splash of oil. Place into a greased bowl, cover with clinging film and let it rise for 1 hour.
   

How to make the cheese filling?

1. Start by softening the raisins. Put them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them soak for about 10 minutes, then drain and squeeze very well. Add a splash of rum essence and set aside until used.

2. In a large bowl add all ingredients and mix until a homogeneous filling forms. Bring in the raisins and mix again. Set aside until used.

Shaping the Ricotta Cakes

1. Roll the dough on a work surface, lightly powdered with flour, in a 1.5 cm thick sheet.

2. Using a round shape of 10 cm Ø, cut the dough pressing firmly the shape and place them on an oven tray lined with baking paper (leave a space of about 3-4 cm between the shapes).

3. Cover the tray with a towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

4. When doubled in size, press the center of each shape with the bottom of a glass with a smaller diameter, about 5 cm.

5. Fill them with 2-3 tablespoons of cheese filling and grease the edges of the pastries with the mixture of yolk and milk.

6. Bake them in the preheated oven at 180 ° C for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Take them out of the oven, let them cool for a few minutes, then powder them with vanilla sugar. Enjoy!