In Russia we call them “sochni”. It’s probably an easy one after the Olympiad in Sochi. Nearly the same word. ‘Sotch-nee’. Basically it means they are juicy. Oh, I can tell you they are.
To make it right I strongly advise you to visit your nearest Polish food store and get half a kilo of “twarog”. It’s a very special kind of soft cheese which tastes between Ricotta and cottage cheese. You add some salt and sugar to it and it starts “crying” – give out some water. Then you add some egg – so all that moist filling holds together nicely when you bake it and doesn’t try to escape after the first bite.
I don’t know why no one in my family ever made sochni. They are easy and really delish. But still it is a kind of childhood memory for me, ’cause my mom used to buy them every time we went out shopping. Sochni was a typical Russian street food a quarter of century ago.
Recipe:
(makes 10, cooking time 35 minutes plus 30 minutes for chilling)
For the pastry:
100 g butter
330 g flour
150 g sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp plain yoghurt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
For the filling:
200 g curd cheese (twarog)
30 g sugar
1 egg (white and yolk separated)
½ vanilla extract
Cut the cold butter into cubes, mix it with flour in a big bowl and rub it with your hands to get fine crumbs. Add sugar, salt, baking soda and mix well.
Make a well in the centre, fold in yoghurt and egg. Mix and then knead to form soft dough.
Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the filling.
Make sure that the curd cheese is dry enough – no liquid is coming out. Work it over with a fork till it’s crumbly.
Add sugar, vanilla extract and egg white and mix thoroughly.
Roll the chilled pastry on a table top dusted with flour. It should be about 1 cm thick.
Using a large cookie cutter (about 10 cm) cut out circles, place about 2-3 tbsp of filling in the centre of every circle and brush the edges with egg yolk.
Fold the circle in half, wrapping the filling,. You should get about a dozen perfect halfmoons.
Place them onto the tray, covered with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Brush with egg yolk.
Bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes.
- 100 g butter
- 330 g flour
- 150 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp plain yoghurt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 200 g curd cheese (twarog)
- 30 g sugar
- 1 egg (white and yolk separated)
- ½ vanilla extract
- Cut the cold butter into cubes, mix it with flour in a big bowl and rub it with your hands to get fine crumbs. Add sugar, salt, baking soda and mix well.
- Make a well in the centre, fold in yoghurt and egg. Mix and then knead to form soft dough.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30-40 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the filling.
- Make sure that the curd cheese is dry enough – no liquid is coming out. Work it over with a fork till it’s crumbly.
- Add sugar, vanilla extract and egg white and mix thoroughly.
- Roll the chilled pastry on a table top dusted with flour. It should be about 1 cm thick.
- Using a large cookie cutter (about 10 cm) cut out circles, place about 2-3 tbsp of filling in the centre of every circle and brush the edges with egg yolk.
- Fold the circle in half, wrapping the filling,. You should get about a dozen perfect halfmoons.
- Place them onto the tray, covered with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Brush with egg yolk.
- Bake at 200°C for 15-20 minutes.
