Vegan Polish sweet cheese rolls
Vegan Polish sweet cheese rolls
I am fighting my compulsion to check WHO stats and refresh my favourite newspaper’s website every 15 minutes – I am sure you can relate. As the situation is far from being contained (apart from China and South Korea, it seems) checking the stats is definitely not a smart move, Ania. Stop it right now! There is nothing you can do so you might as well move into acceptance… That’s the chat I have with myself several times a day. I commit to it and then just a tiny little peak, and here we go, I am sucked into the bad news vortex AGAIN.
I try really hard to focus on other things, but the pull to know what is going on outside of our four walls (which we are especially grateful to have right now) is just so strong. As getting engrossed in things helps, I’ve keep myself relatively distracted by batch cooking and baking. Although with Duncan working from home there is no one but us to eat the fruits of my labour and that is really quite dangerous, but sod it, we need something to lift our spirits.
Today’s recipe is a trip down memory lane as I’ve been thinking about my childhood a lot lately. In the spirit of that, I have veganised my childhood staple known as ‘drozdzowka z serem’, which roughly translates as yeast roll with a cheese filling. These fluffy doughnut shaped buns are deep-filled with a sweet cheese filling made from a Polish ricotta-style cheese.
They make a great on-the-go breakfast or a mid-morning snack. The dough is super easy to make without animal products so no big issues there and as for the filling, I made a cashew ricotta style cheese filling that is sweet, tangy and fragrant with lemon. If you cannot have nuts (or have trouble finding them right now – funnily enough they were one of the very few things my local supermarket still has on its decimated shelves), I am pretty sure that plain firm tofu will work just as well. Enjoy and keep yourselves safe!
- 135 g / 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in boiling water for minimum 20 minutes
- 1 lemon, zest + 3-4 tbsp juice (I like 4 tbsp)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup maple syrup or sugar (see method)
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup plant milk, if using sugar
- 15 g / 1 heaped tbsp mild coconut oil
DOUGH
- 250 g / 2 cups all purpose (not bread) wheat flour, plus extra for dusting
- a pinch of fine salt
- 7 g / 2 tsp instant dried yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar (including coconut sugar) or maple syrup
- approx. 160 ml / 2/3 cup lukewarm plant milk
- 15 g / 1 heaped tbsp mild coconut oil (or vegan butter)
- vegan ‘eggwash’: 2 tsp plant milk + 1 tsp maple syrup
- Place all the liquids at the bottom of your blender. If using sugar instead of maple syrup dissolve it in 80 ml / 1/3 cup plant milk first. If using maple syrup, you may need to add an extra 1-2 tbsp plant milk to loosen the cream.
- Blend in drained and rinsed cashews until the mixture is silky smooth. As opposed to other cashew creams I made on here, this mixture needs to be fairly loose as this allows for some of the moisture to evaporate during baking and prevents the filling from drying out too much.
DOUGH
- Mix the flour, salt, instant yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Pour in most of the plant milk (hold back a tablespoon). If using maple syrup instead of sugar, adjust the amount of plant milk accordingly. Bring all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon.
- When the mixture has mostly stuck together, turn the mixture out on to a work surface. If the mixture feels dry, add another 5-10 ml of plant milk.
- Knead the mixture by holding one end of the dough in one hand and stretching it out with the other hand. Reform the dough, turn it 90 degrees and start again. Repeat this for about 5 minutes, then work the coconut oil into the dough. To begin with the dough will be slippery and will look like it’s been ruined. Keep working it and eventually all the fat will get absorbed by the dough and it will become elastic and smooth (it takes about 10 minutes) .
- Put the dough in a large clean bowl, coat it in a thin layer of oil and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel. Set aside, in a warm (but not too warm) place for 1-1½ hours, until the dough doubles in size.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch all the air out of it and divide it into 6 or 7 identical portions.
- Roll each portion into a ball, place them in a lightly oiled baking tray and cover with a kitchen towel. Set aside for about 30-45 minutes, until the balls rise again slightly.
- Heat up the oven to 180° C / 355° F.
- Flatten each ball with your hand then press a lightly oiled glass bottom into each ball to create a deep indent for the filling. Fill with the sweet ‘cheese’ mixture you’ve made earlier.
- Brush the dough (not the filling) with a mixture of plant milk and maple syrup. Bake for about 20 minutes.
The amount to use is the same but you'll need to activate the yeast in plant milk before you add them to the dry ingredients. Hope you'll enjoy these. x Ania
Apologies, it's a typo. There is plenty of vanilla in the filling so you really don't need it in the dough. I will correct now. Ania
I have not tired freezing the buns, but I am pretty sure you can. You can certainly freeze the cream - if that's what you mean. Hope that helps! Ania
IMO, its flavour is subtler than that of silken tofu so it won't stand out as much in the finished product. Hope that helps! x Ania
I don't own one of these fancy knead machines but I don't see why not. It is a standard yeast dough so I am sure it will handle it fine. Good luck! Ania
Je viens de faire cette recette et c’est délicieux.
Merci
The dough should be smooth by the time you are done kneading (this also applies to pizza dough, btw!). My guess is that you did not agitate it enough during kneading or maybe did not knead for long enough. Here is an old pizza video of ours that shows an example of a kneading technique. Good luck next time! Ania
Sorry for the delay in replying, but I have not been well. I am not sure what the issue, perhaps you are generous if using cups (I strongly recommend using scales for baking), or maybe the flour you are using has different absorbency to mine (they do differ, sometimes even brand to brand), but that's easily remedied by adding extra liquid, when it comes to making dough, going by feel is best. I checked my testing notes for this recipe and I am absolutely sure that I used 250 g of all purpose flour plus 135 ml of liquid, but like I say, it may be slightly different in your case. Hope they turned out well despite your fears. Stay well. Ania
Me again... due to isolation and low stocks I only have self rising wholewheat flour will that be fine for this recipe? Thank you x
I'm not sure as these require yeast to rise and self-raising flour has baking powder in it - you may get too much rise. Plus wholemeal means that they won't be as soft and delicate as they should be, BUT having said that if you are not seeking perfection and want to experiment, I do not see why not. Good luck! Ania
Thanks for your response. Because the recipe says "1/2 + 1 tbsp" of plant milk, I added 1 1/2 tbsp initially. However, after consulting with a friend, we realized that you may have meant "1 cup + 1 tbsp" of plant milk, which more properly equates to 135 ml. Is this the case?
I am glad you are happy with the recipe overall. As for the amount of liquid, yes, I am absolutely sure. I used 250 g flour and 135 ml of liquid proved to be enough. To be honest, 2 cups of flour and 1.5 cups of liquid (which is what I understand you've had to use) does not sound right at all - that sounds like a pancake batter. I do wonder what happened? Is it possible that your cups are not really traditional measuring cups? (1 standard US cup holds 240 ml). Anyway, I am glad the rolls were a success. Ania
Corona is not well for the peace of mind, health, the economy , and many other things, but also not for my waistline.
In order to keep my mind of checking the news, I keep on baking. I have made your Portugese Custard tarts, raspberry bakewell pie, scones in one week!
My husband loved them!
Tahnk you for providing a bit of comfort in these confusing times!
Dear blog readers, Ania & Duncan, please be safe and healthy!
Love from the Netherlands
A dough like this relies on gluten development very heavily (this is why they require so much kneading) so I really do not think so, definitely not without a fair amount of experimenting. Ania
Thank you. Stay safe.
As you are not vegan, you are probably better off using a traditional recipe for these as I am of no use here. Good luck and stay safe! x Ania
These look delicious and somewhat similar to what my Mom used to make!
Is instant yeast different from active dry yeast?
Thank you for the great posts!
Stay well!
Glad to hear that these brought back some happy memories! Yes, they are different - you need to activate active dry yeast first as far as I know. Hope that helps and stay well also. x Ania
If I use tofu for the filling, does this replace only the cashews?
I bet you could use soaked raw deskinned almonds instead of cashews! I have used almonds as substitute for vegan cheese many times when cashews weren't on hand.