Piroski

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Yet another variant of the "filling in the dough" formula. Mostly popular in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 600 g (maybe a bit more) all-purpose flour
• 150 ml milk
• 150 ml water
• 6 g dry yeast
• 40 g white sugar
• tsp of salt
• 70 g softened butter
• 2 eggs, whisked together (leave approximately ¼ of the amount for glazing the piroskis)

This amount of dough yields approximately 18 to 24 piroskis. You will need approximately 1 kg of filling for this amount of dough, so plan accordingly.

Cabbage & egg filling

Easy to make and one of my favorites.

• cabbage
• splash of milk
• hard-boiled eggs
• pinch of mayo
• salt

You'll need approximately half a cabbage and 4 to 5 eggs and just a tiny amount of mayo. I use as little mayo as possible because I use it just to make ingredients stick together better.

Directions

Making the dough

Start with activating your dry yeast by soaking with a small amount of liquid, four and sugar. You can take those out of your overall amounts. Leave for around 10 minutes. After some time you should see a layer of bubbles on the surface, if you don't see it, or they look lackluster, throw it away.

Mix your yeast mixture, milk, water, sugar, salt and whisked eggs (¾ of the whole amount) together. Gradually add in 600 g of flour until homogenous and not lumpy. Knead for a while.

Add in softened butter and fold it into your dough. It will be sticky and messy, no way around it. Sprinkle a bit of extra flour so you can handle it easier if needed and help yourself with a dough scraper. Knead until your dough becomes elastic and the butter fully incorporates.

Grab a big bowl and brush it lightly with oil (helps with getting out dough afterward). Shape your dough into a smooth ball and toss it there. Cover it up with a food wrap or towel so it doesn't dry out and leave it for about an hour or two or until the dough doubles in size. Make sure your room is on a warmer side if you want it to rise faster.

Take out your dough, squeeze the air out by kneading it a little bit, and divide it into equal pieces. Then take one piece, squash it by hand into a thin circle approximately the size of your palm and put a generous amount of filling in the center, just make sure you can still close it afterward and it won't burst.

To do so, the traditional way is to fold the circle-shaped dough in half and pinch the seam around the filling. You get a bun that has the shape that vaguely resembles a big thick almond with a seam in the middle. Hopefully that makes sense.

Put your buns on a baking tray (seam side up or down, either way is fine), making sure to leave a generous amount of free space in between to account for them expanding in size later on. Cover with food wrap so they don't dry out and leave to rest for a final proofing for another 30 minutes to an hour. Afterward, brush them with a generous amount of egg wash and, if you want, sprinkle with sesame seeds and put into a preheated oven on 220 °C for around 15 minutes or until golden.

Cabbage & egg filling

Cut fresh cabbage into tiny bits (alternatively grate it). Fry on a high heat with butter and vegetable oil. Sprinkle salt to taste. Add a splash of milk. Fry until it turns slightly yellow. Don't fry for too long so it doesn't lose its crunchiness. Remove from heat and set aside.

Make a few hard-boiled eggs. To do so, place your desired amount of eggs in cold water, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Keep them in hot water for 10 minutes. Then, transfer your eggs into an ice-cold (actually add a few ice cubes) water bath for a few more minutes to cool off. This helps to peel them cleanly. Remove the crust and cut the eggs into tiny bits, then add them to fried cabbage.

Optionally, add a little bit of mayo into the mix, not enough to taste, but just enough so the filling sticks together better and doesn't crumble as easily.

Credits

Dough recipe is taken from this video by Ольга Шобутинская on YouTube (in Russian).

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