Sweet Yeast Rolls – the Childhood Memory
Sweet Yeast Rolls are my childhood memory. They were very popular and you could buy them in bakeries, cake shops but even in groceries. I loved them as what could be better for a child than a light yeast bun with a sweet cottage cheese or custard centre?
Over time I obviously have had different favourite pastries but I always have had a weak spot for them. So no wonder I finally had to make these sweet yeast rolls myself.
And this could not have happened without one person 🙂
My Grandmother
It was my Grandmother who taught me how to correctly and successfully prepare yeast dough. But only recently I found out how she had learnt that skill.
My Grandmother comes from times when girls were involved in the kitchen helping their mothers and grandmothers from an early age on.
But those were also tough times (my Grandma was born after World War I) when food was precious and limited. So nobody thought or certainly had the ingredients, to cook sophisticated dishes.
My Grandmother got married as a very young woman. By that time she could already cook very well simple, but tasty meals all the other women in her area were preparing too.
The Story of One Little Trick
Sometime later she moved to a new place with her husband and small children. And there she realised she didn’t know at all how to bake popular in that area yeast cakes.
Luckily she had a neighbour who was very good at making them.
So one day when my Grandma met her, she casually led their conversation into the cake subject. She asked what the neighbour did for her yeast cakes always turned out so beautiful and fluffy.
The flattered lady explained in detail her steps of yeast cake preparation, including all the essential tips.
My grandma, being too embarrassed to admit she had never baked a yeast cake before, responded only: “Oh, this is exactly how I prepare my cakes”.
And she quickly went back home and put this newly gained knowledge into practice!
Sweet Yeast Rolls with Cheese Filling
I am so grateful my Grandma tricked this lady to reveal her secrets. Thanks to it she became the master of yeast cakes. And she also passed this knowledge onto me.
After I learnt how to prepare my grandmother’s famous Yeast Cake with Plums and Crumble Topping , I knew I had to approach the Sweet Yeast Rolls.
I decided to make them with cottage cheese filling and with icing on top. I also opted for making them as twirls instead of buns with a filling in the centre.
Why? Because I remember from my childhood the one problem I had with buns. The majority of bites I had were either yeast cake only or filling only.
But when you make these Sweet Yeast Rolls into twirls, each bite you have, you get both: the fluffy yeast part and the sweet cheese filling 😉
Sweet Yeast Rolls with Cheese Filling [My Grandma’s Baking - Part II]
Ingredients
Yeast dough:
- 250 ml milk
- 60 g sugar
- 20 g yeast
- 75 g butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 300 g plain flour
- pinch salt
Cheese filling:
- 300 g cream cheese or ricotta cheese
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing:
- 0.5 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Warm up the milk. It should be warm but not hot, hot milk will “kill” yeast.
- Pour half the milk to a cup, add 2 tbsp of sugar and the yeast, stir it and leave till it rises.
- Melt the butter.
- Beat the egg yolks with the rest of sugar till creamy.
- Put the flour and salt to a big bowl, add the milk and beaten egg yolks and knead for a minute until more or less combined; add the yeast mixture and knead for 1-2 minutes and finally add the melted butter. Knead the dough until it is smooth (however small lumps are fine) and it doesn’t stick to your hand anymore. It should take about 5-7 minutes.
- Leave the bowl with the dough in a warm place until it doubles in size. Depending on the temperature, it can take between 1 and 2 hours.
- Prepare the cheese filling by mixing with an electric mixer the cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla extract.
- Cover a bottom of a big baking tray with baking paper.
- Transfer the dough onto a kitchen surface dusted lightly with flour; spread it into a shape of rectangle roughly 25x35cm. The best way to do it is with your hands but make sure you cover your hands with oil at first to prevent the dough from sticking to them.
- Spread the cheese feeling on top of the dough, roll it (along the shorter side) and cut it into approx. 12 slices. Arrange them on the baking tray and leave the buns to rise (approx. 10-15 min.)
- Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees (fan oven).
- When the rolls have risen, place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 25-30 min.
- Mix the icing sugar with water and swirl the icing on top of the baked rolls.
