There comes the sun and a greater joy with it - quark buns for Easter

I love quark. Who wouldn't? Ok maybe there are some people who don't, but I must declare that these quark buns (or pies, whatever you want to call them) are irresistable. It was truely a touching moment when we tasted them with my family, fresh from the oven...it brought us memories from those days when my grandmother used to bake this kind of buns. These tasted just as authentic, so soft, fluffy with a perfect texture.


And then the filling...the combination of lemon, raisins and quark is like a dream come true. The buns are made by a classic Finnish recipe and usually we bake them at Easter, even though it's possible to find them any time of the year in the bakeries. Still I think the best ones you get if you bake them yourself :)



I know this exalting description of buns might seem a bit too much, but for any food lover it's ordinary, every day analysis of the things you eat. Because when we eat, don't we quite logically want to have the best? At least I do. It's not selfish - we all have a permission to enjoy our lives and to take care of ourselves. Eating well and balanced brings us energy and joy, not to forget to enjoy some treats time to time. And, actually Easter is coming so it truely is a massive reason to celebrate! So. Go to your nearest grocery store, buy all the ingredients you need and start baking. You don't want to miss these.




Quark buns - "Rahkapulla" in Finnish

Dough

125g butter
1/2 tbsp cardamom
2 1/2 dl milk
25 g fresh yeast
1 dl brown sugar
1/2 tsp himalaya salt
1 egg
about 8 dl wheat flour (550g)

For buttering

1 egg and a pinch of salt

For the filling

250g quark
3/4 dl sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar
1/2 dl cream (can be double cream)
1 egg
the peel and juice of one lemon
1/2 dl raisins

1. Melt the butter in a kettle (make sure it doesn't get too hot) and add the cardamom, so you get a lovely flavour from it. Add the milk and mix together, warm to the temperature of your hand.

2. Crumble the yeast in a big bowl and add the milk-butter mixture, mix well until the yeast has "disappeared".

3. Add sugar, salt and one egg mixing well. Add flour little by little mixing all the time. It's the best option to use a kneading machine with a kneading hook, it makes it a lot easier. You can also knead with your hands. Knead until the dough is "bouncy" and doesn't get stuck to the sides of the bowl anymore. But it's good not to make it too thick, so leave it a bit soft if possible.

4. Let the dough rise for half an hour so it doubles. When it has doubled, knead the air bubbles away.

The dough. Quite lovely indeed.


5. Make small buns from the dough, knead them well into round balls with an even surface. Let them rise on a baking sheet for half an hour.

6. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Wash the lemon well, grate the peel away and then press the juice out from the lemon. Mix all the ingredients of the filling together.

7. Warm the oven into 225°C degrees. Mix one egg with salt for the buttering. Press a dimple to the small buns using the bottom of a drinking glass.


8. Butter the buns and then fill the dimple with the quarkmixture. Bake the quark pies in the oven for about 10 minutes. Let them cool down and enjoy fresh...mmm lovely.