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This is my version of Shanezhki (Шанежки) A Russian style brioche yeast bun smeared with a sweet Farmers Cheese Tvorog. This is like a giant Vatrushka bun. Topped with sliced strawberries, A perfect springtime dessert. Made with an easy bread maker yeast dough recipe.
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Shanezhki Russian Cheese Pastry (Шанежки)

This is my version of Shanezhki (Шанежки) A Russian style brioche yeast bun smeared with a sweet Farmers Cheese Tvorog. This is like a giant Vatrushka bun. Topped with sliced strawberries, A perfect springtime dessert. Made with an easy bread maker yeast dough recipe.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Russian
Keyword Shanezhki, sweet buns
Author Peter Kolesnichenko

Ingredients

Sweet Dough Ingredients

  • 1 cup milk lukewarm
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 7 tablespoons sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 tablespoon sour cream room temp
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3⅓ cups of flour
  • 2 teaspoons yeast - slightly less than a ¼ oz. bread machine yeast packet

Cheese Filling ingredients

  • 1 lb /450g Tvorog, Farmer's Cheese or quark
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • 2 small eggs can use 1 large egg
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 punnet strawberries sliced
  • egg wash
  • sugar syrup

Instructions

  • Place sweet dough ingredients in the order listed up into your bread machine and select the dough program. It will take around 90 minutes to complete the cycle.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
  • To make the smooth tvorog cheese filling, you need to prepare the tvorog cheese. Homemade tvorog can be quite grainy and the cheese mixture must be smooth. Store-bought tvorog cheese or quark tends to be smooth, and might not need this step. Place tvorog into a metal sieve and using the back of a spoon, push through the sieve making tvorog a smooth consistency. You could also use a food processor or blender to mix all ingredients together, skipping the metal sieve. Mix together the tvorog, vanilla bean paste, egg, sugar and sour cream.
  • When the sweet dough is ready, place on a floured surface and gently knead. Cut the dough evenly in half. Place both dough pieces on parchment paper on a baking tray. I use 2 trays. Using your hands, stretch and pat the dough into a round 30cm diameter round shape. Place the half of the tvorog cheese mixture on each of the round dough pastries, leaving a small border. Randomly cover the tvorog mixture with sliced strawberries.
  • Put in a warm place and allow to rise for about 15 minutes. Brush the edges with an egg wash.
  • Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown. To make sugar syrup, place 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1 tablespoon hot water and mix until dissolved. Using a pastry brush, cover the baked strawberries with the sugar syrup for a nicer looking finish. Serve warm or at room temperature.