Mandryky (мандрики, curd cheese pastries)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A sieve and clean cloth for draining cheese
• •A rolling pin
• •A 10cm cutter or small bowl
• •A muffin tin or small tart tins

Instructions

1. 1

   Drain the cheese

   If your farmer cheese is damp, wrap it in clean cloth and leave it in a sieve while you make the pastry. It should hold in soft clumps when squeezed, not weep into your hand. This is the step that keeps the cups proud instead of soggy.

   Very wet cottage cheese needs a harder drain, at least a few hours. Tvoroh from a Ukrainian or Polish shop is usually closer to what you want.
2. 2

   Rub the dough

   Mix the flour, sugar, and salt, then rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until it looks like uneven breadcrumbs, some sandy, some pea-sized. Stir in the egg yolk and enough cold smetana to bring it together. Stop as soon as it gathers; overworked pastry bakes tough, and mandryky should crumble at the edge.

3. 3

   Rest it cold

   Pat the dough into a flat round, cover it, and chill until it feels firm but not rock hard. The butter needs to quiet down again after your warm hands. When you roll it, the dough should move without smearing.

4. 4

   Mix the filling

   Mash the drained cheese with the egg, sugar, smetana, vanilla, and lemon zest if using. Leave a little texture. Taste it before the raw egg goes in if you want to judge the sweetness; after baking it will taste a touch less sweet, so let it be just brighter than you think.

5. 5

   Shape the cups

   Roll the pastry on a floured surface to about the thickness of a coin and cut twelve rounds, roughly 10cm across. Set each round into a shallow tart tin or muffin tin, or pinch the edges up by hand on a baking sheet to make open cups. Fill each with a spoonful of cheese, leaving the rim visible, then brush the pastry edges with the egg yolk glaze.

6. 6

   Bake until golden

   Bake at 190C until the rims are golden, the bottoms feel set when nudged, and the cheese filling has puffed slightly with a few toasted freckles on top. Go by smell as much as color: first butter, then warm curd, then that biscuit smell that tells you the flour is cooked.

7. 7

   Cool and serve

   Let the mandryky sit until the filling settles back into itself. Eat them warm or at room temperature, with tea, sour cherry kompot, or nothing at all. They keep their dignity for a day, but the crumb is best before the kitchen forgets they were baked.

Chef Tips

• •Dry cheese matters more than perfect pastry. If your cheese is wet, drain it; if your pastry tears, patch it with your fingers and keep going.
• •Raisins are welcome in some kitchens and absent in others. Add them if your table likes them; leave them out and the cheese tastes cleaner.
• •A muffin tin gives neat modern cups. Hand-pinched edges look more village and a bit less tidy, which I like. Both are honest.
• •Do not sweeten the filling into dessert-shop territory. Mandryky should taste of dairy first, sugar second.

Advance Preparation

• •Drain damp cheese overnight in the fridge if needed; this makes the filling cleaner and the pastry crisper.
• •The pastry dough can be made the day before and kept chilled. Let it soften just enough to roll without cracking.
• •Mandryky are best the day they are baked, but they can be held overnight in a covered tin and refreshed briefly in a low oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 80g)