Recipe Pasca (Romanian Cheese Brioche)

To prepare this dish

Ingredient list

The pre-ferment:

60 g Elle & Vire Whole Milk
23 g fresh yeast
50 g T45 flour

The final dough

90 g eggs
50 g egg yolk
12 g lemon peel
12 g orange peel
90 g sugar
18 g rum essence
10 g vanilla extract
50 g Elle & Vire Whole Milk
400 g T45 flour
6 g salt
130 g Elle & Vire all Purpose butter 82% fat
100 g egg (for the egg glaze)

The cheese cream

800 g Original american cream cheese 34% fat
150 g sugar
30 g lemon peel
15 g vanilla extract
45 g starch
5 g salt
150 g eggs
150 g Excellence whipping cream 35% fat
200 g raisin

Elle & Vire products used

Elle & Vire Whole Milk

Elle & Vire all Purpose butter 82% fat

Original american cream cheese 34% fat

Excellence whipping cream 35% fat

The recipe,
step by step

1. 1

   The pre-ferment:

   Heat the milk up to 30 degrees Celsius. Mix it with yeast and flour using a whisk. Cover it and let it grow at room temperature for 15 minutes.

2. 2

   The final dough

   Meanwhile, mix eggs, yolk and sugar, using a mixer. Add citrus peels, rum essence, vanilla extract and milk.

   Change the whisk of the mixer with the hook. Mix flour with salt and add it to the mixer in two equal parts. After all the flour has been integrated, add the butter cut into pieces and knead it for 20 minutes until the dough comes off the edges of the bowl. Remove it from the bowl and place it in a pan previously greased with butter. Cover it and leave to rise for 1 hour.

   After 1 hour, divide the dough in two equal parts of 500 grams. Divide each of such a bubble into 3 parts of approx 160 grams. Cover the bubbles with a plastic wrap and leave it to rise for another 30 minutes.

3. 3

   The cheese cream

   Mix cream cheese with sugar, vanilla extract, lemon peel, salt and starch on the mixer bowl using a spatula. Then add eggs and Excellence Wipping Cream 35%. Stir for 3-4 minutes. Add raisins at the end. Divide the cream in half.

4. 4

   Assemblage

   For a piece of „Pasca” you will need 3 bubbles: form a 22-cm diameter circle from the first piece. From the other two bubbles make a 60 cm long braid. Do the same for the second piece of „Pasca”.

   Place the dough disc inside a 22 cm-diameter and 6-cm height pan, previously greased with butter. On the edge of the pan, place the braid. In the center place 700 grams of cream cheese. Let „Pasca” rise in the for 15 minutes. Apply a layer of egg on top using a brush (on the dough and cheese too). Bake at 160 Celsius degrees for 60 minutes.

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A few words about the author…

Ana Consulea

Ana Consulea is Pastry Chef and owner of Zexe Braserie, a pastry-shop and restaurant located in Bucharest (65 Aviatorilor Avenue), born out of the desire to bring to light the real flavor of the Romanian pastry.