Fresh From The Oven 1 - Nov 2010 - Kiflice.

This is my first challenge with the Fresh From The Oven Bakers.  I wanted to join a bread making challenge as bread is something I have never really made much effort with.  Steve makes all the bread in our house (well, all the home-made bread in our house which is a rather small proportion of all bread consumed - I think Tesco makes the lion-share of all the bread eaten here!) and so, I thought that if I started doing these challenges, it would improve my skills enough that I could maybe catch up with him in this area!  Yes, I'm a competitive wife! 

So, my first challenge was hosted by Maja from Cooks and Bakes. She challenged us to make kiflice - or Serbian cheese rolls.  We have a friend from Serbia so my first question to her was how to pronounce kiflice - apparently it is keefleetse (the 'c' is pronounced as in tsar).

I then asked her if she thought my pictures looked like the real thing and she said they did! Yay.  She said that it was impossible to replicate the taste of a strong, distinctive Serbian cheese but that if I do them again, next time I should try Wensleydale instead of the cottage cheese as that is what her Grandmother used.  She also told me that the kiflice can be done with a jam filling instead of the cheese.


So, here is the recipe - it is Maja's own family recipe.  She lives in Belgrade. 

Ingredients - 

Dough -

500g plain flour

1 tsp salt

20g fresh yeast (or 2 tsp instant)

1 tsp sugar

250 ml milk

75 ml sunflower oil

1 egg

Filling - 

200 - 250g cottage cheese (or feta, or as above - Wensleydale)

1 egg white, optional

And more - 

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp milk

100g butter or margarine

Method - 

1. Crush the cheese with a fork.  Add some salt if it tastes neutral.  Stir the egg white in if the cheese is too crumbly.  Filling shouldn't be runny, but thick and compact, thicker than cream cheese, and pretty salty.

2. For the starter - dissolve yeast with some lukewarm milk in a cup , add a tsp of sugar and a tbsp of flour, stir to get smooth batter.  Set aside at room temperature, or near the stove top, to let the yeast activate and fill the cup.

3. Sift the flour, add salt.  Add activated yeast, egg, oil and milk then combine using a wooden spoon to get smooth dough.  The dough seems like too soft and too sticky at the beginning, but don't worry, continue with kneading, and soon your dough should start to separate from the bowl, and thicken.  Grease cling film with oil, cover the bowl and set aside for at least an hour in a lukewarm place, to let the dough double in size.

4. Re-knead the dough, divide into 5 equal parts, shape them into balls.  Each part should make 8 rolls so you'll end up with 40.

5. Flatten each ball by hands over the floury work surface, then use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a circle, a few millimetres thick.  Use a sharp knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles.  Take on triangle, stretch it in the air with your hands, to get it extended as much as you can, gently.

  

6. Put some filling at the triangle base then fold the edges of the base to avoid the filling leaking out during baking. Roll.  Arrange the rolls in a baking tin lined with parchment paper.

7. Lightly beat the egg yolk with a tbsp of milk then brush the top of the rolls with the mixture.  Sprinkle with some sesame seeds if you like.

8. Arrange small pieces of butter between the rolls.  Don't skip this step or you'll end up with just ordinary cheese rolls, the fat they absorb during baking is what gives them the extra softness and taste and a kind of "fried" and crispy bottom of the rolls.

9. Bake in an oven preheated to 180C for about 20 mins.  Be careful not to overbake them.