flipApple Pirozhki
Apple Pirozhki
Why this dish? Pirozhki — small stuffed buns you slip into your pocket and eat by hand — were the snack of train stations, markets, and journeys, sold on every street corner in the USSR. The sweet apple version also accompanied tea from the samovar, the final wave of the Russian meal.
Small soft buns of yeast dough, filled with cinnamon-spiced melted apples, baked golden. Sweet and comforting, they are eaten warm, by hand, at any time of day.
Pirozhki are the traveler's food. On the train, on station platforms, babushkas sold whole baskets of them, still warm, wrapped in paper. You slip one in your pocket and you're set until evening. The apple ones, we saved for tea: the soft dough, the melting fruit inside, a dusting of sugar — that's the taste of childhood. Simple and good, like everything true.
- •Wheat flour — as needed (yeast dough)
- •Milk, sourdough or yeast — accordingly (leaven the dough)
- •Butter, egg, sugar — a little (enrich the dough)
- •Apples — several (filling)
- •Sugar and cinnamon — a pinch (filling flavor)
Apple Pirozhki
Small soft buns of yeast dough, filled with cinnamon-spiced melted apples, baked golden. Sweet and comforting, they are eaten warm, by hand, at any time of day.
Why this dish? Pirozhki — small stuffed buns you slip into your pocket and eat by hand — were the snack of train stations, markets, and journeys, sold on every street corner in the USSR. The sweet apple version also accompanied tea from the samovar, the final wave of the Russian meal.
Pirozhki are the traveler's food. On the train, on station platforms, babushkas sold whole baskets of them, still warm, wrapped in paper. You slip one in your pocket and you're set until evening. The apple ones, we saved for tea: the soft dough, the melting fruit inside, a dusting of sugar — that's the taste of childhood. Simple and good, like everything true.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — as needed (yeast dough)
- Milk, sourdough or yeast — accordingly (leaven the dough)
- Butter, egg, sugar — a little (enrich the dough)
- Apples — several (filling)
- Sugar and cinnamon — a pinch (filling flavor)
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour (T45) — 400 g (yeast dough)
- Warm milk — 200 ml (dough)
- Baker's yeast — 7 g dry (leaven)
- Sugar — 2 tbsp (dough) + 3 (filling) (sweetness)
- Melted butter — 50 g (enrich)
- Egg — 1 (+ 1 yolk for glaze) (dough and glaze)
- Apples — 3 (filling)
- Cinnamon — 1 tsp (flavor)
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Let it foam for 10 minutes.
- Mix flour, sugar, salt, then add the milk mixture, egg, and melted butter. Knead into a soft dough, cover, and let double in size for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, cut the apples into small dice and gently cook in a pan with sugar and cinnamon until soft. Let cool.
- Punch down the dough, form balls, flatten into disks. Place a spoonful of apple filling in the center.
- Seal by pinching the edges tightly and shape into a small bun, seam side down.
- Brush with egg yolk and bake at 190 °C for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Enjoy warm.
How it was made : Pirozhki came in savory versions (cabbage, meat, egg-onion, potato) and sweet (apple, jam, farmer's cheese). Baked or fried, they were ubiquitous street and travel food, sold by babushkas at Soviet train stations.
The contemporary twist : A dusting of powdered sugar and a hint of lemon zest in the apples for a contemporary tea-time version.
Boris Yeltsin · Charactorium
