Sweet Easter Cheese Pies - Flaounes

Category: Deserts

Ingredients:
 
For the dough
5 glasses self-raising flour
2-3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
6-7 mahlepi grains
6-7 small mastic grains
1 teaspoon sugar
1 glass oil
1 1/2 glass lιkewarm milk
 
Cheese Filling
1 kg flaouna cheese
1/2 glass semolina
1 piece yeast, the size of a large egg (it may be provided from bakeries)
5-6 eggs
6-7 mahlepi grains
6-7 small mastic grains
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
lots of fresh mint, finely chopped
3/4-1 glass raisins (optional)
1 1/2 glasses sesame seeds
1 egg for brushing
 
 
How to Prepare:
 
To make the filling, grate the cheese 1-3 days in advance, if possible. Put in an uncovered dish and chill. Stir once or twice daily to dry. The cheese mixture may be prepared either the night before or 4-5 hours in advance. Whisk the eggs well. Combine the cheese with semolina. Make a well in the centre, place the yeast in it and on top, add some of the egg. Start pressing and rubbing the yeast with egg and some cheese with your fingertips to dissolve the yeast combs. Add as many eggs as needed to make a rather firm mix. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside. To make the bread, mix the flour, baking powder, mastic and the mahlepi grains crushed with 1 teaspoon sugar. Pour in the oil and rub into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Knead with as much milk as needed to make a fluffy dough. Cover with a kitchen towel for 1/2 hour. Before starting rolling out the dough, finish the filling by adding the mint, baking powder, raisins (if using), mahlepi and the mastic pounded with 1 teaspoon sugar. Stir well. Rinse the sesame seeds, drain and place on a kitchen towel. Roll out the dough thinly to give a round or square shape of the size required. Place each piece of dough on the sesame seeds and press on the bottom side only. In the centre of each piece put sufficient filling for the size of the dough and fold the four sides to form a square shape, leaving the filling in the centre uncovered. Using a fork, press the four corners of the square, to seal the mixture inside. Place each piece of dough on the sesame seeds and press on the bottom side, only. In the center of each piece put sufficient filling for the size of the dough and fold the four sides to form a square shape, living the filling in the center uncovered (flaouna cheese unlike other types of cheese, rises, doesn’t spread). Using a fork, press the four corners of the square. Place flaounes on a not greasy, lightly floured baking tray and brush them with some beaten egg. Sprinkle the uncovered part of flaunes with sesame seeds. At the beginning, bake for about 20 minutes in a preheated, moderately hot oven (180° C) until well-risen and then bake in a moderate oven (150°C) until golden brown.

Notes:
1. The filling should be rather firm.
2. Do not use lots of mastic and mahlepi grains because this combination of aromatics might give a bitter taste.
3. The central part of each pie should be uncovered.
4. Do not open the oven until the first 25-30 minutes of baking have gone.
5. Bake flaounes at first in a hot oven and then in moderate heat oven.
6. If you do not like sesame, do not press the pies in the sesame. Just sprinkle the flaounes surface with sesame after they have been brushed with egg. As a result, a smaller quantity of sesame will be needed.
7. Instead of flaouna cheese, kefalotyri or halloumi cheese may be used or any combination of the three.