Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 100 gbutter, softened
- 1egg
- 150 mlmilk
- 7 ginstant yeast
- 1 tbspsugar
- 1 tspsalt
- 1 tspground mahleb
- ½ tspmastic, ground with sugar
Filling
- 700 gflaouna cheese, or grated halloumi and kefalotyri
- 3eggs
- 60 gsemolina
- 100 graisins
- 3 tbspdried mint
- 1 tspbaking powder
To finish
- 1egg, beaten
- sesame seeds
Directions
- Make the filling first and rest it. Grate the cheese, mix it with the eggs, semolina, raisins, mint and baking powder, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Resting the filling lets the semolina swell and take up the moisture from the cheese and eggs. Made and used straight away, the filling is wet and the pastry goes soggy underneath it.
- Grind the mahleb and the mastic finely, the mastic with a pinch of sugar so that it does not gum into a lump.
- Mahleb and mastic together are what make a flaouna smell like Easter in Cyprus. Neither has a substitute and both are worth buying specially.
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and ground spices, then add the egg, milk and softened butter and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth dough.
- Cover and prove for about 1 hour.
- Roll the dough thin and cut squares of about 15 cm.
- Brush the edges with egg and press one side of each square into sesame seeds.
- Put a generous mound of filling into the centre, then fold three sides up and pinch the corners together, leaving the middle open.
- Leave the centre open. A flaouna is a three-cornered open pastry rather than a sealed pie, and the filling is meant to puff and brown on top.
- Prove for a further 30 minutes, then brush the pastry with beaten egg.
- Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden and well puffed.
- Cool on a rack and eat warm or at room temperature.
- They are baked once the Lenten fast has ended, and Cypriot households make them by the dozen.
Technique
- Flaouna cheese is a semi-hard sheep and goat cheese made specifically for this, and halloumi with kefalotyri is the standard substitute.
- Dried mint rather than fresh. It is far more concentrated and it is what the filling tastes of.
- They freeze well unbaked and can be baked from frozen with a few extra minutes.
Substitutions
- Halloumi and a hard grating cheese, mixed half and half.
- Ground cherry stone is what mahleb is, and there is genuinely no substitute; leave it out rather than replacing it.
Variations
- Without raisins, which some households prefer.
- Made larger, as one big pastry cut into squares.
- With a little chopped mint as well as dried.
History
Easter cheese pastry filled with local cheeses, mint and raisins, baked once the Lenten fast has ended.
Frequently asked questions
What is Flaouna?
Flaouna is a bread & pastry from Cyprus: easter cheese-filled pastry with raisins and mint. Easter cheese pastry filled with local cheeses, mint and raisins, baked once the Lenten fast has ended.
How long does Flaouna take to make?
Flaouna takes 45 min plus 4 hr resting and 1 hr 30 min rising of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 12 pastries. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Flaouna?
Yes, within limits. Halloumi and a hard grating cheese, mixed half and half. Ground cherry stone is what mahleb is, and there is genuinely no substitute; leave it out rather than replacing it.
What is the most important thing to get right in Flaouna?
Leave the centre open. A flaouna is a three-cornered open pastry rather than a sealed pie, and the filling is meant to puff and brown on top.
