Învârtită

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 mlwarm milk
• 7 gdried yeast
• 60 gsugar
• 80 gbutter, melted
• 2eggs
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• the zest of 1 lemon

Cheese filling

• 500 gfresh curd cheese
• or 500 g ricotta
• 100 gsugar
• 2eggs
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• 80 graisins
• the zest of 1 lemon
• a pinch of salt

Pumpkin filling

• 800 gpumpkin, grated
• 120 gsugar
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 50 gbutter

To finish

• 1egg, beaten
• icing sugar, to dust
• melted butter, for brushing

Directions

1. Drain ricotta well before using it. Wet cheese makes the pastry soggy. Warm the milk to just above body temperature. It should feel barely warm to a clean finger. Stir the yeast and a spoon of sugar into it. Let it stand five minutes until it foams. Combining it takes only a moment. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the lemon zest to them as well.
2. Whisk them together thoroughly. Add the yeasted milk to the bowl. Beat the eggs and add them in. Add the melted butter as well. Bring it together into a soft dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead it for a good ten minutes. It should become smooth and elastic.
3. Put the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover it over with a clean cloth. Leave it somewhere warm to rise. It should roughly double in size.
4. Drain the cheese thoroughly first. Press it in a sieve if it is wet. Mix it with the sugar and eggs. Add the vanilla and the lemon zest. Add the raisins and the pinch of salt. Beat it into a smooth thick paste. It should be thick and spreadable. Add a spoonful of semolina if it is loose.
5. Grate the pumpkin flesh coarsely. Squeeze out as much water as you can. Cook it in the butter for ten minutes. Add the sugar and the cinnamon. Cook it until it is thick and dry.
6. Let it cool completely before using it. Squeezing and cooking it dry prevents that. Roll it out on a floured surface. Take it down to three or four millimetres. Spread the filling over the whole sheet. Leave a clear border at the far edge.
7. Keep the layer even throughout. Do not overfill the sheet at all. Roll it up tightly from the long side. Keep the roll even all the way along. Pinch the long seam closed firmly. You should have one long rope. Take one end of the long rope. Work from the centre outwards. Keep the coils touching but not squashed.
8. Set it into a greased round tin. Grease it well or line it with paper. Cover it over with a clean cloth. Let it rise for about forty minutes. It should look visibly puffed.
9. Brush the top with the beaten egg. Heat the oven to 180C before baking. Bake it for about forty-five minutes. Cover it with foil if it browns too fast. Judging when it is done takes a test. Brush the hot top with melted butter. Let it cool in the tin for twenty minutes.
10. Let it cool at least another hour. Cutting it hot tears the crumb. Dust icing sugar over the top. Cut it into wedges from the centre. It keeps three days if wrapped.

Technique

• The dough is rolled thin, spread with filling, rolled into a long rope and then wound into a flat spiral before baking, which is what the name, meaning twisted, describes.
• Fillings must be thick and dry, since a runny one leaks out of the coil; pumpkin in particular holds a great deal of water that turns to steam and bursts the coil open, so it must be squeezed and cooked dry first.
• A round tin holds the coil together as it proves and bakes, since without one the spiral unwinds as it rises.

Substitutions

• Well drained ricotta stands in for Romanian fresh curd cheese.
• Apple, walnut or sour cherry fillings are all traditional alternatives.

Variations

• Cheese is the year-round filling and pumpkin the autumn one.
• Some bakers stretch the dough thinner by hand than a pin allows.
• A spoonful of semolina in the filling absorbs excess moisture.

History

Rolled pastry spiral filled with cheese, apple or nuts; the name means twisted in Romanian.

Frequently asked questions

What is Învârtită?

Învârtită is a bread & pastry from Moldova: coiled pastry with cheese, pumpkin or apple. Rolled pastry spiral filled with cheese, apple or nuts; the name means twisted in Romanian.

How long does Învârtită take to make?

Învârtită takes 45 minutes plus rising of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one large coil, 10 slices. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Învârtită?

Yes, within limits. Well drained ricotta stands in for Romanian fresh curd cheese. Apple, walnut or sour cherry fillings are all traditional alternatives.

What is the most important thing to get right in Învârtită?

Let it cool completely before using it. Squeezing and cooking it dry prevents that. Roll it out on a floured surface. Take it down to three or four millimetres. Spread the filling over the whole sheet. Leave a clear border at the far edge.