Brânzoaice (Moldavian-Romanian sweet cheese hand pies)

One of the most iconic Romanian desserts, these small hand pies are based on a simple sweet cheese filling, encased in an envelope of yeast-risen dough. They're delicious both hot and cold, and keep very well for days. 
The cheese in the filling should be fresh cow's cheese, you can use either cottage cheese or ricotta or an equal mix of both. The better the cheeses are, the better the final branzoaice pies are going to taste.
The history of these pies goes back at least 300 years, if not more. The process of making them is a bit time-consuming, but pretty straightforward. Try them the next time you're craving a dough-based, airy dessert.

Last year: nothing.
Two years ago: nothing.
Three years ago: nothing.
Four years ago: Ensalada con quinoa de Peru (Peruvian) (vegan).
Five years ago: Greek marinated artichokes (vegan).
Six years ago: Baby spinach cream soup with truffle oil (vegan).
Seven years ago: Wholewheat pasta with raw roots.
Eight years ago: French fries with red onion (vegan), Spicy stuffed eggs (with herbs and mushrooms) and White chocolate and basil cream cups with balsamic strawberries (Italian).



Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 450 g flour
• 200 ml tepid milk
• 50 g fresh yeast
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• 300 g sweet cow's cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon semolina
• zest from one orange
• 4 tablespoons raisins, 1 teaspoon rum extract to soak
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 extra egg for egg-wash (optional) 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Soak the raisins in the rum extract. 

Crumble the yeast in a bit of the tepid milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let it get frothy for about 10 minutes. 

Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeasted milk and the remaining ingredients for the dough, and mix gently by hand until it's all homogeneous, about 10 minutes. Make a ball from the dough and let it rise in its bowl, in a warm place, away from draft.

In about an hour, the dough should be doubled its volume or maybe even more. 

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Mix the cow's cheese with the rest of the ingredients, except for the egg-wash.

When the dough is ready, roll it out to 1 cm thickness and cut medium squares from it (with each side as long as the length of your palm). 

Put 1 large tablespoon of filling in the center of each, then fold the corners of the square towards the center, on top of the filling, closing it like an envelope:

Repeat until you've used up all the dough and filling. Arrange the pies on s baking tray lined with baking paper or silicon mats, to prevent sticking. Brush the pies with egg-wash.

Put them in the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, until well done and golden. 

Take out, allow to cool a bit and dig in!