Cranberry Vatrushka: Fruit and Cheese Sweet Buns
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Delicious soft and sweet yeasted bread filled with a wild blueberry sauce and ricotta cheese or quark, these Cranberry Vatrushka Buns are the perfect way to use up the final stores of your winter fruit before spring. The tangy cheese mixed with the sweetness of cranberry preserves wrapped in a soft and fluffy bun creates a perfect pairing that’s wonderful for sharing on a cold winter morning with a hot cup of tea.
What are Vatrushka?
Vatrushka is an Eastern European pastry that forms a ring of sweet, soft dough surrounding a white cheese filling. Traditionally, this filling is made from Tvorog which is a non-liquid white fermented cheese that is soft and lumpy. In my research, I also discovered that Vatrushka is made with quark, which is a German style soft cheese. Both of these cheese are similar in texture to ricotta or cottage cheese.
Vatrushka are a yeasted bread made with milk, sugar, and butter in a similar style to brioche. It has both Polish and Russian history (and Ukrainian and Romania). It’s difficult to say exactly where this cheese and pastry come from!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Sweet and Soft. These cranberry sweet buns are absolutely delicious! I love the pairing of tanginess and sweet flavor. As they are on the more subtle side of sweetness, they pair perfectly with a sweetened beverage such as a latte or cappuccino.
Beautiful Presentation. Is there anything more lovely than the look of these beautiful sweet rolls? They look like something straight out of a fairytale!
Connecting to Eastern European Food.
Gathering Ingredients:
Flour. For this recipe, all-purpose flour works wonderfully for making soft and delicious buns. However, bread flour is great to use in this recipe as well!
Yeast. For this recipe you will want to use active dry yeast.
Milk. You can use any kind of milk for this recipe, and I think coconut milk makes a great replacement for cow’s milk. If you do not have milk on hand or do not want to use it, you can replace the milk with the same amount of water.
Eggs. This dough is enriched with egg yolks as well as the cheese filling. This helps to richly flavor the dough and create a beautiful texture in the cheese filling!
Butter. Like brioche, this dough has butter incorporated into the dough last. It is kneaded into the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cranberries. You can use fresh or frozen whole cranberries to make the filling.
Sugar.
Ricotta Cheese. The kind of cheese for your filling can be substituted. Traditionally, you would use Tvorog or Quark. If these types of cheese are not attainable for you, ricotta cheese works wonderfully!
Heavy Cream. This recipe is enriched with delicious heavy cream both in the filling and to brush along the outside of the buns. This gives them a delightful deep golden color after baking.
HOW TO SHAPE VATRUSHKA BUNS:
To shape the Vatrushka buns, you have to be a little creative! This delightful sweet bun recipe is shaped like a bird’s nest. It has a flat center and rounded sides to hold in the fruity blueberry filling.
Divide the Dough. After the bulk fermentation, or first rise, deflate the dough with your hands. Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces. This does not have to be perfect! Simply divvy up the pieces by eye, or you can weigh the entire ball of dough and then divide up that weight by 12. I like to use a bench scraper to slash through my dough, but you can also use a serrated knife.
Shape into Balls. Shape each piece of dough into a ball. Gently press the piece of dough flat onto the countertop, then bring all of the sides towards the center of the dough. Pinch the seam shut and drag the little dough ball towards you on the counter to make the bun very tight.
Let the Dough Puff. Cover the dough balls with plastic wrap or a warm, damp tea towel. Let them rise for about 20 to 30 minutes or until slightly puffed. They will not be fully risen like other bread doughs!
Use a Small Glass. With a small drinking glass or canning jar (like this one or this one), gently press down on the center of the bun to make an indentation. You may want to lightly grease the outside of the jar with some cooking oil to prevent it from clinging to the dough. Be careful not to press too deeply and accidentally cut through the dough.
Press with Your Finger. After you lift the jar from the dough, use your finger or thumb to flatten the indentation completely and create a nice rounded border.
Fill the Buns. Once the indentation is to your liking, fill the buns with your filling of choice!
Filling the VatrushkI:
To fill these sweet cranberry Vatrushka buns, you will want to create a delightfully creamy and sweet ricotta cheese filling! Traditionally, Vatrushka are filled with Tvorog cheese, an Eastern European fresh style cheese which is similar to German quark, ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese. Any of these filling will work!
Then, the cheese is combined with some sugar, eggs, vanilla, cornstarch, and heavy cream. This helps it to thicken and bake into a lovely set filling.
As for the fruit sauce, any fruit can work! You can replace the cranberries in this recipe with any other fruit you have on hand, such as blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries.
Tips for Making Perfect VatrushkI:
Weigh Your Ingredients. If there is one tip I could say for all of my baking recipes (and I often do!) is to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. This will provide you with perfect dough every single time.
Use a Stand Mixer. While I enjoy the romanticism of kneading dough by hand, it can be helpful to use a stand mixer when making this dough. Because this dough is enriched with milk and butter, it has similar qualities to a brioche dough. Brioche is incredibly soft and buttery from being kneaded for a long time. To create super soft and buttery Vatrushki, I suggest using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment.
Slightly Overfill the Centers. You do not have to be overly reserved when filling the buns with cranberry sauce and cheese! Let the filling dome a bit out of the buns before popping them into the oven. The filling will shrink a bit as it bakes, so more is more here.
Serving Suggestions:
These cranberry cheese buns are a bit on the tangy side, so they pair wonderfully with a sweetened beverage such as a hot latte or cappuccino! They are a perfect winter treat to share on chilly mornings, or even for Christmas breakfast. You will absolutely enjoy these sweet rolls incorporated your holiday brunch spread.
Looking for a more summer-themed Vatrushki recipe? Try my Wild Blueberry Vatrushka Buns Recipe!
Final Thoughts:
These sweet cranberry buns are absolutely delicious and make a wonderful Christmas breakfast recipe! If you love Danishes or brioche buns, then you will certainly enjoy this Eastern European treat. Vatrushka is a type of Pirozhki, which have all kinds of different fillings in various regions. I hope that you enjoy making this from scratch recipe for enchanting Cranberry Vatrushka Buns!
xoxo Kayla
Cranberry Vatruschka: Fruit and Cheese Sweet Buns
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 tsp (7 g) active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) warm water
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- 6 tbsp (75 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour
- 7 tbsp (100 g) salted butter, softened
- 1 large egg + 2 tbsp (30 ml) heavy cream, for egg wash
- 2 cups (300 g) fresh or frozen whole cranberries
- 2 tbsp (25 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) water
- 1 cup (350 g) drained ricotta cheese, or quark
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp (45 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp (25 g) cornstarch
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- Begin by making the Sweet Vatrushka Dough. In a small bowl, combine the yeast and warm water, stirring gently. Let this sit for about 8 to 10 minutes to allow the yeast to activate. It should begin to bubble and grow if it is active.
- In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, and salt. Place it over medium-low heat, and warm the milk until it begins to steam, or reaches 110° F (43° C). Pour the warmed milk mixture into the bowl of an electric standing mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment along with the yeast mixture. Whisk to combine, then add the egg yolks.
- Begin to slowly incorporate the flour, about 1 cup (125 g) at a time until the dough begins to form and no longer clings to the sides of the bowl. Then, add the softened butter and knead it into the dough for about 10 to 12 minutes on medium-high speed or until the dough becomes soft, elastic, and pillowy. Alternately, you can make this dough by hand or in a bread machine up until the first rise.
- Once the dough is soft, smooth, and elastic bring it out onto the countertop and shape it into a tight ball. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a warm, damp towel or plastic wrap and allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- While the dough is rising, make the Cranberry Sauce. In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, and water. Place the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook the sauce for about 8 to 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool while you continue with the rest of the recipe.
- To prevent a skin from forming over the top of the sauce, you can place a piece of plastic wrap over it, touching the surface of the sauce.
- Now that the dough has finished rising, gently deflate it with your hands. Divide the dough into 12 equal sized pieces.. Form the dough into balls, pinching the seam closed. Lightly grease 2 large baking sheets and arrange the buns on the sheets about 4-inches (10-cm) apart. Cover the buns with plastic wrap and let them rise for about 20 to 30 minutes. They will not be fully puffed like other bread recipes.
- Meanwhile, make the Ricotta Cheese Filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta or quark, eggs, sugar, vanilla, cornstarch, and heavy cream until smooth and there are no large lumps. You will want the sugar to be almost completely dissolved in the cheese, so an electric mixer would be the best option to mix this quickly!
- Preheat your oven to 350° F (180° C)
- With the bottom of a drinking glass or small canning jar, press firmly down on the center of each bun to make a well that is deep and wide enough to hold 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of filling. Be careful not to press too much and make a hole in the dough. It helps to spray the bottom of your glass with a light layer of cooking spray or oil so that it does not stick to the buns. It should look like a little nest with a flat bottom and rounded sides, and you can use your finger to press the indentation down more evenly.
- Place 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the Cheese Filling into the wells of each bun. Then, place 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the Cranberry Sauce into the wells of each bun.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and heavy cream for the egg wash. Brush this all along the sides of each bun. Bake the buns for about 20 minutes or until golden brown in the preheated oven. Serve the buns warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
340Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
