Plushki (Moscow Plushka)
Incredibly fluffy and juicy with a crispy sugar crust and so aromatic are the Plushki. They have been one of the most popular sweet buns in Russian cuisine since the Soviet era. With this recipe, you'll make Moscow Plushka yourself. It takes a little time, but is otherwise pretty simple.
Servings 9 Plushki
Ingredients
- 150 ml milk lukewarm
- 100 g sugar**
- 70 g butter room warm
- 50 ml water lukewarm
- 1 small egg room warm
- approx. 500 g flour**
- 21 g fresh yeast
- 1 pinch of vanilla bean**
- 5 g salt
for brushing and sprinkling
- 50 g butter room warm
- 1 egg room warm
- 30 g brown cane sugar
Instructions
- Mix lukewarm milk and water in a large mixing bowl.
- Dissolve fresh yeast in it.
- Add sugar, egg, vanilla and salt and mix.
- Add flour in batches and knead into a firm dough.
- Knead softened butter into the dough.
- Then knead the dough for 7 - 8 minutes and let it rise covered in the mixing bowl in a warm place for 1 hour.
- Knead the dough briefly and let it rise for another 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces (100 g each for me) and shape each piece into a ball. Spread the dough balls on the work surface, cover them with a tea towel and let them rest for 15 minutes.
- Roll each dough ball into a long rectangle about 0.3 cm thick and brush with softened butter. Roll up the rectangle from the long side and tape the seam.
- For the heart shape: Fold the dough roll in half and glue the two ends together. Cut about 2/3 of the dough roll lengthwise along from the crease and fold up the two sides with the cut facing up. (See the pictures here above.)
- For the butterfly shape: Tape the two ends of the dough roll together and fold so that the taped ends are centered at the bottom. Cut about 1/3 of the dough roll lengthwise from each of the two creases, and unfold the four sides with the cut facing up. (See the pictures above for this as well).
- Spread the Plushki in heart or butterfly shape on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper with plenty of space between them and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Whisk an egg, brush it on the Plushki and sprinkle them with brown cane sugar.
- Bake the Plushki in a preheated oven at 180 °C top and bottom heat for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- Instead of fresh yeast you can use dry yeast**. For the recipe you need 7 g of it.
- The amount of flour indicated may vary. Add flour in portions until you have a firm yeast dough. It should not stick to your hands, but it should not be too firm or dry either.
- Do not make Plushki that are too small or they may taste dry. A piece of dough for each Plushka should weigh at least 100 g.
- Instead of brown cane sugar, you can sprinkle the buns with ordinary sugar before baking.
- Do not bake the Plushki longer than necessary so that they taste fluffy and not dry. Use a wooden skewer to check if they are baked.
- Note the detailed tips and tricks for making the Moscow Plushki at the top of the post.