Sweet Cheese and Raisin Pastry Skillet
Romanian cheese pie rebuilt from milk powder and store pastry, cooked in a skillet over coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 104
- protein
- 14 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Breakfast
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Thin store-bought pastry sheets | 1 lb package | filo or the Romanian foi de placinta, kept flat |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 3/4 cup | stands in for the fresh sweet cow's cheese |
| Farmer cheese powder or dry ricotta powder | 1/2 cup | |
| Egg | 1 | carried in the shell in a hard case, or 2 tbsp powdered egg plus 3 tbsp water |
| Sugar | 1/3 cup | |
| Raisins | 1/2 cup | |
| Dried cranberries | 1/4 cup | the source used fresh; dried holds up |
| Sparkling water | 1/2 cup | one small can, or plain water plus 1/4 tsp baking powder |
| Oil | 3 tbsp | for brushing the sheets and greasing the pan |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set a grate over it. You want steady low heat, not flames.
- In a mug, stir the milk powder and cheese powder with 180 ml of cold water until it is a thick paste. Let it sit five minutes to hydrate.
- Beat in the egg, sugar, raisins, cranberries, and salt. Add the sparkling water last and stir once.
- Oil a skillet. Lay in a pastry sheet, brush it with oil, and repeat until half the package is down. Let the edges hang over the rim.
- Spread the filling flat. Cover with the rest of the sheets, oiling as you go, then fold the overhang in over the top.
- Cover the skillet with foil or a lid and set it on the grate. Twenty minutes, turning the pan a quarter turn every five so one side does not scorch.
- Pull the foil for the last five minutes to dry the top. Rest it ten minutes before cutting or the filling runs.
This is a Romanian cheese pie made without a refrigerator. The original leans on fresh sweet cow’s cheese and milk, which is a non-starter past day one. Powdered whole milk plus a dry cheese powder, hydrated to a paste, gets close enough on texture and holds the sugar and fruit in place.
The store-bought sheets are the reason this is worth carrying. You are not making dough on a picnic table. Oil between layers is what keeps them separate as they bake, so do not skip it, and keep the heat low and the pan turning. Filo goes from pale to burnt in about a minute over direct flame.
Packing
Milk powder, cheese powder, sugar, and salt go in one bag mixed at home. Raisins and cranberries in a second. Pastry sheets stay in their box flat at the top of the bin; folded, they crack.
Variations
- Skip the egg and use 2 tbsp cornstarch in the dry mix. It sets firmer and travels better.
- Lemon peel dried at home, crumbled into the filling, cuts the sugar.
- Dutch oven instead of skillet: same times, coals on the lid.
https://savoriurbane.com/placinta-cu-branza-si-stafide-cu-foi-subtiri-din-comert-reteta-de-placinta-creata