Plushche or Plushke

This sweet bun is pronounced ploosh-tche in Low German or ploosh-ke in High German, which is the German I grew up with. My mom-in-law speaks the Low German to me and I answer in the High German. That’s how we have communicated for over 30 years and although we hardly notice it, it would sound funny to someone listening. Since she was born in Russia, experienced the same hardships as my grandparents did and is 40 years older than I am, she has often been more of on Oma image to me. She loves calling and seeing what I’m doing. When she found out I was making Plushke, she was in heaven! She asked me if I was having “yast” (guests). Obviously she would have made these for guests. I didn’t even try to explain why I was really making them. So, here’s to all of our blogland “yast’, a recipe that, when I bit into them reminded me of being a child and dipping by bun in sugar. This is my Mom’s recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup butter
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 8 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons yeast

filling:

• ¼ cup melted butter
• ¾ cup sugar

Method:

1. Scald milk and butter and salt. Cool slightly with a few ice cubes if using instant (fast acting) yeast, or to ‘warm’ if using traditional yeast. (If using traditional yeast, mix with a 2 Tbsp sugar, then ½ cup warm water to dissolve – let stand 10 min) I’ve found that instant yeast (which you just add to the flour) is more forgiving when it comes to hot liquids, whereas regular/traditional yeast can be killed if the liquids are too hot.
2. Beat eggs and sugar well in large mixing bowl or dough machine bowl.
3. Slowly stir in milk and butter, then regular yeast mixture or instant yeast mixed with 1 cup flour, continue adding flour, one cup at a time. Using a dough hook makes this easy. Knead until dough is smooth and holds together nicely.
4. Transfer to larger bowl and cover loosely with tea towel and plastic.
5. Let rise 1 hour.

Shaping

1. Now, my mom used to cut little squares and do a crossover thing with little cuts so that it looked like a flower, but you can do whatever you want. What I did: Divide the dough into 4 parts. 
2. Pat each part into a circle on floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out a bit larger than a dinner plate. 
3. Spread each circle with 1 tablespoon melted butter and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut into 12 wedges.
4. Roll wedges up starting from the outside. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet.
5. Cover and let rise 1 hour. Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes.

Icing:

• 2 cups icing sugar, 
• 1 tablespoon soft margarine
•  milk to make an easy spread

Oma would have thinly covered the whole bun. I like to play with icing, so I did a drizzly spread.

Addendum: I found out that plyushki is a Russian pastry, which makes sense when I consider that my mom-in-law lived in Siberia