When the afternoon calls for a moment of relaxation and you want to treat yourself to something truly special with your favorite cup of coffee, store-bought cookies just won’t do. Forget about ready-made treats – these homemade yeast pastries made from honest dough with semi-coarse flour, eggs and lard, filled with farm quark blended with blackberry purée and rum-soaked raisins, topped with buttery crumble and chopped almonds are the ultimate delight that will disappear from your festive table in no time. The secret to their success lies in using lard for extra moistness, a rich fruity-quark filling, and a crunchy almond topping.
What you’ll need for a tray full of fragrant pastries:
For the honest yeast dough with lard:
- Semi-coarse flour: for the perfect dough texture
- Lukewarm milk and eggs: the essential liquid ingredients
- Yeast: fresh or dry for a beautiful rise
- Lard: real lard (guarantees the dough will be incredibly moist and tender)
- A pinch of salt and sugar: to balance the flavor
For the rich quark-blackberry filling:
- Farm quark: full-fat quark (for a creamy and delicious taste)
- Blackberries: cooked and strained blackberry purée (seedless)
- Sugar: granulated or powdered, to taste
- Raisins: pre-soaked in real rum
For the crunchy crumble and topping:
- Plain flour, butter and powdered sugar: classic buttery crumble
- Chopped almonds: for the final sprinkle before baking
Step-by-step preparation:
1. Preparing the yeast dough with lard: Make a starter from lukewarm milk, sugar and yeast. In a bowl, mix the semi-coarse flour with a pinch of salt, add the eggs, the starter and melted (lukewarm) lard. Knead into a smooth, non-sticky dough, cover with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes, until it doubles in size.
2. Making the blackberry-quark filling: In a bowl, beat the farm quark with sugar. Add homemade blackberry purée (which you previously cooked and strained through a sieve to remove any seeds) and mix well. Finally, stir in the fragrant raisins that have been soaking in rum.
3. Shaping and filling the pastries: Form small balls from the risen dough, place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and let them rise a bit more. Then, using the bottom of a glass or your fingers, make a deep well in each ball. Generously fill the center with the prepared quark-blackberry mixture.
4. Crumble, almonds and baking: Brush the edges of the dough with beaten egg if desired. Sprinkle a generous amount of buttery crumble on top of the filling and finish with a good amount of chopped almonds. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until golden, fragrant and perfectly baked around the edges.
5. Serving with coffee: Let the finished pastries cool slightly on a rack and serve them still warm, straight with a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Proven tips for a perfect result:
- The secret weapon: lard: Adding lard to the yeast dough instead of just oil is an old baker’s trick that keeps the pastries moist and soft even the next day.
- Strained blackberries: Removing the seeds from the blackberry purée ensures the filling is perfectly smooth and creamy, with no unpleasant bits.
- Rum raisins: Soaking the raisins in rum gives the filling a deep, festive flavor that pairs beautifully with the quark and coffee.
