Peter's Polish Pierogi Cupcakes with Stone Fruit Filling

/ Saturday, February 28, 2009


This has been the weekend from hell! I apologize for not posting these sooner. This past thursday was Peter's 22nd birthday. His stunning girlfriend Olivia, along with babelette Amaya Keller, threw him a party at the Ukrainian East Village Restaurant to celebrate his birth & his heritage. Unfortunately I could not make it to the festivities but these cupcakes did.

When it came to developing Peter's cupcake a few things needed to be kept in mind...
1. Peter hates frosting. 
2. Peter prefers that his desserts are not too sweet. 
3. Peter is not a huge fan of chocolate cake. 
4. Peter loves fruit. 
5. Peter loves pierogis. 


The idea came to me while I was sitting at Think before class. "If Peter hates frosting...why not top a cupcake with a sweet pierogi. The filling can act like the frosting!" It was definitely an experiment, but he loved it! 

Peter's birthday cupcakes were: Almond Cake filled with sweet cream, topped with a stone fruit pierogi tossed in butter, cinnamon and sugar and finished with a strawberry.

I had never made pierogi's before. In the process of baking I realized I had never eaten one either. These treats were definitely a shot in the dark, but come on, what doesn't taste good tossed in butter, cinnamon & sugar? 

I used Pat Edgcomb's recipe for Pierogis Elegante from the Food Network. She uses a savory filling. If you'd like to give stone fruit pierogi's a go cook down sliced plums, peaches, nectarines...any combo you'd like, with a little sugar, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Just be sure to smash the cooked fruit with a potato masher so that everything is broken up in small pieces. A sweet ricotta filling would have been nice as well.




Pat's Pierogis Elegante

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, salt, cream cheese, egg, butter, and milk. With your hands mix together until dough forms a ball. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth. You may add a little more flour to make the dough pliable. Divide dough into fourths. Put the pieces under a damp cloth, so it won't dry out. Roll the first piece to 1/4 inch of thickness and cut with a 3-inch cookie cutter or a glass. Put pierogi rounds under damp cloth while cutting the rest.

2. For each pierogi, place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough circle. Fold over to form a half circle. Seal edges by pinching together with your fingers. I then take a fork and press all along the edges. Repeat with remaining dough filling.

3. Fill a large pot half full with water and bring to a boil. Drop 5 or 6 pierogis in at a time. When they float to the top, cook for 1 minute. Place in a colander to drain. They will stick to paper towels. Repeat with remaining pierogis.

* At this point melt 1/4 cup unsalted butter and tossed the pierogis with cinnamon, sugar and the melted butter in a medium sized bowl. 


In retrospect, these would have been even more delicious pan fried with a little butter and then tossed with the cinnamon-sugar. Only 362 days until lucky 23 Pete...Enjoy!




1 comment

  1. erin my love. thank you so much for your contribution. its so great how you still managed to get the cupcakes to us without even coming. the cupcakes were amazingly delicious as always. although it was strange eating your cupcakes sans toi.

    ReplyDelete

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