Tvarohový závin is a delicious fresh cheese dessert from leavened dough, very traditional in Czech cuisine.
Just like the Apple Strudel, tvarohový závin is a Czech rolled dessert. Sometimes, it’s also called strudel (štrúdl in Czech) incorrectly as this word describes only the apple strudel and the same dessert with different filling is always závin.
Tvarohový závin – Recipe
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g/ of semi-coarse flour (see Czech Flour Guide) – you can replace it with fine flour
- 200 ml/ of lukewarm milk
- 125 g/ of melted unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp of powder sugar
- 1 tbsp of dried yeast/1 cube (42g) of fresh yeast
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp of salt
Filling
- 750 g/ of tvaroh (quark cheese, cottage cheese…)
- 130g/ of caster sugar (krystal – see Czech Sugar Guide) – can be replaced by powder sugar
- 2 heaping tbsp of vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
- 1 package of vanilla pudding powder (about 2-3 heaping tbsp)
- 2 eggs
- zest from 1 lemon, grated
- optional: raisins
Glaze and sprinkle
- 5+ tbsp of hot milk
- powder sugar
- optional: 1 egg
How to make Tvarohový závin
Stir in yeast into lukewarm milk, add 1 tsp of powder sugar, cover and let the starter rest.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add egg, melted butter and the starter, knead dough until smooth. Cover the bowl and let it raise for an hour. Knead again and let it rise again.
While the dough rises, prepare the filling by combining all the ingredients.
Roll out the dough to not more than 1 cm/0.4 in.
Spread the filling on the dough, leaving just a little dough at the edges.
Roll the tvarohový závin up.
Close the ends.
Place it on a baking tray, either on a sheet of baking paper or a tray covered with butter. Cover the tray and let it rise for 15 more minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F.
Just before it goes in the oven, glaze your závin with hot milk (or whisked egg).
Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden, let it cool down and sprinkle with powder sugar.
