This is the recipe for Cypriot flaouna and let me tell you, they are the queen of cheese pies. They are individual cheese pies filled with cheese and raisins and flavored with mastic and mahlep. We usually bake them for Easter, and baking them involves the whole family!
The Flaouna Competition
Many women around the island will bake lots of flaounes, usually to eat and freeze them and give them to friends and family. Each household would enjoy many different flaounes during Easter time and unavoidably compare them, making flaounes the biggest unrecorded competition on the island.
I remember each year when it was Easter time; there was a whole preparation station to make the flaounes. The funny bit was that my grandmother had her recipe, my mum had a different recipe for flaounes, and if anyone else joined us, they would have an opinion for the right flaouna!
Some like their flaouna with fewer raisins, some with a lot, some like their flaouna to be a bit sweeter, others to be more like a tyropita, and when people started to make flaounes with anari/ricotta, then life became even more complicated!
My family used to make flaounes on Holy Saturday, after the first resurrection. That meant that we would prepare all the ingredients the recipe required on Holy Friday after church at night. We would prepare the cheese that was already grated and dried and let it sit for the whole night outside the fridge cause it was never that hot, and then prepare the flaounes the next day.
Beautiful Memories
When my giagia Milia was fit and strong, she would prepare her wooden oven. We baked the flaounes in there along with augotes and Easter koulourakia. All my aunts and cousins used to join, too, and it was such a special day. I sure miss those days!
Since everyone was fasting except my dad, he would always take a flaouna and be the one to try them before everyone else did. If we got the OK from him, then all was well. He still does that, and I love this ‘unofficial’ tradition.
I hope you enjoy them, and I would love to hear back from you with any comments or questions.
Love Dina x
To prepare the filling. Grate the cheese 2-3 days before the day you will make the flaounes. Place in a bowl in the fridge but leave it uncovered. Three times a day, stir the cheese to air it and help it dry. 5 hours before making the flaounes or the night before prepare the filling. In a bowl, mix the cheese and semolina and stir using a spoon. Once they are mixed, make a hole in the middle and add the starter (or yeast), and using some of the cheese and egg, mix it with the starter to help it dissolve. Beat the eggs and add them to the cheese mixture. You might need five eggs, depending on the size of the eggs you use. You are looking for a firm filling. Cover and let it be proof for 4-5 hours or overnight. (not in the fridge) When you are ready to make the flaounes add the baking powder, mahlep, mastic, chopped spearmint, and raisins and mix well with your hands. For the dough To prepare the dough add the flour, yeast, mastic, mahlep, and baking powder in a bowl. Pour in the oil and rub it between your fingers until all the flour is moistened from the oil. Add the milk and knead until the dough is nice and soft but not sticky. Cover and let it rest for 60 minutes. To make the flaounes. Wash and drain the sesame seeds and place them on a big plate or tray. Cut and roll each dough piece in 12x12cm circles or squares but not too thick. Place each circle in the sesame seeds, press well, and remove (the sesame side should be facing downwards). Grab a handful of cheese mixture and form a ball. Place in the center of the dough circle and fold the dough inwards. Pinch the corners using a fork and brush each flaouna with egg wash. Sprinkle some more sesame seeds on the top where the cheese mixture is too. To bake Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place the flaounes in baking trays lined with parchment paper, and when the oven is hot and ready, start baking them. Bake them at 200ºC for 20 minutes and 20 to 30 minutes more at 180ºC. Some extra tips *Make sure the dough is not too hard, you are looking for a soft, not sticky dough *The cheese filling should not be soft so that you can form it in nice balls and this way the filling won't spill * The mastic and mahlep dosage I feel is enough. If you add more there is a risk of them turning out bitter *Make sure to bake for 20 minutes in a higher temperature as this helps them rise and turn golden brown *Make sure not to open the oven when baking them-especially at the beginning
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