Traditional Eastern European Tart, or Vatrushka, is a pastry made with unsweetened yeast dough. The dough is very soft and traditionally filled with cottage cheese, often mixed with raisins.

When I was at school Vatrushka was one of the most popular pastries at our school canteen. Naturally, when we started to bake in Australia, I wanted to re-create this childhood memory. To add a contemporary twist we experimented with different fillings and along with customary cottage cheese we bake Vatrushkas with apple and pistachio, poppy seeds, chocolate and hazelnut.