Moldovan pumpkin kefir flatbreads (Plăcinte)

By Nik, founder of 東歐嚴選｜kefir.link and former chef · Updated 2 November 2026

Plăcinte are Moldova's thin filled breads, and this pan-fried version wraps grated pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon in a soft dough, then brushes each golden round with butter while it is hot. Milk kefir and a little baking soda make the dough soft, tender and easy to roll thin.

One name for many Moldovan pies

Plăcinte are made across the whole of Moldova, filled with cheese, meat, fruit, potato, cabbage or pumpkin, and they are part of the country's recognised cultural heritage. The word comes from the Latin placenta, meaning cake, and before that from the Greek word for a flat cake. One name covers several shapes: a thin sheet folded into an envelope, a coiled spiral, or a pie baked in a tray. In central and southern Moldova, cooks fry them in a pan from a single stretched sheet, just like these pumpkin breads. Peasant families once kept plăcinte mainly for holidays, and today they are everyday food as well as festive food.

From cheese whey to kefir

Moldovan flatbreads were originally made with whey left over from making fresh cheese. Kefir is a good modern stand-in for that whey and makes the dough more tender. The dough rests while the pumpkin is prepared, and that rest makes it easy to roll very thin. Grated raw pumpkin releases juice, and a wet filling makes the parcels hard to shape. That is why the pumpkin is salted, left for a few minutes and squeezed firmly before the cinnamon sugar goes on.

Which pumpkin to buy and how to serve it

Kabocha, sold in Taiwan as chestnut pumpkin, has finer, floury, sweeter flesh and less moisture than ordinary pumpkin, so it gives a drier filling. In Moldovan shops, sweet plăcinte come with pumpkin, apple or sour cherry fillings and are eaten warm, by hand. At home, serve them with sour cream, or with a cup of tea or cocoa. They also travel well as a portable snack, or make an unusual breakfast.