Tag: baking
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No-egg Dairy-free Dough for Pirozhki
This year I’m making yet another attempt to observe the Nativity Fast. During this fast one cannot eat anything of animal origin. That means no omelette until Christmas (!), no milk in my morning coffee (!!), no butter on a toast (!!!), and no roasted chicken. 😦 Imagine how challenging it is for a person…
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Kulich: Orthodox Easter Bread
For many Orthodox Christians kulich, the festive and colorful bread, is traditionally a part of their Easter morning table, along with paskha and colored boiled eggs. During Soviet era, when people were deprived of God and faith by the regime, many older people still prepared traditional meals for religious festivities and observed religious holidays at…
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Baked Apples with Dandelion Honey Cream
This simple dessert of baked apples topped with buttery crumbles and sweetened sour cream is one of those treats that you cook on the days when you hm… don’t want to cook. It was one of those days for me: after digging and planting in the garden, I was not inclined to cook at all (got…
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Strawberry Tart with Ginger and Lemon
Strawberries sitting in my fridge were meant to accompany the ice cream, but it seemed too simple for the Mother’s Day weekend. So I changed my mind and made this strawberry tart for all mothers of the world, including yours truly. There was no time to search for a crust recipe, so I took it…
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Napoleon Cake
Layered Napoleon cake is our family’s heirloom recipe. The number one cake. It can also be called mama’s signature cake. Nobody she shared this recipe with could reproduce what she did. Luckily I wrote it down in my recipe notebook some thirty years ago. I made it a few times, but it was never like…
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Baked Omelet (Drachona)
I loved baked omelet that was served in Russian canteens, the common lunch place of the Soviet era. It was one of very few eatable and even enjoyable dishes among an array of unattractive food. They used to make it on huge baking trays and cut off the portions with a special spatula. It was…
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Judas Buns for Easter
In Czech Republic, Judas Buns are served for Easter and, following the most popular legend, symbolize the rope on which Judas hang himself after he betrayed Christ (the traitor had some remnants of conscience in him after all). I have been thinking about baking these buns for a few years now. I used to make them long time ago when I incidentally acquired…
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Buttermilk Blini
Loved by many as a common weekend breakfast, blini are also a ritual food in Russia. They symbolize sun and are the main food during Pancake Week (Maslenitsa), a celebration of upcoming spring. They are also served during mercy meals and memorial dinners, where they also carry a symbolism: the connection between lower and upper worlds and…
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Farmers Cheese Muffins
These muffins are actually a healthier variation of Farmers Cheese Pancakes. The main ingredients are the same, but the way of cooking is quite different. It’s baking instead of frying – a preferable way to cook in the age of fat phobia. I used tvorog bought at a Russian market, but farmers cheese will also…
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No-Egg Yeast Dough Pies
No-egg yeast dough is a real savior during Great Lent that started about a week ago and will last until Orthodox Easter. During this time one cannot eat anything of animal origin – no milk, no eggs, no meat, no butter. They say it’s the time of cleansing your body and soul, time of praying…
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Yeast Blini
Yeast blini have been traditionally prepared in Russia at Pancake Week (Maslenitsa). Before Christianity onset it was a week of pagan celebrations when people parted with harsh Winter and welcomed long-awaited Spring. Nowadays it is a week of festivities at the end of winter, before Great Lent that lasts until Orthodox Easter. People gather in still snowy parks to sing,…
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Belyashi : Fried Pies with Meat
These small meat pies come from Tajik cuisine, but were traditionally cooked in Russia. In the Soviet era they used to sell hot belyashi from big pots right on the corners of busy streets, where hungry students immediately formed a line to buy a hot pie for about 15 kopecks each. It was not as…
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Simple Banana Nut Bread
Banana bread is a classic American dish. I’ve been going to make it for a long time, and now that I have I almost regret it, because it is absolutely addictive! Having one slice is just not an option. Given that I usually don’t have this problem with desserts, this is surprising. Are you brave…
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Layered Mini-cakes "Isabella"
For many years these sponge-like minis were one of the favorite festive desserts in my family. Not pretentious, pretty easy to make, they do not require a lot of baking skills or fancy ingredients, yet every time a serving plate of “Isabella” excites a cry of joy in all the participants of a party. I…
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Christmas Morning Pancakes
On Christmas morning the house is quiet, all are asleep after yesterday’s celebrations, the gifts are waiting to be opened, and you want to treat your crowd with something special. This time I had a recipe in mind that was inspired by the one found on Dr.Oz’s website, but modified on the go. These pancakes…
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Fireplace Cooking in the Storm
Strange as it is, this sudden October snow freed me of a lingering writers block, hopefully for a long time. It was a fortunate coincidence (though she may disagree!) that Masha came to visit that Saturday, October 29. After a trip to Tower Hill Botanic Garden to see Ikebana arrangements that were magically enhanced by…
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Open Fish Pie
Baking fish pies in winter was a tradition in our family. Fish was abundant and readily available, thanks to my father’s rewarding occupation. He was a pilot of a small meteorological crew, and brought sacks of frozen fish and many other goodies from his flights to the north. The Soviet food industry was near to…
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Kolache – Czech Pastries
Funny enough, we couldn’t find kolache, one of traditional Czech pastries, in any Prague bakeries that were on our way. Maybe we just didn’t know the right place… or maybe they became one of those things people make at home. Anyway, I decided to bake them on return from our trip, armed by a recipe…
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Slightly Chocolate Coffee Cake
This coffee cake has a rich and crumbly chocolate crust and a fluffy inside with a hint of chocolate and nuttiness. The basic recipe for the batter comes from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, a book with amazing photography and recipes that are as good as they look. But the crust invention and the flavorings are all…
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Charlotte – Easy Apple Pie
This is a Russian favorite (pronounced Shar-lot-ka), and also probably the easiest cake you will ever bake. It requires hardly any preparation and only the most basic ingredients. And yet… the distinctive pink crust and lovely tartness of the apples make it a perfect home-made companion to tea and coffee. Ready to try? What you…
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