From palms to dandelions... and Walnut and Honey Cake (Medovik)

Update: Due to blogger technical problems, all your lovely comment are gone and I didn't have a chance to answer to you. But I would like to say thank you for taking your time to stop by and leave a comment : ) THANK YOU!

Coming back from the airport I could not but notice that everything is blooming. Everything is green.

And dandelions, they were everywhere! Anyplace I looked I saw dandelions.  Every little land of grass was covered with these bright yellow flowers.  They always bring lovely memories from my childhood.

 

Next day we woke up early.  After having our breakfast, cinnamon oatmeal porridge for A. and usual eggs and strong cup of coffee for me, we headed to the park. Since it was still early, there were not many people. But neither of us minded that, we had fun of our own.

We came home just before lunch, pleasantly exhausted.  With A. happily napping I decided to make cake. But not any cake. The cake from my childhood - Walnut and Honey Cake or as we call it Medovik.  It is quite time consuming to make the cake but when is ready it will be worth all efforts!

Prep time: 45 min + 30 min to stand

Total time: 1 ¼ h + 6 h to chill

(Serves 16)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

200 g sugar

120 g honey

100 g unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ tsp baking powder

500 g all-purpose flour

For filling:

2 cans (800 g) of caramelized condensed milk*

200 g sour cream or crème fraiche

For coating:

250 g plain biscuits, crushed

150 g chopped walnuts

Method:

In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar. Add honey, butter and baking powder, stir well.

Place bowl over pot with simmering water and stirring constantly heat up batter until it will double in size and slightly change in colour.

Remove from the heat then sift in flour. Cover dough with cling film and leave to stand for 30 minutes. The dough will be soft and sticky but it will harden as it cools. 

Preheat oven to 200⁰C. Line baking tray with parchment paper or non stick baking sheet.

Transfer dough onto lightly floured surface then divide it into 10-14 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into 2-5 mm thick circle, about 18-20 cm in diameter. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 3-7 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool.

For the cream, combine caramelized condensed milk and sour cream or crème fraiche. If desired add chopped walnuts.

Assemble the cake by coating each layer with generous amount of cream. Coat the sides with cream and sprinkle top and sides with biscuit crumbs and ground walnuts.

At this point the cake will be hard, but after leaving it in the fridge for 6 h it will be soft and moist.

*if you can’t buy ready caramelized condensed milk, you can do it yourself by boiling 2 cans of  condensed milk for 2 hours. Just let it cool completely before opening the cans.

Spicy Apple Bundt Cakes

 

’’ We would like to visit you’’ I wrote to my friend K.       

’’ You and A. are always welcome’’ she wrote me back.

Daring Bakers January Challenge - Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entremet

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Fruity Mini Carrot Cakes

When I first time heard about carrot cake I was sceptical – carrot and cake - it just didn’t make sense to me. Carrot is a vegetable and a cake is a cake and I couldn’t put them together.  It took me few years before I got courage to try it. And you know what the first thing came to my mind? Why on earth I didn’t try it earlier??

Orange Semolina Cake

Semolina cake is widely known and liked in many families. Very tender with incredible orange aroma, perfect for the afternoon tea or coffee.

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

2 eggs

100 gram sugar

1 teaspoon salt

250 ml buttermilk

200 gram semolina

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

Zest of one orange

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease baking pan.

In a bowl mix eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla sugar and baking powder until well combined.

Add buttermilk then gradually stir in semolina and flour; mix in orange zest.

Pour batter to the baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until ready.

Baked Passion fruit Cheesecake with Vanilla Raspberry Sauce

Whether you would like to impress your guests or just want to make your day more excited, you can't go wrong with this mouth-watering cheesecake.

It is no crust baked cheesecake with a lusciously smooth and rich texture -no words can describe it- you just have to try it!

(Serves 10)

Ingredients:

400 gram cream cheese, at room temperature

150 ml cream (35%), at room temperature

200 gram cottage cheese, at room temperature

150 gram flour, sieved

3 passion fruit pulp

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

3 eggs, at room temperature

150 gram sugar

Raspberry Sauce:

200 gram raspberries

100 ml water

50 gram sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease 24 cm baking form.

In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar; mix until smooth then gradually add flour.

Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Then add cream, vanilla essence and passion fruit. Mix until everything is well combined and smooth.

Pour filling into the baking form and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until firm. Leave to cool in the form then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.

Raspberry Sauce:

Place all ingredients in medium saucepan, bring it to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.