Chocolate Cherry and Caramel Bars / Шоколадно-Вишнево-Карамельные Пирожные

These chocolate caramel and cherry bars have crunchy layers of cookie like dough and three types of frosting, which are caramel, sour-sweet cherry filling and a rich layer of chocolate with bits of almonds on top. Quite festive, yet very easy to make.
I do recommend that you give this recipe a try.

2 cups flour
270g butter
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
10g baking powder
drop of lemon juice

Beat together butter and sugar, adding eggs, flour and baking powder with a drop of lemon juice. Divide the dough into 3 parts and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

200g butter
400g dulce de leche or caramel
pinch of salt
2tb.s. cocoa powder
1t.s. espresso powder

Beat everything together  and chill.

350g cherry jam

If the jam has chunks of fruit in it, using hand blender mix it until it is smooth.

Preheat oven to 180C. Using your fingers spread one part of dough evenly over 23x23 square baking form, covered with baking paper.  Bake until golden, approximately 10 minutes. Let it cool of on a wire rack.  Repeat with other parts of dough.

Spread jam and then caramel filling over one layer of dough. Cover with the other and spread two frostings again, repeat with a third layer. Place the cake into the fridge for a while.

Melt 160g dark chocolate with 1 tb.s. olive oil. Take the cake out of the fridge. Sprinkle the cake on top with chunks of toasted almonds. Pour your chocolate over it. Let the cake set in the fridge.

It's better to serve it 24 hours later.

Enjoy!

Mixed Spice Yoghurt Bars / Пряные Йогуртовые Пирожные

These tender, light and delicious yoghurt bars can easily be adapted for different seasons, depending on the flavour you choose. Instead of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves....you could just use vanilla and decorate with fresh berries for a nice  melt in your mouth summer dessert.

For the dough

60g melted butter

4 eggs, separated

125g sugar

vanilla

pinch of salt

100g flour

70g cornflour

10g baking powder

150g small almond cookies

150g small meringue cookies

Wisk egg whites until stiff, adding sugar gradually. Add salt and vanilla and beat in yolks, flour and cornflour. Pour melted (and cooled) butter.

Line baking tray (30x20cm) with baking paper, pour half of the batter into it and bake at 175C during 15 minutes, until done. Cool on a wire rack. Repeat with another part of batter, but before baking it, arrange almond cookies on top of the batter (to add some crunch).

Cream

400g very thick Greek yoghurt

250g whipping cream

200g vanilla powdered sugar

3tb.s. mixed spices

1 1/2 tb.s. gelatine powder

Whipp the cream until stiff, adding powdered sugar gradually. Add spices and yoghurt and stir well. In a small bowl heat small amount of water with gelatine powder, until it is dissolved. Add this mixture to yoghurt cream. Stir.

Line the same baking tray with plastic film, place one plain layer of sponge cake. Pour the cream over it (same a little bit for top). Cover with another layer of sponge cake (the one with cookies in it). Using the remaining cream glue small meringues to the cake top.

Refrigerate overnight. Remove from the tin (lifting the plastic film). Cut into portions.

Lebkuhen. Christmas Mood / Рождественские Пряники

As  leaves are turning yellow and red I'm getting into Christmas mood. Together with kids we look through holiday pictures, holiday recipes and wait for presents...already in October!:) I blame the weather this year, actually.
I've made quite a few Holiday cookies through the years, but never German Lebkuhen. So it was time for them this year.  This recipe makes really a lot. The sugar glaze and chocolate makes a huge difference, I would say, because without them the cookies are kind of plain, just fragrant.

Here is the recipe.

225g brown sugar
225g honey
250ml light molasses
250ml sour cream
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp  soda
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cloves
1 tbsp cocoa
200g candied orange, lemon and citron peel, diced (mixed peel)
100g slivered almonds
about 1 kg flour (depending on the dough)

Makes 3 baking trays of Christmas-y, fragrant little glazed and dipped in chocolate cookies. Enough for all your neighbours.
Heat molasses, sugar, honey in a small pan until sugar dissolves. Add butter. Cool a bit. Add soda and sour cream together. Transfer the mixture to a larger bowl. Add spices and flour, until the dough can be formed. Do not add too much flour.
Cover the dough with plastic and let it stand in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Scoop balls of dough with a table spoon and flatten them a bit. Place the cookies onto lined with baking paper baking tray.
Bake for 15 minutes. Let them cool a bit. Prepare a glaze with lemon juice, water and (vanilla) powdered sugar in equal parts. Deepen each cookie into the glaze and place them onto wire rack.
Melt about 150g of bitter (or milk) chocolate and deepen each cookie bottom onto it. Let them dry. Store in an airtight container with a small slice of apple so that the cookies keep soft.

Glazed Cut-out Cookies / Глазированное Печенье

This recipe is really good and I come back to it very often. Kids ask to bake stars, hearts, animals... quite often and I don't look for any new recipes any more, because this one is just so good. The cookies come out very tasty, fragrant, chewy with crunchy sides and a sweet glaze.

1 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
almond extract
vanilla extract
1 t.s. salt
2 3/4 cups flour (begin with 1/2 and see if you need more)

Beat butter, egg and sugar until combined and smooth. Add extracts, salt and flour. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes if you're making them in summer. Roll the dough out into a thick (about 0,5cm) disk. Cut out cookies and place them onto baking tray, covered with baking paper.
Bake for about 10 minutes at 175C.

Glaze

I use a very simple recipe.
0,5 cup powdered sugar (with vanilla)
1 tb.s. runny honey
1-2 tb.s. water
colouring gel or liquid

Mix all ingredients together until you get thick paste that slowly runs from the spoon if you lift it.
I use a simple watercolour paint brush for this. Let the cookies dry. The above quantity is probably enough for half of the cookies, so you can repeat with another colour for the rest of them.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Brioche Buns / Шоколадные Бриоши

Here I am today with some tasty flaky chocolate brioche buns. They go so well with a cup of hot mint tea, especially these rainy autumn days. But no matter what the weather's like, I still adore autumn, it is my favourite season, it's when I feel comfortable and cosy, I  feel constant urge to travel or at least to go out and not to be in a hurry to get back home. 

The brioche buns emphasize this feeling of cosiness for me. Hence the recipe for you :)

The recipe is taken from here. 

For the starter

1/2 cup bread flour

21g fresh yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

Mix all together and cover with a plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

For the dough

the starter

5 eggs

3 cups bread flour + some for dusting

2 tb.s. sugar

1 1/4 t.s. salt

200g soft butter

Add eggs, sugar and salt to the starter, mix well, carefully begin adding flour.  After the dough is kneaded, add soft butter and mix it in with your hands or in a mixer. Until all is incorporated and homogeneous. You may need some more flour if the dough is too wet.  Form the dough into a thick rectangle and over it with plastic wrap for several hours (overnight).

Chocolate filling

2/3 cup milk

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

6 tb.s. flour

6 tb.s. cocoa powder

3 tb.s. butter

Heat the milk until it is boiling. In the meantime mix all other ingredients until there are no lumps. Carefully add this mixture to the milk, stirring all the way and cook until the mixture thickens. Refrigerate.

When the filling is chilled, take out the dough. Roll the dough into a rectangle that will be twice as large as the chocolate filling. Place the filling into the middle of the dough and cover the filling with two ends of rectangle, Fold the entire dough in half, so that all he seams are inside (folded). Roll the dough again into a thinner rectangle and fold it the same way for the second time (long ends fold into the middle, and fold the entire dough in half again). Roll for the third time and repeat folding. Now after you rolled the dough into a rectangle one more time, just roll it into a log. Cut it with a sharp knife into desired pieces (I got 18 muffins out of this quantity).

Butter the muffin forms and place pieces of the dough into every form (cut side up).  Cover with plastic and wait for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175C and bake the buns for about 17 minutes. They are ready now:)

Multi-Layered Cake / Многослойный Торт

This is a really long time since I posted my last recipe. I was away from home for a while and even after I came back, I did not have any inspiration to continue with the whole baking obsession.

Well, this cake was much requested by my two girls and since it happened to look decent I decided to share the recipe here. I will not promise that other recipes will follow soon, I will have to just see how it goes. I guess there is time for everything...

About the layered cake here. It does have many different layers. Moist and intense chocolate one, meringue with crunchy hazelnuts, cookie like layers and two different types of frosting.

The recipe is found here. I saved this page a really long time ago now, so when Valerie said it was time for some cake baking, I immediately came back to this saved recipe.

I am sure it will be loved by many, as it has a lot of variations within it, many flavours and textures. Enjoy it!:)

For the chocolate layer

250g melted butter
1 cup sugar
3 tb.s. thick yoghurt/ sour cream
2 tb.s. cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 cup cake flour
10g baking powder
1 t.s. lemon juice

Mix liquid ingredients together, add flour and cocoa with baking powder and lemon juice. Stir until there are no lumps. Pour the dough into 24cm baking form, lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for about 35 minutes. Let it cool and cut horizontally into 2.

For the cookie layers

200g butter
2 egg yolks
2tb.s. sour cream
2,5 cups cake flour

Mix wet ingredients, add flour and create a ball out of this dough. Put it into plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Cut the dough ball into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into 24cm disc.

Meringue and nut layer

4 egg whites
1 cup vanilla powdered sugar
1 t.s. lemon juice
200g toasted hazelnuts, smashed into chunks

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until frothy. Add slowly sugar and continue to beat until you get thick meringue.

Spread meringue onto each disc of dough. Sprinkle with nuts.
Bake at 200C for 10 minutes each.

Frosting N1

600ml labneh or thick greek yoghurt or sour cream
1 cup sugar
vanilla
rum essence

Beat it all until creamy. Chill in the fridge.


Frosting N2

300g soft butter
1 can (460ml) condensed milk
some caramel liquer

Beat everything until creamy.

Now layering.

1. Start with one chocolate layer.
2. Spread sour cream frosting on top.
3. Place cookie layer over it, with meringue on top.
4. Spread Buttery cream over it.
5. Place cookie layer, with meringue facing down.
6. Spread buttery cream.
7. Place cookie layer with meringue facing up.
8. Spread buttery frosting.
9. Place cookie layer, with meringue facing down.
10. Spread sour cream frosting.
11. Place second chocolate layer (it will be the top of the cake).
12. Frost the cake with sour cream frosting on top and remaining buttery frosting on the sides.
13. Decorate as you wish. Refrigerate for several hours. All those layerd need to soak a little.

Enjoy:)

Muhallebili Baklava / Cream Baklava

This is one tasty baklava! It is not only flaky and fragrant, and crispy, and sweet, but it also has tender creamy centre, which I chose to be lemon-tahini combination.

I did suffer in the kitchen while preparing it, it got really hot here finally. But it was all worth it! Small piece of this baklava with thick and cold Greek yoghurt and some juicy fruit -  heaven!:)

Recipe is adapted from here


Syrup

1,5 cups sugar
1.5 cups water
1/3 of  a lemon, squeezed
3-4 cardamom pods, slightly crushed

Cook all ingredients (together with squeezed lemon) on medium heat for about 20 minutes, until 1/3 is evaporated.


Creamy filling

500ml milk
2 tb.s. flour
1 tb.s. corn starch
pinch of salt
5 tb.s. sugar
2 egg yolks
vanilla
zest of 1/3 lemon

Bring milk to boil. In a small bowl combine flour, starch, egg yolks and pour some cold milk into the mixture, stir well and pour it into the boling milk, whisking until thickens. Set aside. Add vanilla and zest.

Baklava

you'll need approximately 500g philo dough
app. 1/2 cup tahini paste
app. 1/2 cup canola oil

Brush baking form with oil. Place first layer of dough (about 5 sheets) onto the bottom of it (so that the sides of the dish would be covered), brush with oil and tahini. Cover with another layer of dough, brush and place third layer. Pour the prepared cream over the dough. Repeat with layering and brushing of the rest of the filo dough. Pour the rest of oil over the top layer. Pinch all the sides, precut into desired portions and bake at 175C during 45 minutes, until crispy and golden. Take it out and let it cool for 5 minutes.

Pour your syrup over baklava and let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours. Enjoy with something refreshing!:)

Banana Coconut Cream Cake / Бананово Кокосовый Торт

This cake is amazing! It's tender, fluffy, moist, light, fruity...very summery indeed! The yellow cake is delicious as it is even without anything on top, but I paired it with this light banana soufflé, some sour-sweet raspberry jam and creamy coconut frosting. A real delight!

Yellow cake (source)

2 cups AP flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
10g baking powder
1 t.s. salt
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup milk
2 eggs
vanilla


Preheat oven to 175C. Mix dry ingredients. Add butter, milk and eggs. Beat until creamy, add vanilla.  Pour the batter into two 20cm forms covered with baking paper. Bake each cake during 30-35 minutes until done. Cool on a wire rack.

Banana soufflé

3 large bananas, blended into purée
25ml lemon juice
1 full tb.s. gelatine, soaked in some cold water
35g sugar
2 tb.s. coconut liqueur

Place banana purée, lemon juice and sugar into a small pan and heat it, stirring occasionally, until first bubble appears. Set aside. Add soaked gelatine, whip and add liqueur or rum.
Set the soufflé into fridge, but watch it, so that it does not harden completely.

Trip the tops of each cake. Spread already slightly hardened soufflé over one layer of cake. Spread some raspberry jam over the soufflé. Cover with another cake.

Open a refrigerated can of coconut milk, collect all the creamy top part, leaving watery part on the bottom. Whip the cream with some vanilla powdered sugar. Spread the whipped coconut cream over the top of the cake. Refrigerate.



Vanilla Meringue Buttercream

160 g sugar
60ml water
2 egg whites
100-150 g softened butter
vanilla and rum extracts
grated coconut to decorate the sides of the cake

Cook water with sugar during 10 minutes, until syrup thickens. Beat egg whites until fluffy, slowly pour the syrup into egg whites, beating all the time. Continue for around 5 more minutes, until firm picks form.

Beat soft butter and add it to the meringue. Beat until silky. Cover with this cream sides of the cake.

Refrigerate during several hours. Enjoy!

Coconut Chocolate Fudge Bars / Кокосово-Шоколадный Пляцок

The weather is getting normal finally, I already had my 30 minutes of sun bathing this spring...which should have happened a month ago at least. Of course, the higher the temperature outside, the less I want to bake.

This recipe is something from a list of interesting recipes to try out. My creativity was close to zero (guess it's the summer heat) this time. I did manage to change some things. My kids loved this cake. It's very fluffy, with juicy coconut centre, it is a very satisfying cake too.


The recipe is adapted from here.

200g butter
150g sugar
pinch of salt
150ml Greek yoghurt
3 eggs
1 egg white
3 tb.s coconut liqueur
2tb.s. coconut flakes
10g baking powder
2 cups flour (I took 1 AP and 1 cake flour)
2 tb.s. cocoa powder

In a mixer beat sugar with soft butter until fluffy. Add eggs, liqueur, yoghurt. Add flour, baking powder, coconut.

Grease 20x20cm baking form and pour one half of the dough.

Add 2 tb.s. of cocoa powder to the rest of the dough and pour it on top of the white one.

200g cottage cheese
some coconut liqueur
3tb.s. sugar
1 egg yolk
6 tb.s. coconut flakes

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth texture. Roll 16 balls and place them in freezer for 30 minutes.

Take the balls out of the freezer and push them into the dough.

Bake at 180C for 40-45 minutes. Let the cake cool completely.

Melt 160g dark chocolate. Add 160g soft butter into the chocolate and stir. Place the mixture into the fridge until it got firmer.
Whip the ganache until slightly lighter in colour. Frost the cake. And let it cool for at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Raspberry and Rosé Wine Cakelettes / Пирожные с Розовым Вином и Малиной

I had some rose wine leftovers in the fridge, which I could drink just like that, of course, because I love rose wine:) But that is not what I wanted to do. I used it to flavour these delicious and pillow-y soft cakes. To make them not only delicious but a bit more pretty I piped some vintage looking flower/leaves onto them and flavoured the buttercream with raspberry jam. A very cool combination!

Rose wine cakelettes (adapted from here)

1.5 cups cake flour

10g baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup rose wine

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

vanilla

Mix dry ingredients. In a bowl combine all wet ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Pour the batter into 6 large greased muffin forms (better to use paper cupcake forms for this recipe). Bake the cakes durng 25 minutes at 175C (fan).

Raspberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

3 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

drop of lemon juice

some rum essence

pinch of salt

200g soft butter

1 large tablespoon seedless raspberry jam

Mix sugar, egg whites and lemon juice. Place it in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. Mix and heat until all sugar is dissolved and thermometer reaches about 60C. Take it away from the heat and using electric mixer whip for about 10 minutes, until glossy picks form.

Chill the mixture in the fridge fro 5-10 minutes. Now mix again, adding soft butter, soon by spoon. In the end add the jam and essence.

Frost your cakes. I used petal piping nozzle. Sprinkle some raspberry jam over them.

Enjoy!

Chocolate and Strawberries Cake / Клубнично-Шоколадный Торт

We decided to make a small welcome party for my husband returning from the UK yesterday. It's not a big deal, of course...He wouldn't even celebrate his own birthday if we did not insist:) But we made this chocolate strawberry cake and even arranged some candles on top:) We, the girls, just need some bright and happy moments with no reason now and then...or maybe all the time?..


Chocolate Cake (adapted from here)

1 1/4 cup flour
10g baking powder
1 cup sugar
4 tb.s. melted butter
100g cocoa powder
1 tb.s. strawberry jam (sieved)
3 eggs
100ml milk

Mix all dry ingredients. Add melted butter, milk and eggs and mix until well combined.
Preheat oven to 160C. Grease 22cm cake tin and transfer the batter into it. Bake during 25-30 min. Do not let it dry out. Let it cool. Cut the cake into 2 parts horizontally.

Chocolate Buttercream

200g soft butter
pinch of salt
vanilla
rum essence
1 tb.s. coffee liqueur
1 tb.s. strong coffee
1 cup powdered sugar
160g 70% chocolate

Melt chocolate au bain marie. Beat the butter, salt and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add liqueur, coffee and vanilla and rum essences. Start beating and adding chocolate. It will melt. Mix so there are no lumps. Refrigerate until firmer. Beat it again.

Set aside 50ml of whipping cream. Add to it 1 tea spoon of gelatine. Heat the mixture until completely dissolved. Let it cool off. Whip cold (150ml) cream until soft peaks, add (200g) powdered sugar and vanilla. In the end add gelatine cream and whip again.

Place sliced strawberries onto first cake layer, cover with whipped cream and some sliced strawberries again. Cover it with the second cake layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Remove all the cream that might have come out from the sides a bit. Frost the cake with chocolate buttercream and refrigerate overnight.

Decorate with some fresh strawberries before serving. Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Cupcakes (flour, sugar, diary free) / Кокосово-Банановые Капкейки (без сахара, муки, масла)

With Easter approaching I had some ideas of light, healthy, springe-ish desserts on my mind. And I came up with this banana coconut cashew cupcakes, a dessert that I actually will eat myself. And I did so! In the first day only I ate three of these on my own:) So.....

The cupcakes are a bit more dense than usual cupcake. But I kind of like it. I did not use any sugar, flour, diary or fat/butter in this recipe. Enjoy these healthy little treats!

 And Happy Easter to everyone!

Coconut Banana Cupcakes

2 bananas, mashed
1 egg
160g coconut flakes
vanilla essence
1 t.s. baking powder
sugar substitute (I did not add any sweetness, if you like things sweeter, add some)

In a blender combine bananas and egg, blend until smooth, add coconut with baking powder and blend again.

Divide the dough between 12 slightly greased cupcake forms. Bake at 175 C during 15 minutes. The cupcakes will rise just a little. Let them cool.

Cashew Cream

1 1/4 cup raw cashew nuts
water
vanilla essence
1tb.s. honey
some food colouring

Soak cashew nuts in room temperature water overnight. Drain water and blend nuts with vanilla, honey and food colouring until the mixture is really smooth.

Using piping bag frost the cupcakes.

Enjoy them and don't feel too guilty about it:)

Healthier Carrot Oat Cupcakes / Морковные Капкейки (полезные)

Finally, April just arrived! We greet it with traditionally spring time carrot cupcakes. I made them low fat and quite healthy....apart from some sugar and some butter in frosting. You could easily substitute sugar for another sweetener though.

The texture of these carrot oat cupcakes is surprisingly quite light and fluffy. So, I am very pleased with the result! The frosting is also full of protein. A very child and diet friendly recipe:)

Carrot Oat Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups cooked and mashed carrots
1 cup oat flakes
1 cup ww flour
2 tb.s baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 tb.s canola oil
vanilla and rum essences
1 to 2 t.s. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients. Combine with wet ingredients and make sure there are no lumps. Transfer the dough into greased cupcake forms (will make around 18-20).
Preheat oven to 175 C. Bake during 15-17 minutes. Let them cool.

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

200 g low fat cottage cheese
70 g butter
1 cup vanilla powdered sugar
1 tb.s. concentrated orange juice
citrus essence

Process cottage cheese in blender until really creamy. Add butter and beat until incorporated, add powdered sugar, juice and essence. You could add colouring, if you like.

Frost already cooled cupcakes. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Chocolate Stout Cake with White Chocolate Stout Frosting / Шоколадно-Пивной Торт с Кремом из Белого Шоколада на Пиве

I did not expect this chocolate stout cake to be so delicious! It's pleasant, a little bitter after taste is amazing! I am sure it will be baked again in this kitchen:) I went for total beer taste effect and added beer to the frosting as well.

Quite simple to make. Does not take much afford or a lot of time. But does bring much pleasure:) For all chocolate lovers!

Give it a try!

Chocolate Stout Cake (adapted from here)

250 ml stout
250 g butter
around 100 g cocoa powder
300 g sugar
150 ml cream cheese
2 eggs
vanilla
some rum essence
10 g baking powder
1 1/4 cup flour

Heat beer and add butter. Let it melt. Take away from fire, sift in cocoa powder and sugar. Add cream cheese, mix well, so there are no lumps. Add eggs, vanilla, rum essence and flour mixed with baking powder. Pour the batter into greased and lined 23 cm springform. Bake at 180 C (fan) for 30 minutes. Let it cool.

White Chocolate Stout Frosting

2x80 g white chocolate bars
200 g cream cheese
100 g or more vanilla powdered sugar
80 ml stout beer
about 1/2 cup sugar (up to 3/4 of a cup)

Beat cream cheese with electric mixer. Melt white chocolate and add it to the cream cheese. Beat again, adding powdered sugar.
In a saucepan heat 80 ml of beer with sugar on low heat, stirring only occasionally. The mixture will foam. Cool until you get a syrup resembling honey in texture. While still warm and liquid, pour the syrup into the prepared frosting and beat this mixture until all is incorporated. Let it cool in the fridge.

Frost the cake. Store in the fridge. Enjoy to the last bite!:)

Spring Flowers Cake / Торт "Весенние Цветы"

Spring has arrived! And basically all those flowers outside around my house inspired me to bake a flower cake. I did try to make it a bit lighter (in terms of calories), used light margarine and yoghurt...the icing is the sweetest part of it (and silky and aromatic too), the filling is pleasant and tangy, cake layers are tender and soft.

Enjoy the spring!:)

(Light) Butter Cake

3 cups flour
2x10g baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup light margarine
2 cups sugar
rum essence
vanilla essence
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat margarine and sugar until fluffy (it probably won't get too fluffy), add eggs one at a time, essences and buttermilk. Mix in flour mixture.

Grease and sprinkle with flour 2x23cm  baking tins. Pour the dough into each and bake at 175 C during 25 minutes. Let them cool and trim the tops.

White Chocolate and Yoghurt Glaze


200 g white chocolate
40 ml cream
2 cups vanilla powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 heaping tb.s. of a very thick yoghurt

Heat cream until almost boiling. Pour it over the chocolate and stir until it's melted. With a hand mixer beat the chocolate mixture, adding powdered sugar and yoghurt. 



Prune Paste

320g prunes
hot water
1tb.s. powdered coffee + some strong sweet coffee for sprinkling the cake layers

Pour hot water with a spoon of coffee over the prunes so that it covers them. Microwave them for a minute. Drain in a couple of minutes. Blend until they form paste.

Sprinkle each cake layer on top with coffee (and some liqueur?), place first cake layer on a dish, spread prune paste over it. Add a layer of white chocolate glaze. Cover with the second cake layer (coffee sprinkled side down). Frost the cake with the glaze. It will drip a little, but that's OK. Place the cake into the fridge overnight or for several hours.

Prepare simple buttercream (I used about 250g butter and 250g vanilla powdered sugar + 1 tb.s. cream, add some rum or almond extract to the frosting). Divide the frosting into 4 parts and add chosen colour to each part.

First frost the sides of the cake if they are not equally covered. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

Start piping flowers on top of the cake, refrigerate the cake every now and then, so that the cream does not begin to melt.

Enjoy! 

Pistachio Layered Cake (flour less, light) / Фисташковый Торт (без муки, легкий)

We had a mild winter this year and it seemed that spring would arrive very early and rapidly...but first week of March has passed and it does not look very promising. We will hope for the best:) But for now this cake brought us into spring mood. I went a little crazy with colours, but kids loved them:)

This nutty cake is flourless and it's frosting is made of light cream cheese and light vegetable shortening. This was also a reason for the cream to be slightly more runny than normal, But let the cake stand in the fridge overnight; the frosting will set.

The cake is moist and very fragrant: coconut, pistachios, poppy seeds, hazelnuts... The cream is light, with distinct pistachio fragrance. The cake was my favourite part, the frosting- fav of my kids. Also, this cake stays fresh for days.

The Cake

160 g coconut flakes
100 g poppy seeds
50 g hazelnuts
50 g pistachio nuts
10g baking powder
pinch of salt
125g sugar
vanilla to taste
6 eggs, separated

Blend all nuts and seeds to create nut flour. Add baking powder.
Beat egg yolks with sugar until pale and fluffy. Add nut flour to the mixture.
Beat egg whites until strong peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the dough.
Preheat oven to 170C. Grease baking paper and cover 23cm baking pan with it.
Pour the dough into the form and bake during 35 minutes, until ready.
let it cool, then slice into 2 layers.

Light Frosting (adapted from here)

300 g cream cheese (light)
200 g lighter butter
300 g powdered sugar
vanilla to taste
2 x 90 g pistachio powder pudding
green food colouring

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and pudding mixture. If you like, add food colouring.

For Decoration

100ml heavy whipping cream
1-2 tb.s. vanilla powdered sugar
red food colouring
pistachio nuts for decoration

Whip cream until peaks form, add powdered sugar and continue beating, add food colouring and vanilla.

Have a great week!

Caramel Bars / Карамельное Пирожное

This is one of the recipes when I practically just follow the description without (big) changes.
These caramel bars are really good, sweet, gooey, chocolatey and crunchy at the same time. Too sweet to eat many. My suggestion to cut them into tiny candy size pieces. Use hot large and sharp knife for cutting and DO line the form with a baking paper to save lots of time and to have a better looking edges. The recipe is from here.

Enjoy!

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 t.s. salt
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup sugar
125 g melted butter

Combine flour, coconut, salt and sugar together. Pour melted butter into the mixture and rub with your hands until you get sandy textured mass. Line (pyrex) baking form with baking paper. Press the crumbly mixture firm into the form. Bake for 18 minutes at 160C.

2 x 390 g cans sweet condensed milk
100g butter
1 t.s. salt
80ml runny honey
vanilla (if you like)

Mix all ingredients in a pan and heat it until everything is combined. Pour this onto a baked crust. Place it back to the oven for another 20 minutes. Let it cool.

Melt 250 g of chocolate (I used 45%) with 2 tb.s. olive oil. Pour the chocolate over the cooled bars. Place the form into the freezer until the chocolate is set.

Take it out of the freezer, let it stand in a room temperature for 10 minutes. Take the bars out of the form pulling on baking paper. Now cut the bars using large knife. Store it fridge.

Enjoy!