All posts filed under: bakery

Heavenly Delicate Challah Topped with Sweet Crumble

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Name and pronunciation: chałka [how-kah]Description: challahType of cuisine: Eastern European Jewish —  This is one of the most important types of bread of my childhood, so it took me ages to this recipe perfectly right. My prefect challah is delicate, but not too puffy, never ever dry and with shiny, dark gold crust. — 2 challahs • Preparation time: about 35 minutes • Resting time: 1 hours plus 30 minutes • Baking time: about 20 minutes — Tips: 01Challah can be made sweeter if you want it as a dessert or a sweet snack, or less sweet if you would like to use it for an open, savoury sandwich. Adjust sugar accordingly – use 5 or even 6 tablespoons of sugar, if you like your bread a little sweeter, and reduce it down to 2 tablespoons, if you prefer your bread less sweet. 02If you decide to make your challah less sweet, you can also top is with poppyseeds or sesame seeds, instead the sweet crumble. — Ingredients: Challah:✽ 550 g all-purpose flour✽ ½ cup warm milk✽ ½ cup warm water✽ 30 g …

The Best Doughnuts with Lemon Glaze with Strawberry and Rose Filling

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Name and pronunciation: pączki z różą [punch-key z roo-Jean; “Jean” prononuced in a French way] Description: doughnuts with rose filling —  I love Polish doughnuts! They are absolutely delicious, not too sweet and much less dense than many other types of doughnuts. Also, they are always in a shape of balls and most often with lovely filling inside. They resemble berliners, but are more delicate inside. The most traditional type of Polish doughnuts is one with a rose jam filling and topped with thick glaze and candied orange peel. — 10 doughnuts • Preparation time: about 45 minutes • Resting time: 1 hours plus 30 minutes • Frying time: about a minute for each doughnut — Tips: 01Make sure you use enough flour for dusting your doughnuts before proofing. They will be very delicate and you do not want them to stick. 02When placing your risen doughnut in the oil, handle them very gently. They need to stay perfectly round and fluffy. 03While I absolutely love my doughnuts with a filling, my family prefer plain doughnuts, only glazed. It is perfectly …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts - Recipe - Food Photography

Most Delicate Chocolate Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze, Rose Petals and Walnuts

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I am very adamant about cakes that are too dry or too hard, so I absolute adore this recipe. The cupcakes are feather light, delicate and very moist inside. They also come out with flat tops, which makes them perfect for decorating. As it happens, no one in my family likes buttercream, so I always glaze them, or dust them and I love such neat, elegant finish. — Approximately 12 servings • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Baking time: 20 minutes — Tips: 01The better you cream your ingredients, the more delicate the result. Butter and eggs need to beaten as well as possible, so take your time until they are smooth, visibly fluffy and almost white in colour. 02Be very careful when you glaze your cupcakes. Sugar gets extremely hot and sticks to your fingers, so any encounter with skin is highly unpleasant. 03Do not worry that if cupcakes change their height quite a lot during baking. It is perfectly normal. They will rise significantly at first, but then reduce to flat tops at the …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Delicate Crispy Breakfast Rolls - Recipe - Food Photography

Delicate Crispy Breakfast Rolls

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Name and pronunciation: kopertówki [koh-per-toof-key] Description: “envelope” breakfast rolls Type of cuisine: Eastern European —  These would probably be my top 3 bread types in my childhood. Our local bakery baked them daily and I just loved them. Quite large, with delicate crispy crust and very soft inside, they resemble lighter version of ciabatta rolls. — Approximately 8 large or 16 small rolls • Preparation time: about 45 minutes • Resting time: 2 hours plus 30 minutes • Baking time: 1-2 minutes — Tips: 01The dough for these rolls is quite delicate and slightly sticky, so before rolling it, make sure to generously dust the work surface, the dough itself and the rolling pin with flour. You do not want to work the flour into the dough, just coat it with flour all around, so you capture the moisture inside and prevent the dough from sticking  02If you want to preserve freshness of your rolls, freeze them after they have cooled down. Cut them in half to speed up defrosting later. Now you can enjoy perfectly fresh rolls without a constant effort. …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom - Recipe - Food Photography

Delicious Apple Pie with Banana and Cardamom

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Name and pronunciation: szarlotka [shar-lot-kah] Description: apple pie Type of cuisine: Eastern European — It is a delicious twist on my Traditional Polish Apple Pie. Adding bananas instead of upping the sugar is a great solution when your apples are not very sweet. Cardamom is amazing and flavourful, especially combined with cinnamon. Together, so good and easy to make! — 10 servings • Preparation time: about 2 hours • Baking time: 50-60 minutes — Tips: 01If your over tends to underperform at the bottom (like mine), pre-bake the bottom crust for about 10-15 minutes. 02When you start, make sure butter is cold and very hard. 03Used what you have in your kitchen to create an original look for your pie. Here, I used a pizza cutter to cut pastry strips and my son’s playdough star cutter, since my cookie cutters were too big. 04Serve it with our thick, creamy caramel sauce. Amazing! — Ingredients: Pastry:✽ 300 g all-purpose flour✽ 250 g butter✽ 1 medium to large egg✽ 3 tablespoons sugar✽ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar✽ 1½ teaspoons baking …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Classic Marble Babka - Recipe - Food Photography

Classic Marble Babka

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Name and pronunciation: babka [bah-b-kah]Description: marble cakeType of cuisine: Eastern European — In Poland, we usually bake babka for Easter, but it is so quick, easy to prepare and everyone loves it, so it is great for any party or just as a weekend’s treat. There are many different recipes for babka, but I really like this one, since the cake is nice and moist inside, and stays fresh for good few days. — Depending on your form, about 12-16 servings • Preparation time: about 90 minutes • Baking time: about 60 minutes — Ingredients: ✽ 250 g all-purpose flour✽ 220 g sugar✽ 150 g unsalted butter✽ 5 eggs✽ 5 tablespoons oil (choose one with the least flavour, such as canola oil)✽ 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa✽ 1 tablespoon potato flour✽ 1½ teaspoon baking powder✽ 1 teaspoon vanilla powder — Method: 01Melt the butter in a saucepan. 02Sift both flours together with the baking powder to make sure they are thoroughly mixed. 03In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are shiny, silky smooth, and almost white. 04Once the eggs …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Rich Chocolate Cake - Recipe - Food Photography

Rich Chocolate Cake

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This is by far my son’s favourite cake. He asks me to make it for him for his birthday every single year, without a fail. It has a rich chocolatey taste, but it is not too sweet and has a very soft, brownie-like consistency and texture. It is also so easy to make! — Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Baking time: 35-40 minutes — Ingredients: Cake: ✽ 1 cup flour ✽ ¾ cup sugar ✽ ½ cup milk ✽ 100 g baking chocolate ✽ 80 g butter ✽ 2 eggs ✽ 1 baking powder ✽ pinch of salt ✽ topping of fresh fruit and/or orange, lemon or lime zest (optional) Ganache: ✽ 100 g dark chocolate ✽ 100 g butter (could be a little less) Lime whipped cream: ✽ 250 g mascarpone ✽ 250 ml crème fraîche ✽ 1 lime — Method: 01In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Be careful not to burn it, so as soon as it has melted take it off heat and add the chocolate. Keep stirring and hot butter will melt the chocolate safely and turn it …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Simple Chocolate Crackle Cookies - Recipe - Food Photography

Simple Chocolate Crackle Cookies

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My family loves these simple cookies. They are chocolatey, but not too sweet. You need to plan them a little in advance, since the dough has to harden in a fridge for at least few hours. — Approximately 30 cookies • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Cooling time: at least 2 hours, could be overnight • Baking time: 12 minutes — Tips: 01If you can prepare the dough the day before, do. It can be chilled in a fridge overnight, no problem. If the dough is not cold enough, icing sugar will melt into the cookie and you will lose the nice crackle effect. 02If cannot chill them for more than 2 hours, do not worry. It should be enough, just split the dough in few pieces, this way it will chill more quickly. — Ingredients: ✽ 225 g baking chocolate✽ 110 g butter✽ 1⅔ cups flour✽ ⅔ cup sugar✽ 3 eggs✽ 2 teaspoons vanilla✽ ½ teaspoon baking powder✽ pinch of salt✽ powdered sugar for rolling — Method: 01Melt the butter and chocolate in a small pot. Use my tip to …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Easy Sourdough Bread - Recipe - Food Photography

Easy Sourdough Bread

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Name and pronunciation: chleb na zakwasie [h-leh-p • nah • zack-fah-sheh] Description: sourdough bread Type of cuisine: Eastern European — There are many different recipes for a sourdough, some more difficult than others. This is a perfect one to start your wild yeast adventure. Sourdough bread always takes a while, but this method does not take a lot of effort, just time, which is a great advantage. — Approximately 1.5 kg loaf (or two smalls ones) • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Resting time: 3 x 12 hours • Baking time: 45 minutes — Tips: 01I find it easier to bake two smaller loaves than one large one. 02To bake, use any cake form, but bread crust needs moisture and high temperature, so I get best results using cast iron pots. 03Always line your forms with parchment paper. 04If your oven does not have a steam function, place a bowl of hot water next to the forms. 05Use bread flour of any kind you like. I usually mix white and whole-wheat flours 50/50, but you can also add …

Our Eastern Kitchen - Khubz - Iraqi Flat Bread - Recipe - Food Photography

Iraqi Flat Bread

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Name and pronunciation: khubz [kh-oo-bz]Description: flat breadCountry of origin: Iraq — This Iraqi version of flat bread resembles Indian naan a little. It is soft and a little chewy, and not dry and flaky like, for example, pita bread. It is absolutely delicious and surprisingly easy to make. Traditionally, it is baked on the walls of a cylinder-shaped, clay oven called “tanoor”, but this recipe is adjusted to make it effortlessly on a flat, non-stick pan you normally use to make pancakes. — 8 large or 16 small servings • Preparation time: about 30 minutes • Rising time: 2 x 30 minutes — Tips: 01You can try different flour combinations. It will work each time with different types of flours, but taste and consistency will differ, so test and choose your favourite. 02Use this tip for rising your dough quickly and efficiently. 03Feel free to make more bread and freeze it. They defrost very quickly and stay as fresh as on the first day. Perfect! 04Serve your khubz with zaatar, home-made hummus, or any other spread or paste. …