All posts tagged: sugar

Sweet Crêpes with Creamed Cottage Cheese Filling

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Name and pronunciation: naleśniki z serem [nah-lesh-nicky z sir-em]Description: crêpes with cottage cheeseType of cuisine: Eastern European —  This humble meal was always the most delicious treat for us as children. Now, they may not look like much, but they are absolutely delicious! Even though they are sweet, they are not seen as dessert, but as quick lunch or supper. — 8-10 servings (depending of the size of your pan) • Preparation time: about 30 minutes (up to 60 minutes with the resting time) — Tips: 01To make your crêpes even more special, you can add raisins and cinnamon to the cheese filling. 02The cheese filling is delicious as it is, but since it contains egg, you need to fry the crêpes before serving them. 03If you want to make them in advance, feel free. You can even freeze them! Simply prepare your crêpes, fold them with the cheese filling and refrigerate or freeze them. Take out ready to fry! 04Serve with Polish for local sour cream. If you cannot get it, you can replace it …

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 - 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 Thick Caramel Sauce - Recipe - Food Photography

Luscious Thick Cacao Caramel Sauce

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This sauce is more than just caramel. It is so perfectly thick, silky smooth, milky with a hint of cacao. I based it on traditional Polish chewy fudge candy called “krówki” (little cows). Perfect for any cake or pie, but apple pie especially, since apples and caramel go together so deliciously. — Tips: 01Seriously, do not stop stirring the sauce even for a second. You will be rewarded for all your hard work by the most perfect caramel sauce you have ever tasted! — Ingredients: ✽ 250 ml condensed milk ✽ 200 g honey✽ 150 unsalted butter✽ 1½ cup sugar✽ 2 tablespoon cacao — Method: 01Mix sugar with sifted cacao with a whisk. It will prevent big lumps of cacao forming in your sauce. 02Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, preferably with a solid, thick bottom. You can opt for a non-stick pot, too. 03Set high heat first and keep stirring the mix until all is combined and first bubbles appear. 04Reduce the heat slightly and keep stirring constantly until all sugar caramelises and the sauce …

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 - 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 - Traditional Polish Apple Pie - Recipe - Food Photography

Traditional Polish Apple Pie

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Name and pronunciation: szarlotka [shar-lot-kah]Description: apple pieType of cuisine: Eastern European — This traditional apple pie is utterly delicious, so easy to make and you probably have everything you need for it! A perfect dessert with minimal effort. — 8 servings • Preparation time: about 2 hours • Baking time: 50-60 minutes — Tips: 01If your oven tends to underperform at the bottom (like mine), pre-bake the bottom crust for about 10-15 minutes. 02Feel free to mix other fruit with your apples. Try to add some pears or peaches for enhanced flavour. 03Add some cocoa to the pastry to make a chocolate version of your apple pie! Simply add some unsweetened cocoa powder to the pastry. You can either add it to all of it or to a smaller part for a mix of flavours and colours. 04When you start, make sure butter is cold and very hard. — 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 powder✽ powder sugar (or a mix of …