Tag: sweet

Apricot Meringue Pie

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

This is one of my favorite desserts from my Mom’s recipe notebook. The original recipe is a square shape but I like the pie shape so I transformed it to my liking 😉

My Mom used to eat it hot, straight from the oven!

It is creamy and crispy at the same time and the soft meringue on top is very silky. You can use apricot compote or fresh apricots instead of the jam, but make sure to peel the skin off and sprinkle some sugar on top.

Ingredients

  • apricot jam

Dough

  • 150 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
  • 100 g (¾ cup) unsalted, room-temperature butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp sour cream
  • 1 tbsp white wine
  • a pinch of baking powder

Cream

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 70 g (½ cup +1 tbsp) sugar
  • 2 tsp all-purpose flour
  • 150 ml ( ½ cup + 2 tbsp) of milk

Preparation

Dough

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (338 °F).
  2. Combine all the ingredients to make the dough. You can make it in the food processor or by hand.
  3. Shape the dough into a small ball and wrap it up in a cling foil.
  4. Let it rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.
  5. Roll the dough and place it in a round baking pan 20-25 cm wide. Make sure you cover the sides with the dough as well.
  6. Bake it until golden, 10-15 min.

Cream/Meringue

  1. While the pastry is baking, prepare the cream and the meringue.
  2. In a double boiler or on steam whisk egg yolks with sugar.
  3. After the sugar dissolves, add the flour and slowly pour in the milk while whisking constantly.
  4. The cream is done when it thickens.
  5. Cool it down.
  6. In a separate big bowl mix 3 egg whites with 2 tablespoons of icing sugar until stiff.

Cake

  1. When the pastry is baked, spread a thick layer of apricot jam.
  2. Pour the cream on the jam and evenly smear.
  3. In the end, pour the meringue.
  4. Bake for another 5 min at 200 °C (400 °F) until the meringue becomes golden.

Cool off before serving or eat it hot like my Mum used to do.

What is your favorite pie flavor?

Croatian Jam Pastry

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Don’t have a bakery nearby? No worries! These easy-to-make jam rolls will be part of your staple in no time 😉
They will make you drool with whatever filling you choose. I used plum jam for this batch and the flavor was exquisite!

Ingredients

  • 300 ml (1 1/4 cup) sunflower or canola oil
  • 150 ml (3/4 cup) boiling water
  • 10 g (1 tbsp) baking powder
  • 500 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 200 g (1 1/2 cup) powdered sugar for coating
  • 10 g (1 tbsp) vanilla sugar for coating
  • favorite jam or Nutella for the filling

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (395 °F).
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine oil and water.
  3. Add baking powder and mix well.
  4. Gradually add flour mixing with spatula until you form the dough. You can use a stand-up mixer or your hands as well.
  5. Divide the dough into same-sized balls – I got 16 balls from this dough.
  6. On the floured surface roll each ball (with the roller or with hands) until thin and put a tsp of jam on each one.
  7. Roll them and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
  8. Bake until golden, for about 15-20 minutes.
  9. Hot rolls coat in the mixture of powdered and vanilla sugar.

Note: Cool them off before you eat, for more crunchiness.

What’s your favorite pastry filling?

Yogurt Pie with Berries

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

A perfect summer dessert needs to be refreshing and light, just like this yogurt pie ☺

My fruit of choice is always tangy berries to balance the sweetness of the cream. This time I used blackberries and blueberries. But strawberries, raspberries, or even cranberries would be an excellent choice.

It’s an easy-to-make and easy-to-eat cake that will accompany any summer day or BBQ.

Ingredients for the dough

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 170 g (3/4 cup) cold butter
  • 300 g (2 1/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 10 g (2 1/2 tsp) baking powder

Ingredients for the cream

  • 4 egg whites
  • 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 600 ml ( 2 1/2 cups) Greek yogurt
  • 400 ml (1 1/2 cup) sour cream
  • 40 g (5 tbsp) all-purpose flour
  • 10 g vanilla sugar (1 sachet) or 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 200 g (1 1/4 cup) of preferred fruit

+ some powder sugar for dusting

Preparation:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F).
  2. Combine all the dough ingredients with your hands or in a food processor.
  3. Divide into two equal parts and wrap in cling foil.
  4. The first part of the dough flatten a bit and put in the fridge.
  5. With the second part form a ball and leave in the freezer.
  6. While the dough is resting, prepare the cream.
  7. In the standing mixer or with a hand mixer mix egg whites with both sugars until stiff.
  8. Add the yogurt, sour cream, and flour gently with the spatula.
  9. Mix in about 350 g of berries of your choice.
  10. Roll the dough (kept in the fridge) evenly on a 9×13” baking sheet.
  11. Pour over the cream.
  12. Grate the second part of the dough onto the cream.
  13. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown.
  14. When cooled, dust with powdered sugar.

What would be your fruit of choice for this pie?

Strawberry Vanilla Cake

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Strawberry season is one of my favorite seasons. Since I was born during this season, most of my childhood birthday memories have strawberries in them. Not only in my birthday cakes but also picking them in my grandma’s garden and eating them until I couldn’t breathe any more 😉

This creamy cake is light and fresh, and it will be a perfect addition to your family BBQ dinners or for any other occasion!

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 100 g (¾ cup) cake flour
  • 100 g (½ cup) cold butter
  • 100 g (¾ cup) powdered sugar
  • 10 g (1 tbsp + 1 tsp) baking powder
  • 3 tbsp cold water

For the cream

  • 120 g (1 cup) vanilla pudding powder (3 bags)
  • 1 l (4 ¼ cups) milk
  • 5 tbsp sugar
  • 540 g (4 ¼ cups) sour cream

For the top

  • 450 g strawberries
  • 1 gelatin sheet

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (355 °F).
  2. Mix all cake ingredients. Add a bit more flour if sticky.
  3. Grease and flour a 26 cm wide round cake mold or cover with parchment paper.
  4. Place the cake batter in the mold and flatten with hands
  5. Store in the fridge until the cream is done.
  6. Cook vanilla pudding with sugar (according to the packaging) in 1 l of milk.
  7. Cool and gently mix in sour cream.
  8. Pour the cream on the cake.
  9. Bake for about 40 minutes.
  10. Cool down before arranging the strawberries.
  11. Prepare the gelatin according to the packaging.
  12. Arrange strawberries on top and pour the gelatin on top.
  13. Cool in the fridge before serving.

Note: You can try different fruit for more variety of cakes!

What is your favorite strawberry dessert?

Kongo Squares

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

There are some recipes that skip a generation. This is one of those.

I got this cake recipe from grandma Maja, the mother of my Mum’s best friend. She turned 101 this year, and I wanted to keep this amazing cake alive in her honor 🙂

I remember these Kongo squares from when I was just a kid. Every Christmas we could find them on her table. Somehow my Mum’s friend or my Mum never made this cake for us kids, although they made a bunch of other delicious desserts.

The name is unusual, and I don’t know where it came from. It’s made of roasted hazelnuts and coffee, with apricot jam and chocolate glaze. Irresistible if you ask me 😃

Ingredients for the dough

  • 300 g (3 1/4 cup) roasted ground hazelnuts
  • 6 egg whites
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • 250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar

Ingredients for the cream

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 6 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 5 tbsp strong brewed coffee
  • 150 g (3/4 cup) butter

Ingredients for the glaze

  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate
  • 30 g (2 tbsp) butter
  • apricot jam

Preparation for the dough

  1. Toast the hazelnuts in the oven on 200 °C (400 °F) for 10 minutes.
  2. Grind them in the food processor after they cool down. You can do this step a few days prior.
  3. In the self standing mixer (or with hand mixer) beat the egg whites until stiff. Add sugar and beat until the mixture is very thick.
  4. Add the ground hazelnuts, flour and breadcrumbs to the egg white mixture and mix in slowly with the spatula.
  5. Preheat the oven at 170 °C (350 °F).
  6. Spread the mixture evenly on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes.
  7. After the dough cools down, cut in three equal parts.

Preparation for the cream

  1. While the dough cools down, prepare the cream.
  2. Cook the egg yolks and the sugar in a double boiler until the cream thickens. Add coffee and mix well.
  3. Beat the butter and add to the cooled cream.

Preparation for the glaze

  1. Melt the chocolate and the butter.
  2. Add milk and sugar and mix well until combined.

To assemble the cake, place one piece of dough on a serving platter. Spread half of the cream. Repeat the same with the second layer. On the third piece of dough spread apricot jam and glaze on top. Refrigerate before cutting and serving.

What recipe do you cherish from a few generations back?

Honey Spice Cookies

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Rustic looking honey cookies are one of my favorites. They literally smell like Christmas! Is there anything better? 😄

Perfect with a cup of your favorite tea or coffee, they will make a great addition to every little winter gathering with your friends and family.

Ingredients

  • 100 g (¾ cup) sugar
  • 150 g (1 cup + 3 tbsp) honey
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp powdered ginger
  • 350 g (2 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
  • for decoration you can use peeled almonds / quarters of walnuts / hazelnuts

Preparation

  1. Heat the honey with sugar, stirring constantly, over low heat until the sugar has melted completely. Set aside to cool (10 minutes).
  2. In a small bowl lightly whisk the egg.
  3. In a separate larger bowl combine baking soda, spices and flour.
  4. Add the lightly beaten egg, flour and spices to the melted honey and sugar mixture. Mix and combine to obtain smooth and soft dough.
  5. Wrap the dough with cling foil and leave in a fridge over night.
  6. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or place silicon sheet.
  7. With your hands make walnut size balls and place them on a previously lined baking sheet.
  8. Insert peeled almond at the top of each cookie.
  9. Preheat the oven at 180 °C (356 °F).
  10. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Note: It is very important not to over-bake them because they will become hard. Honey spice cookies can be kept in a tin up to 4 weeks. They will get softer with time ☺

What is your favorite cookie and why?

Vanilla Crescents

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Let me tell you about a legend of vanilla crescent cookies.

It goes all the way back to 1683.

It was 12th of September.
A long and hard battle between the Viennese and the Turkish army has just ended. Viennese have defended their city and the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire from the Turkish invasion.

They were so proud and happy! To let the Turkish Empire know they are no longer afraid of them, the city’s bakers celebrated by making popular sugary cookies, called kipferl, in the shape of crescent moons that characterized the Turkish flag.

After their defeat, the Turks fled, leaving behind the first sack of coffee beans to reach Vienna. That is how the establishment of Viennese coffeehouses started, in which the crescent cookies found a home.

Ingredients

  • 200 g (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) all purpose flour
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) pastry flour
  • 80 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar
  • 10 g (1 tbsp + 1 tsp) vanilla sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 100 g (¾ cup) ground walnuts or almonds

    +
  • powdered sugar and vanilla sugar mixed together in quantity you desire for coating

Preparation

  1. Rub the butter into the flour making small crumbs.
  2. Add sugar, vanilla sugar and walnuts, then combine.
  3. Add the egg and work together to form a dough.
  4. Leave it to rest in the fridge for at least one hour.
  5. Preheat the oven at 180 °C (356 °F).
  6. Pinch off walnut sized pieces and form crescents.
  7. Sort them on a baking sheet cover with parchment paper or silicon sheet.
  8. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.
  9. Roll them in icing sugar mixed with vanilla sugar while they are still warm.
  10. When the crescents are cooled,store them in an airtight container where they can stay for several weeks.

Tip: Leave the cookies 1 minute to cool a bit before rolling them into sugar. Although they have to be coated warm, they are very fragile, and this way they are less likely to break.

Do you have any interesting stories about one of your favorite desserts? Share with us 😉

London Bars

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

London, such a great city with lots of delicious desserts.

Puddings, tarts, custards, pies and a lot of inns. But no bars!

So what is the origin of this cake and where did the name come from?

Our research showed traces of London Bars in Croatia as Londonerice or London štangice, in Hungary as Londoni szelet (just try reading all those names!) and many other places nearby. But no relation to London and British cuisine. 🤨

That’s no reason not to try them, is it?

Ingredients for the dough

  • 200 g (1 ½ cup) of all purpose flour
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) of cold butter
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 4 egg yolk
  • a pinch of baking powder
  • zest of 1 lemon

Ingredients for the filling

  • 200 g (1 ½ cup) granulated sugar
  • 140 g (1 ⅛ cup) of ground walnuts
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 4 egg whites

Plus:

  • 1 cup of chopped walnuts for sprinkling
  • a few tablespoons of apricot/plum jam for the spread

Preparation

  1. Make the dough by combining all the ingredients.
  2. Leave in the fridge for 30min.
  3. Preheat the oven at 180 °C (356 °F).
  4. Roll the dough and place it in the 9×13 inch baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 15 min.
  6. While the dough is baking, mix egg whites until firm, add sugar and lemon juice.
  7. At the end, with the spatula, gently mix in the ground walnuts.
  8. Remove the dough form the oven and reduce the temperature to 150 °C (300 °F).
  9. Spread the jam on the dough.
  10. Pour the filling on the jam.
  11. Sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts.
  12. Return to oven and bake for another 15-20 min.

Tip: You can sprinkle the cake with ground walnuts instead!

Do you know some other name for this cake?

Coconut Lemon Cake

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Get your afternoon tea (or coffee) ready! This cake’s super moist consistency is going to blow your 🧦 off.
This time I complimented it with some vanilla custard 😄

It’s a win-win combination for a hard day’s of work.

If you like coconut or lemon desserts (or both 😉), this cake is a must try! Tangy lemon flavor goes perfectly with exotic coconut. You will be transferred to a tropical beach on a first bite!

Fun fact: coconut can be a fruit, a nut, and a seed. What do you think it is?

Ingredients

  • 150 g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) coconut sugar
  • 200 ml (3/4 cup) heavy cream
  • 100 ml (1/2 cup) milk
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) coconut oil
  • 170 g ( 1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
  • 130 g (1 3/4 cup) desiccated coconut
  • 5 eggs
  • juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 10 g (1 tbsp) baking powder or one sachet

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F).
  2. Melt coconut oil and cool it of.
  3. In a large bowl mix flour with baking powder, desiccated coconut and grated lemon zest.
  4. Beat the eggs with both sugars in a stand up mixer or with hand electric mixer, until foamy.
  5. Mix in melted coconut oil.
  6. In that mixture add the heavy cream, milk and lemon juice one by one while mixing.
  7. At the end add prepared mixture of flour, desiccated coconut, baking powder and lemon zest. Mix in on low speed until incorporated.
  8. Grease and flour the baking tray or line with parchment paper and pour the prepared batter.
  9. Bake about 40 minutes until golden brown. Do a toothpick check test to see if it’s done.
  10. Cool before serving and dust with powdered sugar.

Serving suggestion: Serve with vanilla custard, ice cream or simple whipped cream!

What is your favorite coconut dessert?

Jaffa Cake

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

As kids, growing up in Croatia, Jaffa cookies were something we all were looking for as a treat. Sponge cake with orange jelly, covered in chocolate. Who wouldn’t like that?!

Chocolate with orange is an all time favorite combination and this cake does it justice. 😃
It’s soft and moist, and makes you crave for more 😉
The cake is very juicy and full of orange flavor!

Jaffa Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 4 eggs
  • 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 100 ml (1/2 cup) milk
  • 200 ml (3/4 cup) canola/sunflower oil
  • 200 g (1 1/2 cup) all purpose flour
  • 10 g (1 tbsp or one little package) vanilla sugar
  • 10 g (1 tbsp or one little package) baking powder
  • 2 large oranges
  • 15 g (2 tbsp) cocoa powder
  • 3 tbsp apricot or orange jam

For the syrup

  • 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 100 ml (1/2 cup) water

For the glaze

  • 200 g (1 cup) dark chocolate
  • 125 g (1/2 cup) butter
  • 1 tbsp oil

Preparation

Jaffa Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
  2. Grease and flour (or use parchment paper) two round baking pans.
  3. In the standing mixer or in a large bowl mix the eggs with both sugars until foamy.
  4. Add oil and milk and mix for a minute.
  5. Add flour combined with baking powder and mix until incorporated.
  6. Divide the mixture into two equal parts, and in one part mix in cocoa powder.
  7. Pour each batter in a separate baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes until the cakes are done. Do a toothpick test for completeness. Insert the toothpick in the cakes, if nothing stays on it, the cakes are done. Let them cool.
  8. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. In a small saucepan, cook sugar with water until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
  9. When the cakes are cooled, place the dark cake on the bottom of the round baking pan.
  10. Smear the jam on the dark cake.
  11. In a large bowl, break the light cake into small pieces and pour over the sugar syrup. Add the orange zest of one and juice of two oranges. Mix well. Spread it over the jam.
  12. For the glaze melt the chocolate with butter and oil in a microwave or in a double boiler over steam.
  13. Pour the glaze on top of the cake.
  14. Refrigerate the cake overnight before serving.
Jaffa Cake

What is your favorite chocolate and fruit combination?

Moist Chocolate Birthday Cupcakes

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Every kid enjoys their birthday party and having a great birthday cake. In addition to a big birthday cake, birthday cupcakes are mandatory to make that party fun. These chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream are so moist and creamy that one or two won’t be enough 😉

That’s why this recipe makes 24 of them 😋

If you want to make only dozen, just half the recipe for the cupcakes and for the buttercream.

I made these for my nephews birthday when we were back in Croatia and he and his friends loved them so much. Colorful pearls or sprinkles makes them even more appealing. 😉

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

  • 430 g (2 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 220 g (1 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 70 g (5/8 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 235 ml (1 cup) milk
  • 120 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable or similar oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 235 ml (1 cup) boiling water

For the vanilla buttercream

  • 450 g (2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 650 g (5 cups) powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 10 tbsp heavy cream

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F).
  2. Prepare 24 muffin tins – grease and flour them or use paper/silicon molds.
  3. In the large bowl mix together all the dry ingredients – sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking power and salt.
  4. In a separate bowl or in a stand alone mixer mix together the moist ingredients – eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.
  5. Add the dry ingredients in the moist ingredients, and mix for three minutes on medium speed.
  6. At the end stir in the boiling water.
  7. Fill each tin about about 2/3 full because they will rise while baking.
  8. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Note: This batter is very, very thin. Don’t worry, the cupcakes will still turn out amazing!

What is your favorite cupcake?

Croatian Apricot and Plum Dumplings

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

I can’t imagine a better dessert that includes potatoes. Some Croatians would disagree with me about these dumplings being a dessert. It’s still a subject of debate as many Croatians eat them as main course and not as a dessert. In other words, they just eat dessert for main course. I still prefer to have couple of soft, warm, sweet dumplings after a meal 😉

Variety of similar dumplings can be found in Eastern and Central Europe, with savory or sweet fillings. In Croatia, we usually make them with plums or apricots in the summer during the apricot and plum season. They are topped with breadcrumb and butter mixture, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. You can also serve them with sour cream as well.

Ingredients

for 16 small dumplings

  • 800 g (1.75 lb) potatoes, cooked in shell
  • 200 g (1 1/2 cup) all purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 16 apricots or plums (pitted)
  • 100 g (1 cup) breadcrumbs
  • 120 g (1/2 cup) butter for the topping
  • sugar to taste
  • cinnamon to taste (or not at all, read Z’s note at the end)

I made them LIVE on AZ Entertainment’s show Savour The Flavour back in 2015.

Preparation

  1. Wash the potatoes well and cook them in the shell.
  2. Cool the cooked potatoes for 5 minutes before peeling, but don’t get them too cold as it will be harder to peel the skin off.
  3. Peeled potatoes immediately mash, add egg and butter, stir well, season with salt and add the flour.
  4. Knead the dough until compact.
  5. Pour dough on a lightly floured surface, roll out and cut into equal squares.
  6. At each square place the halves of pitted fruit, put some sugar and cinnamon (optional) on and form dumplings with hands.
  7. Place the dumplings into a pot of salted boiling water, stir gently and allow them to cook. After about 10 min dumplings will pop up to the surface and then cook them for another 5-6 minutes.
  8. During this time, in a small non stick pan, melt the butter and fry the breadcrumbs. Add more butter/breadcrumbs until you reach desired consistency.
  9. In a small dish, mix sugar with cinnamon for sprinkling.
  10. Drain the cooked dumplings and place them in a serving dish.
  11. Topped them with fried breadcrumbs and toss gently so that they don’t fall apart.

Serve hot dumplings sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and dig in!

Z’s note:
I personally find that cinnamon takes away from the apricot flavor and never use it. People often also like to put sour cream on top, when serving. What I like to do is serve dumplings, with sugar, cinnamon and sour cream separately. People then season them as they please and two people rarely do it the same way 🙂

What is your favorite dumpling filling?

Poppy Seeds Strudel

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

All the poppy seed lovers, this one is my favorite poppy seeds dessert, ever! Period!

Usually, poppy seeds are used in desserts with yeast dough or shortbread pastry. I love them all, don’t get me wrong, but this one takes the win 😉
If you aren’t already a poppy seed lover, after you try this, you might be. Welcome to the club! 😃

This is an unusual strudel made with very liquid poppy seed batter and phyllo sheets. Since every sheet gets smeared, the cake is very soft, moist and not too sweet. Just perfect.
Poppy seeds are not your typical ingredient. It’s very popular in Eastern and Central Europe, but not in many other cultures. Other cultures usually aren’t very familiar with it or aren’t used to its particular flavor.
This recipe packages it in a way that it’s not only palatable, people can’t stop eating 😋

This is my go to dessert when I need to feed a lot of people, such as when I go to a party or am hosting one of my own. It’s a hit among our multicultural friends here in Canada. Everyone loves it, form our friends from Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Iran to Venezuela and Brazil. Give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Ingredients

  • 250 g (1 3/4 cup) ground poppy seeds
  • 15 sheets of phyllo pastry
  • 500 ml (2 cups) liquid yogurt
  • 375 g (1 3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 150 ml (1/2 cup) vegetable or similar oil
  • 20 g (2 tbsp) baking powder or two little packages
  • 20 g (2 tbsp) vanilla sugar or two little packages
  • 4 eggs

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C (340 °F).
  2. Mix the eggs with both sugars in stand up electric mixer or with hand electric mixer until foamy.
  3. Add oil and mix a bit more.
  4. At the end, add the remaining ingredients: baking powder, poppy seeds and yogurt. Mix until combined. The mixture is extremely liquid, don’t get scared. This is the way it should be.
  5. Grease a large cookie sheet.
  6. Divide the sheets to make three broad rolls (5 sheets for each out of 3 rolls).
  7. Smear the mixture thinly over each sheet. Roll up the sheets flat in the width of 8-10 cm (1/3 pan).
  8. Coat them with oil and bake them for about half an hour until golden brown.

Have you ever cooked or baked with poppy seed? What is your favorite way to use poppy seeds?

Celebrating Holi With Mango Badam Halwa

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

Great new discovery, combining fruit with nuts in a new exciting way! Fudge desserts are not common in Croatia. I like the way they are easy to prepare and you can play with the ingredients for special twists.

We tried this dessert as a part of learning Indian recipes for Holi, a popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the “Festival of Love”, the “Festival of Colors”, and the “Festival of Spring”, a few years back with our Google+ foodie community. Thanks Anu Nagaraja for this wonderful recipe. It was a pleasant surprise and a combination of mango and almonds was perfect! 😃

Celebrating Holi With Mango Badam Halwa and +Indrani Sen

We followed the recipe closely, except we didn’t use saffron strands.
I don’t know how that affects the taste, but it was great like this… and we ate it all pretty fast!

Ingredients

  • 260 g (1 cup) of mango puree or mango pulp from fresh mango (any sweet mango which is less fibrous)
  • 90 g (1 cup) ground almonds
  • 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp of cardamom powder
  • 6 – 8 each roughly sliced/chopped pistachios and almonds (we used hickory smoked almonds)

Preparation

  1. Peel the mango and cut it into cubes.
  2. In a deep thick bottomed pan cook the mango with sugar on low heat.
  3. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for another minute and then add ground almonds, powdered cardamom and half the quantity of chopped nuts.
  4. Cook stirring well. You will notice that the mixture thickens. Keep cooking and stirring until it begins to come together like a ball but not too firm.
  5. Pour the cooked mixture on a baking sheet.
  6. Spread the mixture using the back of a spoon or a palate knife.
  7. Sprinkle over the rest of the chopped nuts, press them down gently so that they stick on the surface.
  8. Cool completely before cutting into small cubes. We put it in a freezer for an hour.

Before serving garnish with nuts if you like 😃

What is your favorite fudge dessert?

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on by Jasmina Brozović

One of the most popular cakes in North America is for sure a carrot cake. There are so many different versions and some get pretty complex, but I like mine simple. Why?
I want to indulge in the flavor of carrots, although I don’t have anything against some nuts or pineapple to compliment the cake 😀
Well, that is another story! 😉

Here is my version, moist cake with creamy cheese filling, perfect dessert for Easter. 🥕🐇

Happy Easter!

Ingredients for the cake

  • 350 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp cloves
  • 450g (3 cups) peeled grated carrots
  • 300 g (1 1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) oil

Ingredients for the cream cheese frosting

  • 140 g (10 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 340 g (3 cup) powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 30 g (2 tbsp) sour cream
  • 450 g (1 3/4 cup) cold cream cheese

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 180 °C (350 °F).
  2. Grease and dust with flour round baking sheet.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
  4. In food processor shred the carrots or grate them manually.
  5. With the electric or stand up mixer beat the eggs with both sugars on medium-high speed until combined.
  6. Add oil in slowly until well incorporated.
  7. With a spatula, stir in the flour mixture and the carrots.
  8. Bake around 30-40 minutes until the cake is done. Test with toothpick by inserting it in the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.
  9. Cool the cake completely before you cut it in half horizontally.
  10. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.
  11. With the electric or stand up mixer beat the butter on medium-high speed until creamy.
  12. Add the confectioners sugar, salt and vanilla and beat until fluffy.
  13. Beat in the sour cream.
  14. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the cream cheese until fully incorporated.
  15. Increase the speed until the frosting is light and fluffy.
  16. To assemble the cake, place one half of the cake on a serving platter. Spread half the frosting and top with the other half of the cake. Cover the outside of the cake with the remaining frosting.

Decorate the cake as you like. My options were chocolate Easter eggs or Easter sugar cookies. My dear friend Dina made these little minis, aren’t they adorable?

What are you having for dessert this Easter?