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A cake from Israel

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We visited Israel in 2005. We had wonderful time there meeting with relatives, eating a lot of tasty food and enjoying historical landmarks. One of the highlights of our food tasting was a cake made by Alex’s great aunt Musya. She gave me a recipe, but, unfortunately, it was lost during our frequent moving from one place to another.

Recently, I was browsing old photo albums and found the recipe. So, 10 years later, I baked this cake in memory of Musya, who sadly passed on several years ago, and in memory of the great time we had visiting her and her family in Israel.

Raisin and walnut cake

Raisin and walnut cake

Raisin and walnut cake

Raisin and walnut cake

Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of raisins
1 cup of walnuts
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoon of butter (melted)
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Preparation
Preheat oven to 200 C or about 390 F. Grease 8X8 pan with cold butter or oil spray or line with parchment paper.

Beat sugar and butter together until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. (It was not in the recipe but I like to add vanilla extract or a tablespoon of rum to add some additional flavor.) Combine soda and flour together in a separate bowl. Stir into wet mixture. Add raisins and walnuts.

Pour the batter into baking pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (about 30-40 min).

Blueberry Cheesecake

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I have to say that I’m not a big fan of cheesecakes in general. They are too rich for my taste. However, recently I faced a challenge that made me create this recipe. Three women in my family have diabetes and cannot eat most of the desserts. The ones they can eat come from stores and, to be honest, taste mediocre. I wanted to treat my family with a dessert that can be enjoyed by everyone and at the same time be sugar free. I went with cheesecake because it can be done without flour in it. Of course this recipe is not guilt free, there is plenty of fat in it, so moderation is advised.

Ingredients:

  • 2 packages of cream cheese (softened)
  • 1 8oz package of Mascarpone cheese
  • Stevia extract or stevia powder equivalent of 1 cup of sugar plus 2 tbsp
  • 1 1/2 cup of almond meal (I use one from Trader Joe’s)
  • 1/3 cup butter melted
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 325 F (300 F if using a dark nonstick springform pan). Line your 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix together almond meal with butter and stevia (equivalent of 2 tbsp of sugar). Press the mixture onto the bottom of the springform pan.

In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, Mascarpone cheese, vanilla and stevia (equivalent of 1 cup of sugar). With a mixer on the lowest speed beat the mixture adding eggs (one at a time) until just blended. Pour the mixture over crust.

Bake for about 50 min, until center is almost set. Let cool and refrigerate for about 3-4 hours.

Wash and dry blueberries. Add them on the top of the cake. I used store bought glaze to make blueberries stick together and on the top of the cheesecake.

blueberry cheesecake

 

Austrian Cuisine

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I’ve never been in Austria but Alex visited it twice and even managed to take beautiful pictures on his last trip. Also he brought an edible present — Sacher Torte — a famous dessert from the Vienna’s Hotel Sacher. It is only natural that I wanted to bake this cake to surprise and please my husband (I need to buy a new flash for my camera so the husband-pleasing part becomes essential for me at the moment 🙂 ).

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Unexpectedly, two other dishes surprised and pleased my boys. Matthew knows and likes home style macaroni and schnitzel so he was pleased, ate everything and wanted the second helping. Eugene, on the other hand, is very suspicious of anything new and at first didn’t even want to take a bite, but when he did, he was really surprised that the dishes had “normal” taste i.e. there were no unfamiliar spices added. He cleared his plate.

Käsespätzle — Austrian Mac & Cheese
The dough for the recipe is very simple and I suspect can be flavored with spices such as hot pepper or garlic to add more flavor to the macaroni. The real work is when you need to make macaroni from the dough. I tried to use a colander but failed so I cut the dough using knife directly from the bowl with the dough to the pot with boiling water. It took some time because my dough was on the runny side so I couldn’t figure out how to shape it properly. In the end, even though my macs didn’t look pretty they were delicious.I followed the recipe that I found on one of the Austrian websites. Here is my, just slightly modified, version.Ingredients
5 eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 cup of flour (you may need to add a little more flour if the dough is too runny)
2-3 tbsp water (if the dough is too stiff)
2 tbsp butter
5 – 7 oz (150-200g) cheese, grated (your favorite cheese)
1/2 tsp of salt (taste the dough before deciding if you need more salt)To prepare the onions:
3 tbsp butter
2 mid-sized onions cut in ringsCombine flour, eggs and salt in a large bowl. Mix well to ensure there are no lumps (add water if necessary). The dough should not be runny, but soft enough to gradually follow gravitation. Then set aside and allow the dough to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the butter in a frying pan over low to medium heat, add onions, and let them slowly gain a golden brown color. Don’t let them get too dark, as they tend to become bitter. Drain on a paper towel and then set aside.

Bring a large pot of water briefly to a boil, add a pinch of salt and then reduce heat. The water should simmer throughout the whole process. You can either cut and shape the spaetzle by hand or use a spaetzle maker or a colander which makes things easier. Cook the spaetzle for about 2-3 minutes until they float back to the surface, then remove them.

When done, drain the water, melt 1-2 tbsp of butter and return the spaetzle to the pot. Shake the pot a few times to evenly distribute the butter, then add the grated cheese and mix well.

Now simply add the browned onions on top and serve.

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Chicken Schnitzel
They became our family favorites. They are very easy to make and the amount of salt and spices can be easily adjusted to accommodate individual tastes.Ingredients for 4 servings
4 pieces of chicken breasts (or tenderloins)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 cups (or more if needed) panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/2 tsp of garlic powder (or any other spices to add flavor e.g. I usually use Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute)
black ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp salt
about 1/4 cups of sunflower oil (or any other vegetable oil for frying)
1-2 tbsp butterPlace the chicken breasts between 2 pieces of cling wrap and pound to a desired texture and thickness (I like thin schnitzels). Place flour on a plate and season it with salt, garlic powder, black pepper and/or spices.In another shallow bowl or plate, beat eggs with mustard.Place 1 cup panko in the third shallow plate, adding remaining 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, or more, to dish as needed throughout process.

One at a time, dip each pounded chicken breast first into the seasoned flour mixture, coating thoroughly and shake to dust off excess, then dip into egg mixture, then carefully coat with panko, pressing panko gently to adhere to chicken. Transfer chicken on a baking sheet or countertop lined with waxed paper.

Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the skillet (two at the time), and brown for about 5 minutes per side (or cook until golden brown on both sides). Transfer chicken breasts to a paper towel-lined plate. Serve as soon as possible (while still hot).

Chicken Schnitzel
Sacher Torte
I didn’t tell Alex that I was making Sacher Torte but when he tried it he immediately recognized that it tasted like one. He was so surprised (and of course pleased) when I told him that it is indeed the Sacher Torte (or a close copycat). Unfortunately my torte did not look as neat as theirs but the taste was there.Here is the copy of the recipe from the www.austria.info website (original is here).Ingredients:
150 g (5.2 oz./ ¾ cup) butter
150 g (5.2 oz./ ¾ cup) sugar
150 g (5.2 oz./ ¾ cup) chocolate, melted in a double-boiler
8 eggs, separated
120 g (4.2 oz./ ¾ cup) flour
butter
dry bread crumbs
apricot jamIcing:
150 g (5.2 oz.) chocolate
1 tablespoon oil
200 g (7 oz./ 1 cup) sugar, divided
1/8 litre (½ cup) waterHow to make it:
Beat the butter together with half of the sugar and the melted chocolate, adding the egg yolks one at a time, until thick and foamy. Sift the flour over the mixture. Beat together the egg whites and remaining sugar until stiff and mound on top of the flour. Fold everything together carefully. Pour the mixture into a springform pan that has been buttered and coated with bread crumbs and bake at 180°C (350°F) for about an hour.

To cool the cake, turn it upside down onto a wire rack. After about 2 hours, remove it from the pan (you may want to cut the top side to make it level) and place it on a platter with the smooth torte base on top. Spread with a very thin layer of apricot jam and glaze with a chocolate icing. For a special treat, serve the Sacher Torte with whipped cream!

Chocolate icing:
Melt the chocolate in bain-marie or double boiler and stir in the oil. Bring the sugar and water to a boil. A spoonful at a time, stir the cooled sugar solution into the melted chocolate until you have a smooth mixture.

Sacher Torte

Argentine cuisine

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This time I cooked two dishes that, even though they are not truly familiar to me, still somehow resemble favorite Russian specialties: Olivier salad and pirozhki. These are ensalada rusa and meat empanadas. As the name suggests the ensalada rusa … Continue reading →