Slovenian Recipes

Again I'm late with my season's greetings. Let me start wishing you all a delicious 2011! Now on to the cake. Stollen is a traditional Christmas cake made with mixed peel, fruit and citrus zest. It was on my to do list for a while, just waiting for the opportunity. This Christmas I finally baked Stollen, and we all enjoyed it very much. The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking . She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration . Stollen Wreath Makes one large wreath or two traditional shaped Stollen loaves. Serves 10-12 people ¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water (110º F / 43º C) 2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) (22 ml) (14 grams) (1/2 oz) active dry yeast 1 cup (240 ml) milk 10 tablespoons (150 ml) (140 grams) unsalted butter (can use salted butter) 5½ cups (1320 ml) (27 ozs) ...

I'm not good with special days like birthdays or any sort of anniversaries. They make me want to raise my arm and ask silly questions like 'why today' and not tomorrow or why not yesterday. I used to do the same when I was a kid going to schools with a strong religious inspiration, and asking the most profane questions. Lucky for me, my teachers were always kind with a 7 year old with a sharp tongue. I haven't changed over the years. I forget my friends' birthdays or I'm simply late, I mix up the days or the months... So why celebrate today and not tomorrow? It's not everyday you realize you've been blogging for 2 years. I don't quite remember the first year passing by, I admit. It was that good . I'm grateful for the wonderful people I met, I'm grateful for all that I've learnt and all the great experiences and happy days I had because of food blogging. So grab your fork, the cake is served! ;) Cotton Cake Adapted from Tachos de Ensaio 2...

For those you know me, I'm on the rational side kind of person. I like to be in control of the situation, I love to plan, and I adore when everything comes together the way I've meant it to be. But reason will take you only until a certain point. After that is all about feeling... Emotion, reason and belief play a very important and meaningful role in our lives. Fear not, I will leave it at that! It's funny how we choose things, and how sometimes things seem to choose you. My personal bond with Slovenia was totally unplanned, and yet so special. One of the few souvenirs I've brought from Ljubljana was a cookbook (surprising, I know!) with slovenian recipes. I bought the book mainly because I wanted to bake a cake called Gibanica (aka 'moving cake'). Although Gibanica is a traditional dessert in the Balkan region - many different variations can be found in Serbia, Macedonia and Bulgaria -, Prekmurje gibanica is the slovenian national dessert. We're off to ...

I love cheese. Any cheese, all types of cheese, anytime! Cooked, simple, baked, in savoury or sweet recipes. I LOVE cheese. What are my feelings about cheesecake? It's gooooood! Knowing that April's challenge would make the Daring Bakers to get into cheese land left me with a smile on my face when I first read the recipe Jenny had chosen. Thanks Jenny, it was a wonderful one! The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes . She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake Café au lait cheesecake with caramel sauce crust: 2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs 1 stick / 120 grams butter, melted 2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract cheesecake: 3 sticks of cream cheese, (710 grams total) room temperature 1 cup / 210 g sugar 3 large eggs 1 cup / 250 ml heavy cream 1 tbsp. lemon juice 1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean) 1 tbsp liqueur, optional (I used whisky) 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (...

We didn't have this cake for valentine's. In fact, we're not good at celebrating this date, which means that having been in Paris for St. Valentine's day in the last couple of years has been pure coincidence. But let me tell you that Paris has to be the most perfect place on Earth to be with your half! I've completed the Daring Bakers February's challenge last week, baking 8 beautiful heart-shaped cakes that were served with vanilla flavoured Quark and red-currants. Perfect combination indeed! The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Che f. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge. Chocolate Valentino Adapted from Chef Wan Preparation Time: 20 minutes 16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped ½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter 5 l...

It's February, and we're on our way to a few days in freezing Paris, like we did last year. You've probably got it already from last post. Yes, we're heading for Paris again. And again. Casablanca is responsible for the famous "we'll always have Paris" to which I'd only had that we'll always be going back to Paris. Even when it's February, and no one in his/her perfect mind would choose any Central Europe destination. Oh well. The weather forecasts are quite bad - not at all like the sunniest of days we got there last June (photo above) but it's Paris, so we'll find many things to do, eat and see. In between dreams of macaroons and crème brûlée, I've made madeleines. But not just any madeleines. This is Christian Constant 's recipe (and you know how much a like him, don't you?). I've made madeleines for the first time last year when we got back from Paris. Chocolate Madeleines . The recipe is quite easy to follow, I jus...

Bakery's open on weekends here at home. I often ask my husband (aka Mr. Taster ) what kind of cake he wants for the week. He always comes up with a couple of suggestions, depending on if we have extra fruits or any new recipe bookmarked. Last week I didn't even have to ask. Do you know you have 5... FIVE! different brands of chocolate bars in the pantry, plus 2 halved?? The remark was meant to express how he hates my (very) untidy pantry, and my messy shopping habits. Oh do I? I had no idea. (I can play the angel role with a fairly convincing voice when I want...) What do you think of a chocolate cake? I asked. Sure! All's well when it ends well. Except I wasn't in the mood to bake a layered, decadent, creamy chocolate cake. My gut feeling kept pushing me to the spice stand... Spices love chocolate. Cardamom loves dark bittersweet chocolate! I remembered Sue Lawrence's On Baking had a recipe featuring cardamom and chocolate. I did a few changes to suit our ta...

Raspberry Financiers * Makes 8-10 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces 5 Tbsp sliced almonds 2/3 cup superfine sugar 1/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted 1/2 tsp baking powder 3 large egg whites pinch of salt 1/3 cup fresh raspberries 1/4 tsp rose extract, or to taste (optional) Place the butter in a small saucepan over moderate heat until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Set aside. In a food processor, put the almonds, sugar, baking powder and flour, and pulse until no almond chunks are visible. Add the egg whites, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt, and the rose extract, and mix until smooth. Mix in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or best overnight. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (360ºF). Stir the mixture briefly to deflate it. Spoon the batter into each mold and sprinkle with the berries over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar to serve. * Financier...