Desserts Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Kitchen Epiphanies

Revitalizing Ukrainian Cooking with Masterchef Evgeniy Klopotenko

Leave a Comment / Chicken, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Jams, Jellies & Preserves, Meats, Pork, Soups, Tarts and Pies, Ukraine / Slava

The most interesting experiences often arise from serendipity. I recently shared a kitchen and an evening of Ukrainian cooking with 31-year-old Evgeniy (Zhenia) Klopotenko, winner of the 2015 Ukraine’s Masterchef contest, a graduate of Paris’s Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, a Ukrainian TV personality and producer of jams and marmalades. Young Zhenia is a trained […]

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Greek Rag Pie – Patsavouropita

Leave a Comment / Cheese, Desserts, Greece, Savory Dishes, Tarts and Pies / Slava

I was inspired to bake this Greek Rag Pie after I saw Nigella Lawson prepare a similar pie on a late-night rerun of the BBC‘s show Simply Nigella. She named it Old Rag Pie and said it was the Greek bakers’ way of using leftover phyllo scraps. I don’t know why Nigella named the recipe

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Success Cake – Norwegian Suksessterte

Leave a Comment / Cakes, Custards, Desserts, Norway, Scandinavia / Slava

It’s the middle of March and it’s snowing for the fifth time this month. The piles of snow will linger long after spring starts a few days from now. As I watched the white flurries outside the window this morning, I recalled that Scandinavians go to great lengths to keep spirits up in the waning

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Morocco – A Travelers’ Sampler II — Food

Leave a Comment / Breads, Desserts, Dining & Travel, Morocco, Salads, Savory Dishes, Seafood, Soups, Vegetables / Slava

Food binds geographically and linguistically diverse Morocco together. Moroccan cooking reflects the influence of indigenous peoples, traders, invaders, immigrants and colonizers, each of whom, over centuries, played a role in the development of local culture and dietary habits with new ingredients and cooking techniques that remain influential today. Today’s Moroccan cuisine is a blend of Berber,

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Rediscovering Holiday Walnut Cookies

Leave a Comment / Cookies, Bars & Brownies, Desserts, Ukraine / Slava

The old proverb that one man’s trash is another’s treasure applies to kitchen tools and holiday cookies, too. Several years ago, on one of my occasional wanderings through a Kyiv flea market, I spotted an unusual artifact amid a jumble of old kitchen utensils spread out on a blanket on the ground. What attracted my

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German Apple Cake – Gedeckter Apfelkuchen

Leave a Comment / Cakes, Desserts, Fruit Desserts / Slava

This German Apple Cake – Gedeckter Apfelkuchen was on my to-bake list for years from the time I was a law student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I did not cook or bake much while studying. With 700 pages of weekly reading of treatises and case law, there was little time for culinary endeavors

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Peach Blueberry Almond Crust Galette

Leave a Comment / Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Tarts and Pies / Slava

This Peach Blueberry Almond Crust Galette is a seasonal treat, a perfect summer dessert. As I walked through the farmer’s market this week amid stalls piled high with fruits, vegetables and flowers, the ripe, blushing rosy peaches and blue-as-midnight blueberries spoke to me. I scrutinized the offerings of rival fruit vendors several times assessing what

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Labneh – Savory and Sweet Versatility

Leave a Comment / Cheese, Desserts, Fruit Desserts, Savory Dishes, Spreads, Dips & Dressings / Slava

Labneh (also known as labne, labni, lebni), a strained yogurt, has a softly tart taste like Greek yogurt, but a cream-cheesy mouth feel. It can be soft and spreadable, firm and moldable, or hard and salted for longer storage. I savored labneh throughout the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean at various times of day without

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Baked Cheese Babka

Leave a Comment / Cakes, Cheese, Desserts, Dining & Travel, Ukraine / Slava

I recently discovered an early recipe for Baked Cheese Babka, a Ukrainian Easter dessert, in an out-of-print 19th century cookbook published in western Ukraine. What intrigued me most was the fact that this Baked Cheese Babka is flourless. After researching other baked cheese babka recipes, I realized the uniqueness of this recipe. Other baked cheese babkas

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Chocolate Pecan Mille Crêpes Torte

Leave a Comment / Cakes, Desserts / Slava

A recent article in the New York Times’ Thanksgiving Food section suggesting alternative pecan recipes to the traditional pie reminded me of this Chocolate Pecan Mille Crêpes Torte I made for Mama’s 94th birthday. Mama’s birthday on November 18 was for many years my annual kickoff for holiday baking. Each year it was a warm-up

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KITCHEN epiphanies

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