This King Cake with Tangzhong is the result of a culinary challenge. Several days ago, our daughter Sophia, who lives in New Orleans (NOLA) and is visiting Chicago while Weldon is recovering from knee surgery, said she missed New Orleans, where in February she would be eating king cake and partying at Mardi Gras events. […]
King Cake with Tangzhong Read More »
This elegant Poppy Seed Coconut Cherry Cake is a perfect holiday dessert for a large gathering. Poppy seed and coconut layers filled with cherry-flavored pastry cream and cherries, topped with chocolate glaze, are worthy of celebration. This creation is based on plyatsok, a sweet pastry beloved in Western Ukraine. What is a plyatsok? Plyatsok (plyatsky,
Poppy Seed Coconut Cherry Cake –A five-layer plyatsok from Ukraine Read More »
This Plum Mascarpone Tart continues a family dessert tradition, incorporating spectacular dark plums from the farmers’ market and pairing them with luscious mascarpone cheese. Each year, as a child at summer’s end, my Aunt Hanna made the best plum tart. She prepared it from memory, recalling happier times when she baked plum tarts as a
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Easter is cheesecake time at our house. I prepare Ukrainian cheese desserts for the holiday each year and experiment with cheesecake recipes from other cuisines. This year, I am adding melopita to my dessert repertoire. Its Greek name, comprised of two words – mela, which means honey, and pita, which means pie, implies that it
Melopita –Greek Honey Cheesecake in Phyllo-Nut Crust Read More »
This Chocolate Mocha Karpatka is my adaptation of a Polish cake that became popular in western Ukraine during the final decades of the 20th century. The original Karpatka is made from choux pastry with a vanilla crème pâtissière filling. My version flavors the cream puff dough with chocolate and the filling with coffee, a delightful
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The holiday season is fast approaching, and baking is on my mind. This year, I will avoid a December baking crisis and follow my mother-in-law’s practice of spreading holiday baking over two months, baking those items that can be preserved or frozen before Thanksgiving and baking more delicate cookies and tarts in December. I am
Light Brandied Fruitcake Read More »
At the end of a recent seafood dinner in Washington, my dining companions and I were presented with a splendid arrangement of Greek desserts. The assortment was familiar: baklava —caramelized phyllo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey, ekmek kataifi –crispy, golden shredded phyllo with creamy custard, soaked in lemon scented
Portokalopita – Greek Orange Cake Read More »
I first encountered this Poured-Crust Cabbage Pie at a picnic on the eve of Ivana Kupala, Ukraine’s midsummer celebration. Its thin crust enveloped a savory mixture of shredded young cabbage, other vegetables and spices. It was perfect picnic food: fresh, flavorful, easy to eat out of hand on a magical midsummer evening, leaving a lasting
Poured-Crust Cabbage Pie — and How Ukrainians Celebrate Midsummer Read More »
When I was a kid, rhubarb dishes appeared on our family menu each May, confirming unequivocally that spring had finally arrived. Seeing a basket of bright red rhubarb at the local market enticed me to try this Rhubarb Tart with Crème Anglaise recipe that I’ve saved just for this occasion. Rhubarb is a perennial plant
Rhubarb Tart with Crème Anglaise Read More »
On a recent trip to Argentina, I expected to eat large portions of meat and drink wine at every meal. Still, I was surprised by the culinary diversity offered in restaurants, which dispelled the all-meat stereotype of Argentinian cuisine. Beef and other meats, of course, are on all menus, but so is seafood, an amazing
Alfajores, Argentina’s Most Popular Cookies Read More »