Russian cuisine

Sunday Dairy Breakfast

 Do you remember I told you last Sunday that better not to skip breakfast? And I do hope you have eaten something every morning! Have you? 😉 Was it something tasty? Mmm May be pancakes.. I made onion-chilli cookies twice this week (the recipe here). Once with spring onion, another with leeks, both times they were so good! I love gentle hit from chillies, it helps me to stay awake for a long time!
 Yesterday I didn’t have a plenty time, and my choice was quick-but-healthful breakfast: Greek yogurt with raspberries and honey. But on the picture, you can see another delicious thing – Russian prostokvasha with colorful raspberries and blackberries. Prostokvasha is a dairy product, similar to thick yogurt, which is made from a fermented milk (milk prepared by bacterial fermentation). When it’s prepared from a regular milk it has a pale milky color, but prostokvasha can be also made from baked milk and thus it has beige color, similar to “coffee with cream” (as on the photo). Baked milk is called ‘toplenoe moloko’ in Russia, it’s traditional Russian dairy product. For this milk, regular milk is boiled, and then simmered for a long time to get a special color, taste and smell. Originally it was prepared in Russian pech, nowadays all milky produce can be bought in any Russian store. I do love toplenoe milk and prostokvasha for its unique taste, so I ate it every single day while I was on holiday.. Russian Prostokvasha
 Whether you chose an yogurt with berries or savory cookies for breakfast, I’m sure that better to consume something easy-to-make than nothing. Prostokvasha with colorful raspberries

Kisel – Russian sweet drink

 Kisel – is a well-known and popular sweet drink in Russia. This healthy drink contains berries or fruits, also sugar and water, and thickened with a potato starch. Kisel can be served cold or hot, sometimes it’s poured over ‘cottage cheese bake’ or ‘syrniki’. The kisel thickness can vary depending on how much potato starch is used; the thickest version does look like a mousse or jelly and can be eaten with a spoon, however the thin kisel is the most common version in Russia and usually consumed as a drink.Kisel-Russian sweet drink

  Kisel is generally made with fresh berries or fruits (red currants, cherries, cranberries, apples – are most common flavors which are widely available in Russia), but during the winter sweet jams or frozen berries are used to make it. The very first Russian kisels were thick and made with oat, wheat, rye or pea flours, and it dates back over one thousand years.
 Nowadays there are lots of instant kisel mixes, which you can find at Russian stores, but I do assure you that to make you own kisel is very easy and definitely better and tastier. I made mine with fresh red currants; you can use any fresh or frozen berries. Enjoy!Russian red currant kisel (drink)

Kisel - Russian sweet drink

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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To make thick kisel add more starch.
Ingredients
200-300g fresh red currants, rinsed
5-7 tbsp sugar (or more, depends on your taste)
2l water
3 tbsp potato starch (or cornstarch)
Method
  • Keep aside some red currats. Strain the rest through a sieve into a saucepan. Add water, sugar and bring to boil. Reduce the heat, taste and adjust the sweetness.
  • In a small cup, mix starch with few tablespoons of cold water. Add it to the saucepan along with red currants that you’ve kept. Give it a good stir and turn off the heat.
  • Pour in a glasses or cups. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

WhiteCurrant tart

 Hello-hello! I love summer because it’s berry season! May be not that summer when the outside temperature is +40C or even 50C.. Hope you are having the same great summer as I do this time in Russia: lots of organic berries, vegetables and greens, amazing weather, long walks and talks with friends. But sometimes the weather plays a joke: in the morning can be so cold that you need a thick jacket, later so hot – you need a dress instead of jacket, and so on..Russian FieldRussian Nature
 Talking about summer berries, currants is super common and one of the popular type of berry in Russia. I’m sure many of you tried redcurrants or seen it in supermarkets, or tried a dessert garnished with it. Here, there are three types of currants: black, red and white. They differ from one another not only in their color; blackcurrant is the sweetest one, red is tender and sour, and whitecurrant is sweet-and-sour with lots of seeds. And I guess, the white one is less-known, so I’ve been determined to make something tasty with these beautiful berries. Here, they are usually eaten as is or they make compotes (cold drink), jams. I made shortcrust pastry with tvorog (cottage cheese), filled with tender tvorog filling (yes, again cottage cheeese! I love it!) and scattered whitecurrants over the top. Yummy! A slice of whitecurrant tart
 So, how is your summer going on? 🙂White Currants in RussiaWhite Currant Tart

WhiteCurrant tart

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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The recipe calls for whitecurrants, which are usually uncommon, so use redcurrants or any berries that you can get.
If you’re using frozen berries, don’t defreeze it.
I used 22cm baking tin.
Ingredients
Pastry
200g flour
100g butter, cut into small cubes
100g tvorog/cottage cheese (I used 0% fat)
1 egg
Filling
3 eggs
70-100g sugar or fructose (depends on your taste)
300-350g sour cream (20-30% fat)
100g tvorog/cottage cheese (I used 0% fat)
1 tsp vanilla sugar/extract
450-500g whitecurrants
Preparation method
  • To make the pastry, place flour, butter in a large bowl (or in the food processor) and mix to get breadcrumbs. Mix in tvorog. Add egg and mix until just comes together. Shape into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • Roll the pastry on a lightly floured table to form a round. Grease the baking tin and lightly dust with flour. Arrange pastry into the baking tin. Place in the fridge to cool while you’re preparing the filling.
  • Preheat oven to 180C.
  • In a bowl, whisk eggs with sugar. Beat in sour cream. Add cottage cheese and vanilla, whisk to combine.
  • Take the pastry out the fridge, pour in filling. Scatter over berries.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes. Leave to cool in the baking tin, then carefully remove from the tin and serve.
Enjoy!

Sharlotka

 Sharlotka – that’s how one of the popular apple cake in Russia called. I believe this cake is so widely-known that there is no a man in Russian who wouldn’t heard about it. When I was a little girl I ate sharlotka so many times that I hardly can count, I ate it at my home, at friends’ home.. And I still love it! It’s one of the easiest recipe that always turns out great!
There are many varieties of Charlotte dessert. Russian ‘charlotte’ was created by French chef Marie-Antoine Careme who worked for Russian Tsar Alexander I in 19th century in London. Believed that the dessert took its name from Queen Charlotte, wife of George III of the Intied Kingdom, who loved apples. For this dessert the bottom of baking mold was lined with sponge cake or savoiardi biscuits, then filled with Bavarian and whipped cream, and completely cooled. Originally the dessert was named ‘charlotte a la parisienne’ but lately became popular under the name ‘charlotte russe’ or simply ‘Sharlotka’.
In Soviet times the recipe was modified and became sponge cake with apples. Nowadays, the cake continues to be liked and cooked by many Russian women, including me. 🙂 It’s also a kind of ‘rescue’ sweets that you can prepare in minutes when your friends came around unexpectedly. Below recipe is my mother’s recipe, I haven’t change a word in it and the cake turns out perfect every time, I think it will make my mummy proud and happy. ❤Sharlotka

Sharlotka

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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You can also roughly chop apples, stir into the batter and then bake.
I used 20cm/8inch cake spring-form.
Ingredients
2-3 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 eggs, at room temperature (better to use large eggs)
80g white sugar
110g plain flour
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp b.soda
1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
a pinch of salt
icing sugar for dusting, optional
Preparation method
  1. In a large mixing bowl, add 3 egg yolks, water and sugar. Put baking soda in a tablespoon, pour in lemon juice or vinegar, mix with a teaspoon to dissolve it, then pour into the egg mixture. Beat egg mixture until light and creamy.
  2. In another bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft but steady peaks.
  3. Gradually mix egg whites into egg yolk mixture. Don’t stir too much.
  4. Gradually sift and fold in the flour.
  5. Grease and dust with flour the baking form. Gently spread half of the batter into the form. Arrange apple slices. Pour in the rest batter, evenly spread.
  6. Bake in preheated 180C oven for 30 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle with icing sugar, if desired. Serve warm with a cup of freshly-brewed tea.
You can keep the cake in a box or on a plate covered with foil in the fridge up to 3 days.
Enjoy!

Sharlotka- Russian apple cake

Sharing this tasty cake with Fiesta Friday and all lovely bloggers who is enjoying it!

Paskha – Russian Easter treat

 In the previous post I’ve told you about the traditional Easter cake – kulich. But there is one more no-bake dessert for Easter, it’s called ‘paskha’, which means Easter in Russian. It’s made in a special wooden or plastic pyramid-shaped mold, which called pasochnica. Of course, it’s not easy to find such mold, but it can be easily substituted with a clean flower pot or a bowl.
There are many variations of the Paskha but of course tvorog (farmer cheese) is a main ingredient and mixed with eggs and butter. Some recipes call to mix it with raw egg yolks, another with cooked, the quantity of butter may vary as well. To flavour the tvorog mixture adding some chopped candied fruits, nuts, cocoa powder. If you love soft, creamy desserts that reminds a no-crust cheesecake you should definitely prepare it! 🙂Russian Paskha

Paskha - Russian Easter treat with tvorog

  • Servings: 2-3
  • Difficulty: moderate
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Ingredients
500g tvorog, dry preferable
60g butter, soft at room temperature (not melted)
50g chopped candied fruits like orange peel, pineapple, strawberry
50g raisins
1 large egg yolk
80-100g white sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
80ml cream (20-30% fat)
  1. First of all you need to beat the tvorog with an electric mixer until very smooth or push it through a sieve two times.
  2. Whisk butter for a creamy consistency. Add to tvorog along with 50g candied fruits and 50g raisins.
  3. In a small bowl whisk egg yolk with sugar and vanilla.
  4. In a small saucepan warm cream, then pour it into the egg mixture and quickly stir. Pour back into the saucepan, simmer for a 3-4 minutes, whisking continuously. Stir the mixture into tvorog.
  5. Line a paskha mold or any suitable bowl with a double layer of wet cheesecloth, pour the tvorog mixture in, fold ends of cheesecloth on the top. Arrange a weight (it can be a can or jam jar) and put in the fridge for 12 hours or up to 24 hours; allowing whey (liquid) to drain. When it’s ready to serve – unmold, remove the the cheesecloth.
  6. Decorate with candied fruits, if desired. To serve cut a slice or eat with a spoon.

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