Tag Archives: festive cooking

Saffron buns

Hello guys! It’s not a secret that I love to bake! And I have to say even more – I’m addicted to pies! 😀 Every time when I stumble upon a new and interesting pie or cake recipe I’m anxious to prepare it! What does attract you in a recipe? An ingredient, a photo or may be a story behind it? For me an every part is captivating and intriguing! As I’ve already said I love to bake whatever it is, whether it’s a vegetarian or sweet thing, like comforting cabbage bake with farmer cheese or beautiful apple pie with semolina. A long time ago I was browsing the Internet and found one lovely recipe of saffron buns, but time has passed anf it got out of my mind until I bought saffron last week. I was glad to discover the story about these buns, because the story is truly magical and wintry.

Every year on the 13th of December people of Scandinavia countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) are celebrating the Day of St.Lucia. It’s believed she brings the light into the longest night of the year. Celebration include a procession of young girls in white dresses and red sashes carrying candles. One girl represented as Lucia – she wear a crown of candles on her head. Girls sing traditional and Christmas songs.

By another Sweden custom at home the eldest daughter arising early in the morning, wearing the Lucia’s costume, awaking the family and serving them coffee and saffron buns.*

After reading about Scandinavian traditions and stories I decided to make those delicious buns! and by coincidence I baked them exactly on the 13th. I made some research and finally created my own recipe. Buns turned out very fluffy, nicely buttery, with amazing aroma of saffron and not very sweet.

Saffron buns

Servings: 8 buns
Time: 3-4hr
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Ingredients

120ml full-fat milk

1/2-1/3 tsp saffron threads

45-50g butter, room temperature

250-300g plain flour

4g instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

30-35g sugar

2-3 cardamom pods, ground, optional

a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, optional

1 large egg

60ml sour cream

Preparation method

Heat milk with saffron (don’t boil) in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. The temperature of milk should be not over 40C/104F or should be able to easily hold a finger in it. Add butter, stir to combine.
In a mixing bowl sift the flour (250g, then add more if needed), add yeast, salt, sugar and spices if using. Mix.
Add lukewarm milk mixture to the flour. Stir to combine.
Add egg and sour cream. Mix ingredients until well incorporated.
Now on a flat surface knead the dough by hand (or use a hook of your standing mixer) for 10 minutes, until smooth and a little sticky to the touch.
Cover the dough and leave it to rise for 1 hour at room temperature or until it’s puffy. You can make the dough the day before, in which case after rising gently deflate the dough, cover and leave in the fridge overnight. Take out an hour or two before shaping, let it gets warm and rise again.
Gently deflate the dough, and divide into 8 equal sizes; each piece weight about 70g.
Roll each piece of dough at a time into a 38-40cm rope, then shape each rope into S-shape.
Place buns on the lined baking tray. Tuck in raisins. Cover with a towel and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
Brush with egg wash and in preheated 190C/375F for 15-20 minutes or until they’re golden brown.
Take buns from oven and let cool for 4-5 minutes before serving.
Serve warm with a glass of milk or tea.

Enjoy the winter season!

Herring under a fur coat or Russian Shuba Salad

It sounds funny and may be a little weird, but that’s how we called a very popular salad in Russia. Exactly under a fur coat, not in. 🙂 I can’t imagine Russian New Year celebration without this salad. Another nickname or short name of the salad is ‘shuba’, that means fur coat in Russian.

The main ingredients are beets, potatoes and lightly salted herring; the salad is composed of vegetable layers coated with mayonnaise. Nowadays, ‘shuba’ has undergone a number of changes, one add hard-boiled eggs, another omit onions or add an apple. But the one thing is still constant – the salad is incredibly favoured and beloved by many Russians!

A legend says that such salad was created by a merchant Anastas Bogomilov, who was an owner of the popular tavern and restaurant chain in Moscow at the beginning of the 20th century. It was a time of The Civil War and Revolution in Russia, and taverns’ visitors discussed the Russian future with patriotic fervour, so they became furious and began to fight. And of course, they broke some furniture and smashed plates during their drunken brawls. To avoid it, a merchant devised a stratagem – to make a well-nourishing zakuska (a starter) and a symbol of the public union in one dish. Thus, one of his cooks – Aristarkh Prokopcev prepared and served a new salad ‘shuba’ at the New 1918 Year eve, where red color of beetroots symbolized the red flag, and potatoes were the food of workers and peasants. Shuba was an abbreviation, first letters of a slogan; Sh for Chauvinism, U for Decay, B for Boycott, A for Anathema. Visitors and guests liked this salad and began to order it often. As the salad were fatty, guests couldn’t got drunk very fast, thus scuffles happened rarely and furniture was left untouched.

Long after, people forgot the origins of the salad, but it became an integral part of the festive new year table.

Here is my version of the ‘herring under a fur coat’. For the dressing, I usually use only sour cream (it’s healthier), but you can substitute it with mayonnaise, or make it 50/50. Also I add an grated apple – the salad gets freshness, but for someone an apple is unnecessary here. The choice is up to you.

Herring under a fur coat or Russian Shuba Salad

Servings: 5-6
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

200-300g herring fillet, lightly salted

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 large potatoes, skin on and boiled

2 large beetroot, skin on, boiled or roasted

1 medium carrot, skin on and boiled

1-2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped or grated, optional

1 juicy and sour apple (granny smith is great), coarsely grated, optional

Dressing

100-150ml (15-20% fat) sour cream, or as much as you like

2-3 Tbsp mayonnaise, optional

1 tsp dijon mustard, optional

salt, pepper to taste

Garnish

dill, parsley or chives, optional

Preparation method

For the dressing, mix all ingredients and season to taste, or use only sour cream. You can spread the dressing with a tablespoon, or use a piping bag.
Cover chopped onion with hot water and soak for 5-10 minutes, it helps to remove the bitterness. Then drain water.
Drain any liquid from herring. Cut herring fillet into small cubes. Make the first layer – arrange herring on a serving plate. Spread onion on herring.
Peel vegetables and coarsely grate or finely chop.
Arrange a layer of potatoes. Cover with dressing. Also you can make potatoes the very first layer, if desired.
Spread eggs, if using, and lightly cover with dressing. Also you can top finished salad with eggs.
Arrange a layer of carrot. Cover with dressing.
Arrange a layer of apple. Lightly cover with dressing.
Finish with a layer of beet. You can only top with grated beetroot, or complitely cover the salad. Spread evenly some dressing.
Garnish with chopped dill or chives, if desired.

The salad becomes much better if you refrigerate it overnight (cover the salad with a foil) or for a few hours.

Enjoy!

I’m linking this wonderful, tasty and festive salad to Fiesta Friday.

Winter cake with red berries

Red berries and cheese make this cake a frequent guest on my table during the winter. 😀 It looks gorgeous and tastes delicious! Perfect for holiday season!

INGREDIENTS

100g butter, very soft at room temperature

150g Philadelphia cheese or smooth cottage cheese

120-140g sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

130g self-raising flour (or plain flour+ 1tsp baking powder)

2tsp mandarin or orange zest

1tsp lemon zest

200g mix of cranberries, redcurrents and raspberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defreeze)

50-70g flaked almonds

METHOD

Beat the cheese, butter and sugar together.

Add eggs to the batter mixture, one at a time, beating rapidly.

Stir in mandarin&lemon zests.

Sift the flour and mix to combine.

Finally, carefully stir the berries into the batter.

Sprinkle the cake with flaked almonds or your favorite nuts.

Bake in preheated oven 180C/360F during 35-40 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Adapted from this source.

The little tiny Holiday cookies

Christmas and New Year are definitely my favourite holidays. Hustle and bustle time. Snowing outside, everybody is in rush, searching presents and gifts for the loved ones. Unfortunately in the UAE I can’t feel such wonderful emotions in full, but I can bring the festive mood and flavours to my home by baking some winter treats.

These little cookies are so rich in chocolate, that could give little more warmth for the family tea-time. Adding some spices-cloves, cinnamon or cardamom and a small hazelnut or pistachio inside is also great! 😉

And if you pack them in a little Xmas box – it might be amazing gift for a friend.

I’m pretty sure that better to double the amount of the ingredients, so you don’t need to cook it twice!