Tag Archives: Russian tradition

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! 🙂

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)

First of all you need to beat the tvorog with an electric mixer until very smooth or push it through a sieve two times.
Whisk butter for a creamy consistency. Add to tvorog along with 50g candied fruits and 50g raisins.
In a small bowl whisk egg yolk with sugar and vanilla.
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.
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.
Decorate with candied fruits, if desired. To serve cut a slice or eat with a spoon.

Russian Easter. Kulich

April 12, 2015
milkandbun
10 comments
baking, cake, Easter, Easter cake, kulich, recipe, Russian, Russian food, Russian tradition

Today is Paskha (Easter) in Russia, it’s a bright and warm festival that is celebrated among Orthodox Christians. Traditional and famous treats for this day are the colored eggs, kulichi, and paskha (in my next post). During this day we congratulate each other and say ‘Христос Воскресе’ which means Christ is risen, and the reply is ‘Воистину Воскресе’ – indeed hi is risen.

Kulich is a special Easter sweet cake/bread which usually has a cylindrical shape and decorated with white icing. It’s made from rich yeast dough; raisins, currants or candied fruits can be added. Traditionally kulichi have a cylindrical shape, and some Russian housewives use empty tins from pea or beans for that purpose. After baking and cooling kulichi is glazed with white icing (egg white or water with sugar) and decorated with edible sugar beads, flowers, and thin candles. Kulichi and died eggs can be also blessed in church; a part of Easter treats usually is leaved in church for poor people.

Kulich recipe {Russian Easter cake}

Servings: 2 pieces
Time: 4hr
Difficulty: moderate
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I used large eggs. Egg for the glazing needs to be very fresh.

The dough should be soft, but if needed add more flour.

Ingredients

350g plain flour

5-6g yeast

small pinch of salt

130ml milk, warm

1 egg

1 egg yolk

80g white sugar (or 90-100g to make it sweeter)

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

50g butter, very soft but not melted

60g raisins (golden)

60g currants (dark)

Icing

1 egg white

150-160g icing sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Sprinkles for decorating

Preparation method

In a large mixing bowl, sift 100g of flour, add salt, yeast, warm milk and stir to combine. Cover with a wet kitchen towel and let it rise for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk a whole egg, egg yolk, vanilla and sugar with a hand or electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until pale. Add egg mixture and butter to the dough, mix to combine. Sift the remaining flour and knead to combine. Cover again with a wet kitchen towel and let it rise for 30-40 minutes.
Wash raisins and currants, blot it up with a paper towel, sprinkle with a teaspoon of flour – you need to cover all raisins with some flour, it allows them to be evenly distributed throughout the dough. Add raisins and currants to the dough, mix into the dough. Cover with a wet kitchen towel and let it rise for 60 minutes.
Line baking pans with baking paper, grease with butter. Divide the dough between two baking pans, the dough should occupy 1/3-1/2 of the volume (because it will rise very high during baking) of the volume. Cover and let it rise for 20-30 minutes.
Bake in preheated 100C oven for 10 minutes, then in 180C for 30 minutes or until the toothpick inserted into it gets back dry. If the top becomes too golden – cover kulichi with a piece of foil or baking pepper.
Take out of the oven, let it completely cool.
For the icing, whisk the egg white with few tablespoons of sugar and lemon juice until well combined. Or beat it with an electric mixer on a low speed. Gradually add more sugar and whisk again. Keep adding sugar until you get the desired consistency (not too liquid).
Spread the icing on top of each kulich with a tablespoon. Add sprinkles. Let it dry.

Enjoy!

Cover kulichi in the foil and keep in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Mimosa Salad

Hello guys! It’s a very special Friday for me. I’m so glad and excited that I’m co-hosting the wonderful virtual party – Fiesta Friday by Angie, and Jhuls is another great co-host this time. I’d like to invite everyone and each of you to join the very-friendly party! Let us know that you’re joined by linking your post to Angie, me and Jhuls. Of course, will be lots of appetizers and welcome drinks, and you can eat&drink non-stop! 😀 Newbies could find the guidelines here. Another point is to bring your favourite dishes and put the link here, so every blogger can grab a slice of your cake or tuck in the stew while chatting. You’re also welcome to visit and like other bloggers’ posts and of course you can leave a comment or just say hi; it’s such a lovely possibility to find new blogofriends, have a small talk and plenty of fun!

I have decided to bring this nice-looking salad to the party, it’s Russian layered salad or to be exact Soviet salad, but still popular in many ex-USSR countries. In Russia we have lots of layered salad recipes, so many that I even don’t how many. 😀 This one is associated with spring (thou, also popular for New Year), Women’s Day and it’s named after the beautiful flower – mimosa. Last layer of the salad is crumbled egg yolks, which remind little yellow blossoms of mimosa. The main ingredient is canned fish here, so the salad is very budget and at the same time tasty, plus looks festive (that was important during deficit time). Usually saury/saira fish is used in ‘mimosa’, but salmon species is also good here, like red or pink salmon. I’ve tried to make it with tuna and can’t recommend it, its meat too dry for this salad, but if it’s the only canned fish you can get – add more sour cream or mayonnaise. Many variations exist – with or without potatoes, with cheese, spring onions, grated butter, etc. Better to prepare this salad some time in advance before serving to allow all layers to soak; so you can make it a night ahead.

Mimosa Salad

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1hr
Difficulty: easy
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To make salad more rich you can add some grated butter – between carrot and yolks layer.

Ingredients

1 large or 2 medium potatoes

1 large carrot

3 large eggs or 4 medium

250g canned fish (I used red salmon)

1 small onion, finely chopped

150-200g mix of sour cream and mayo (or only mayo)

some fresh dill, optional

salt to taste

Method

Wash potatoes and carrot, don’t peel. In a large pot with water, add potatoes, carrot and boil it until ready. Cool, peel the skin, then grate on a small or medium grater into separate bowls. Set aside.
Hard boil the eggs, cool and separate whites and yolks. Finely chop or grate.
Put chopped onion into a small bowl, cover with hot water and keep for 10 minutes. Drain the water.
Drain the fish and mash it with a fork.
Prepare a deep serving bowl or another serving plate. Arrange grated potatoes evenly on the bottom. Spread some mayo.
Make fish layer, then add chopped onion and spread more mayo.
Arrange egg whites and spread again mayo.
Arrange grated carrot and spread again mayo.
Arrange egg yolks. It was the last layer.
You can sprinkle the salad with chopped dill, if desired, or decorate whatever you want. Enjoy!

You can cover the salad with a piece of foil and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Russian red blini (pancakes)

For many people St.Valentine Day is red roses, dinner in a restaurant, chocolate desserts and other heart-shape stuff. Does it seems boring only for me? I think, the best way to diversify this ‘red’ day is by trying something new, like eat non-chocolate dessert, or if you always go out this day stay in to cook a decadent dinner for two. Unleash your creativity! It can be flavorsome salmon steaks or roast quails, you can experiment with sauces.. A small change can have a huge effect! 😉

A perfect St.Valentine Day can be started by serving a late breakfast that will get both of you in the loving mood. Ready to leave an impression? Prepare these amazing Russian red blini (pancakes)! Beets give pancakes stunning color and delicate sweetness. They are the perfect way to treat those you love!

Next week, starts from Monday, will be one of the brightest and entertaining of Russian holidays – Maslenitsa, or also knows as Butterweek or Pancake Week. It’s celebrated during the last week before Great Lent. It’s the festival with lots of fun, dance, songs and of course huge amount of blini, which is constantly cooked throughout the week. I’ll be posting more about Maslenitsa next week.

#5 Red blini

Russian red blini

Servings: 3-4
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Ingredients

130-150g beet, cooked

200-230ml milk, full fat

200ml sparkling mineral water

2 eggs, medium size

a good pinch of salt

2 tsp white sugar, optional

2 tbsp sunflower oil

150-170g plain flour

some oil for frying, if needed

sour cream for garnish, if desired

Puree cooked beet with hand blender or in a food processor until smooth. Add milk, water and stir.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs with salt and sugar. Add it to the batter along with oil; stir.
Sift flour and add it to the batter. Stir to combine.
Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the frying pan and fry thin pancakes as usual. You can make any diameter you like.
Serve warm with sour cream or other garnish.

Sweet garnish: sour cream with honey and chopped pear; sweet cottage cheese; mix berries with sweeten condensed milk.

Savory garnish: cured salmon slices; cheese with herbs; ham.

Enjoy!

I’m bringing these lovely and tasty Russian blini to the Angie‘s Fiesta Friday party, co-hosts Suzanne and Sue and to all beautiful ladies! Hope you all have a wonderful St.Valentine day!

Happy New Year

January 1, 2015
milkandbun
20 comments
Happy New Year, holidays, photography, photos, Russia, Russian tradition, Russian winter, snow, travel, travel photography, winter

Happy New Year, guys! It’s the very first day of the year, and it’s -13C/9F and snowing in Russia currently. What does your family do every New Year eve? Do you have any memorable tradition? Every family celebrates holidays in their own way. The New Year Eve is a very important holiday in Russia, it’s time when all family members gather together, bring salads and sweets, cook pork or roast goose, socialise and discussing passing year, watch music tv-shows and exchange presents.

From the Soviet time Christmas wasn’t widely celebrated and most of the religious traditions, which are common for the Western people took their place on the New Year Eve. And so it is every since.

Traditionally all the best foods and treats were set on the festive table, the most popular salads still shuba and oliver (will post soon). Cold cuts, salted mushrooms and pickled cucumbers are also served. The dessert can be any cake or chocolates, and every home is full of mandarine aroma.

By one tradition, we open a bottle of champagne sharp at twelve midnight and make a wish. 🙂

By another tradition, Grandpa Frost (Santa Claus) and his granddaughter Snow-maiden come to children and they should tell festival poems and songs, and children receive gifts in return.