My Desserts
January 7th, 2012 in Desserts by Julia Volhina This cake looked unusual even for me when I saw it first time: doesn’t it resemble a bunch of firewood covered with a snow to you?
This recipe is Yuriy’s mom speciality dessert and it often appears on the table during family celebrations. Yuriy’s mom preserves pitted sour cherries in their own juices under sugar each season, so there are always plenty of them ready for use.
If you don’t have sour cherries preserved in such way – you can always go with pitted cherry kompot like I did, but in this case add a bit of sugar to the dough, or cake will not be sweet enough.
I would want to tell you that this cake is easy and fast to do, but I can’t. It took me quite some time to make dough, prepare “firewood” sticks and then assemble the cake; but that is probably because I cooked it first time in my life.
After cake is assembled allow some time for layers to soak in sour cream frosting to get soft: leave it in cool place (but not fridge) at least over night (depending on how liquid sour cream is it may take longer). It is good idea to prepare cake at least a day before you are planning to serve it.
Tags: cake, dessert, flour, fruits, margarine, sour cherry, sour cream, sugar, ukrainian
October 1st, 2011 in Desserts by Julia Volhina We bought a big box of peaches on our way back home from vacation in South Carolina ocean side. They were very ripe and sweet and most important they were a lot, much more than we can eat in 2, even for longer time.
Even after eating big portion of them fresh and handing some out, there were still some left. It was a time to cook peaches before they spoil.
I found this recipe for stuffed baked peaches, and must say that baked peaches become one of my favorite desserts – cooked peaches are very tender and flavorful.
I will definitely improvise more in this direction once my hands get ahold of more peaches to try various stuffings.
Tags: chocolate, dessert, egg yolks, fruits, ginger, peach, stuffed, wine
August 13th, 2011 in Desserts by Julia Volhina This cake is similar to the cheese cakes so popular in west part of the globe. However this one is made from quark cheese (fresh farmers cheese), not from the cream cheese.
It is very popular dessert treat in West Ukraine. It is often being made with raisins, however I don’t like raisins, so I am doing it without any filling. Just add them if you like.
During the baking this cake will rise in the oven, and then it will fall down a bit while colling down. That i s ok, just important not to open oven while baking or cooling.
To make up for a bit uneven shape, you can cut uneven sides off before serving it.
Tags: baked, breakfast, butter, dessert, egg, egg whites, egg yolks, fresh cheese, lemon juice, semolina flour, sugar, ukrainian
June 11th, 2011 in Desserts by Julia Volhina I am used to call this kind of braid sweet bread Hala (Хала in russian), however when I was preparing to write this recipe and did a bit of research to make sure I get name right in english, I discovered that real Challah (Hala) doesn’t contain dairy.
Considering this recipe have butter and milk and eggs in it, I didn’t risk to call in challah. After all it is a sweet braid yeast based sourdough bread.
It tastes good by itself and even better with a cup of yogurt or cultured milk (kefir or buttermilk).
Tags: baking, bread, butter, dessert, egg, egg yolks, flour, milk, poppy seeds, sugar, yeast
March 26th, 2011 in Desserts by Julia Volhina This pastry is very popular in countries of ex-USSR. The shape is what gave them their russian name – “hvorost” – which means “dry wood used to make a fire”. Ukrainian name – “khrustyky” – describes texture – which it very crisp.
I had troubles trying to figure out what english name to use for this dish. Even if there is an equivalent of it in cuisine of some english speaking country, I don’t know about it.
So, feel free to let me know if you have some ideas in this regard 
Tags: dessert, egg yolks, flour, kefir, oil, pastry, russian, sugar, ukrainian
October 2nd, 2010 in Desserts by Julia Volhina Beze cookies or meringues (probably more familiar name for you) are one of those desserts you can put together literally from almost nothing.
2 egg whites and a bit of sugar – that is all you need prepare a nice finishing for the romantic dinner or something to sweeten your life with when you need it.
Using of pastry bag, when you operate with sugary and bubbly “batter”, can be hard at the beginning, but it goes easier once you get used to it.
If you have choice – pick bigger bag so you have more room for maneuver when loading it with “batter”.
Tags: cookie, dessert, egg whites, russian, sugar
July 24th, 2010 in Desserts by Julia Volhina Even though here I can buy strawberries almost any time of year, they are especially tasteful at summer. So yes, it is a strawberry time!
So if you looking for a nice recipe for strawberries – here it is: sweet whipped cream with puree of fresh sweet tasty strawberries and a bit of jelly. Easy to prepare, and even easier to eat
Of course, whipped cream is a bit heavy for the figure especially if it is mixed with sugar, but it is also totally delicious – so I allow myself to enjoy it every once in a while. But if you are trying to follow low calories / low fat diet this recipe is probably not for you.
Tags: cream, dessert, fruits, gelatine, jelly, puree, soft food, strawberry, sugar
