For 5 medium pieces of cartof, you will need

130g biscuits

50g butter

60g condensed milk

2 tbsp of cocoa powder

1 dash of rum

+2 tbsp of cocoa powder

After crushing the biscuits, add the melted butter, condensed milk, cocoa powder, and rum.

 

I suggest removing them from the fridge a few minutes before eating them. This way, they will not be too hard. Roll them through cocoa powder; then, enjoy their taste!

I barely managed to make a jar of strawberry preserves! However, I got some magical preserves from the strawberries purchased when we returned from the Delta!

Well, using my Mom’s recipe, I needed:

180g small strawberries

180g sugar

45ml spring water

juice from half an organic lemon

After Marcel cleaned and washed them, I let the strawberries sit with the sugar for one hour. Then, I added the lemon juice and the water. I let everything boil, then simmer for half an hour.

Then, I poured the preserves into the jar.

We still have a small amount of preserves left in the jar. We don’t want it to end; it was that tasty! ♥

makes 130 bezele

4 egg whites

200g sugar

1 tbsp of vinegar

a pinch of salt

When I have more egg whites than needed, my thought flies to my Mom’s bezele recipe.

Here it is!

Take the egg whites out of the fridge. When they sit at room temperature, their foam will be richer.

Mix them with the sugar, adding it bit by bit. Then, mix in the vinegar [it will make the foam ’sit’ and the bezele feel glossy] and the salt.

Fill a pastry bag with the foam and draw bezele. Make a circle, letting the foam flow, then lift the pastry bag.

I got 2 large baking pans and a small one.

Bake in the preheated oven at 110°C for 30 minutes.

They’ll be crunchy for 2-3 days in closed bowls or bags.

That is, if you don’t eat them in the meantime. 😊

How did it start? J

When I was a child, there was a magazine called ’Universul copiilor’ [’The Universe of Children’]. Whenever a new number came out, my Mom would buy it for me. One of these magazines included this recipe.

Well, we changed it a bit over the years, using various types of bread and cheese; however, I still love this recipe – it became part of my family.

How to make it?

For 1 portion, you will need

4 slices of bread

1 small onion

1 tbsp of sunflower or flaxseed oil

a pinch of salt

a little bit of sugar

6 tbsp of tomato juice

15g cheese

Place the bread slices into a baking pan.

Clean and cut the onion.

Sizzle the onion, adding a pinch of salt and some sugar into the oil (it will enhance the flavour of the onion). In the end, mix in the tomato juice. Spread the mixture over the bread slices, carefully dividing it.

Grate the cheese.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes (la 180⁰C).

I hope you enjoy it!

♥

1kg raspberries

1kg sugar

juice from one lemon

Behind this recipe (still my Mom’s recipe) are my childhood friends Erzsi and Hilda. Hilda made me drool when she prepared raspberry preserves. Erzsi delivered the raspberries grown and picked by her sister, also in Bod. ♥

Marcel made the preserves and it turned out wonderful.

Place the raspberries in a pan; add the sugar and let it sit for several hours. Of course, you will end up with some juice in the pan. Squeeze the lemon.

Place the pan on low heat. Let the mix simmer for 50 minutes after it starts boiling.

When the preserves has cooled, transfer it into jars. (We got two large jars and a small one.)

I believe that each family has a recipe of delicious plain cookies that moms and grandmas would bake. My recipe’s in my Mom’s handwriting but has been adapted from my Godmother Maria.  

So, I baked these cookies last night. They turned out great and reminded me of the tranquil moments of my childhood!

Do you want to bake them?

For 18 cookies, you’ll need—

250g flour

100g sugar

4g baking powder

lemon zest from 1 organic lemon

2 tbsp milk

1 egg

50g butter

Mix all the ingredients in the above-specified order. Knead well. You’ll feel like you can’t incorporate all the flour, but you will.

The dough will be balanced, so you won’t need flour when you roll it out (its thickness should be 4-5mm).

Use the cutters of your liking and place the cookies in a baking pan lined with baking parchment.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180⁰C for 15 minutes.

So, how are they? J

The strawberry season hasn’t yet ended and... I had only baked myself a small cake on my name day, so I told myself... ’Why not?’.

You will need the following ingredients, in addition to the tartlet moulds, for the 

CRUST

150g flour

70g (melted and cooled) butter /oil also goes – I used flaxseed oil/

1 egg yolk

10g vanilla sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp water

a pinch of salt

CREAM

1 egg

165ml milk

60g sugar

25g flour

a dash of vanilla extract

+butter/oil and flour -> baking moulds

+at least 15-16 large strawberries

All these make 8 tartlets. J

I made the dough based on this recipe and I split it into 8. I used flaxseed oil instead of butter. Bake the mini crusts for 20 minutes, in the preheated oven, at 160⁰C. To keep the crusts thin, I used baking beans.

To make the cream, beat the egg and the sugar. Add the flour and mix very well. Pour the mix into the milk boiling with the vanilla extract. Continue to mix until you see bubbles forming. Pour the cream into the mini crusts (I took them out of the moulds first).  

Let them cool a bit and place them in the fridge.

Marcel’s suggestion was to place the strawberries (cleaned and cut into slices) onto the tartlets right before serving. They were fresher this way.

There is so much versatility offered by the various crust and cream recipes, combined with nature’s gifts to us!

5 egg whites

2 tbsp vinegar

200g sugar

10g vanilla sugar

5 tbsp cornstarch

+

10 pcs of passion fruit

3 teaspoons sugar

+

250g whipping cream

25g sugar

I haven’t baked a large Pavlova in a while – only its mini version. After Christmas, I was, however, left with many egg whites. Without a cake made by me on my birthday, it was time to bake it!

Beat the egg whites; when they are stiff, pour in the vinegar. Continue to mix, adding the sugar and the vanilla sugar mixture bit by bit. The cornstarch comes in at the end.

Line a baking pan with baking parchment. Using a round shape (mine is 23 cm wide and 7 cm deep), pour the mixture, level it, and remove the shape. 

Bake for 2 hours in the preheated oven at 100°C (after baking, leave the meringue in the oven for 5-10 more minutes with the door slightly open; it will prevent it from cracking).

In the meantime, scoop out the passion fruit pulp. Add the sugar and mix.    

When the meringue has completely cooled, beat the whipping cream with the sugar. 

Decorate by using a pouch to add tufts of whipped cream (Marcel’s idea) and the passion fruit mixture on top.

Use what’s left from the passion fruit mixture for individual slices when you serve them – that is if your Pavlova keeps in the fridge without being munched. :D  

THE CRUST

150g flour

70g (melted and cooled) butter

1 yolk

1 sachet vanilla sugar

1 tbsp of vinegar

2 tbsp of water

a pinch of salt

+2 tbsp of semolina

+butter and flour -> your baking pan

THE FILLING

3 quinces

1 apple

100ml water

50g sugar

30g butter

cinnamon

Here’s a very quick and tasty pie for the end of fall/beginning of winter and for all those who still have quinces. J

Make the crust based on this recipe. Sprinkle the semolina onto the crust, to absorb the juice of the fruit pieces.

To make the filling, clean the quinces and the apple and cut them into cubes. Pour them into a pan, together with the water, sugar, and cinnamon, and place it on low-medium heat. Let the butter melt slowly on top of all the ingredients.

After the mix boils, the water level drops, and the fruit pieces are caramelised, you can transfer them to the crust.

Bake in the preheated oven, at 170ºC, for 15 minutes.  

One slice won’t be enough.

1100ml water

200g sugar

2 quinces

To me, fall equals quinces. These are some of my favourite fruits. I am lucky to receive them every year from Oneşti, from Marcel’s parents, so I eat one a day. J

This year, there were more quinces than ever, so some started to spoil. The solution to that? A compote!

Place a pan with the water and sugar on low heat. Add the quinces (wash them, clean them, and cut them into small pieces). Simmer for 30 minutes.

It cooled my day!

CRUST

150g flour

70g butter (melted and cooled)

1 egg yolk

1 vanilla sugar sachet

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp water

a bit of salt

FILLING

250g mascarpone

50g whipping cream

10g sugar

40ml condensed milk

+butter and flour -> your baking pan

+14-15 fresh figs

Well, I am still baking classically, using many types of ingredients, especially as, at the end of August (summer), we drove to Sviniţa to buy fresh figs. The largest fig farm in Romania is located there. They may be small but they’re so flavourful!

You can bake the crust using the recipe found here.

I wished to prepare a creamy filling. In my opinion, mascarpone and figs go well together.

If you love whipped cream more, remove the condensed milk from the recipe, replacing it with some extra 100g of whipping cream. Use 35g of sugar for the entire amount of whipping cream.

For the initial filling, add the whipped cream to the mixed mascarpone and then the condensed milk.

Pour the filling over the crust after you let the crust cool a bit.

Place the washed figs cut in half over the tart. Let it sit in the fridge.

I served each slice cold, in a summer mood! ☼