Yesterday (December 17th) was St Barbara, a very important celebration in Georgia. Lobiani is the staple dish.

What is lobiani? It is a pie filled with beans. (I loved it when I tried it in Tbilisi.)
Marcel had the idea to make our version at home, so here's the recipe—

For the dough (makes 2):

80ml water

2g fresh yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

125g flour

2g salt

Let the yeast and the sugar sit in the water for 5 minutes. Add the flour and the salt. Knead. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.

For the filling (makes 2):

250g boiled beans

4 garlic cloves

salt

Mash the beans and garlic cloves. Add the salt.

Method:

Split the dough in two equal parts. Roll each half out. Spread the beans and garlic mixture over each of them. Make a crescent moon by sticking the ends of the dough. Bake in a pan on low heat until brown. Munch.

It was delicious and filling!

We eventually got to my last favourite ingredient. There may be more; I may discover some others, but I end my list in style!  

Today: flour

What terrifies me the most when working with flour? There are two issues: that it’ll attract flour moths and that I’ll burn the flour by adding too much of it to the dough.

Where do I get flour from? As we are discussing wheat flour, Romania used to supply the wheat for the whole of Europe. I prefer Romanian wheat, grown in Romanian soil. I found some great, versatile, and elastic types of flour.

Why do I love it? Butter is the only ingredient that I love more! I guess that says it all. There are many things you can’t bake if you’re out of flour.

How do I use it? In almost everything! Even if you suspect there isn’t any flour in a food item, I add it as a thickener. There are a poppy seed beigli and a walnut beigli in the picture; my Mom used to bake them at Christmas and Easter. The recipe will follow. Of course, you need quality ingredients for all these bakes!  

• Spring version

Dough:

200g flour

5g fresh yeast

100ml buttermilk

salt

Filling:

2 orach bunches

salt

butter

1 green garlic

+1 small egg

Variant: Add ewe cheese on top of the filling if you wish.

• Fall version

Dough:

240g flour

5g fresh yeast

160g sour cream

salt

Filling:

300g orach

salt

butter

1 pestled garlic clove

+2 tbsp of milk

Baking pan: 20x20 cm

Orach was the ingredient of this year for me! I fell in love! I felt lucky to be able to bake this orach pie in spring and fall!

The recipes are almost similar. To make the dough, mix the yeast with the buttermilk or the sour cream, adding the required amount of flour. You’ll get a non-sticky dough, slightly hard. Let it rise for 1 hour. 

Then (a kind man named Marcel helped me), wash the orach leaves. Be careful, that pink liquid stains (I used red orach). Let the orach leaves simmer in butter; add the salt, the green garlic or the garlic clove, depending on the season.

Roll out half of the dough in a buttered and floured baking pan. Add the filling and the ewe cheese if you wish. Then, add the other half of the rolled-out dough and stick the two pieces together.

Brush the egg or milk on top of the pie, then bake it in the preheated oven at 180°C for 20 minutes. 

Shells

170g flour

2 tbsp of sugar

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tbsp of cocoa powder

1 tbsp of butter

1 small egg

3 tbsp of Port (if you don’t have Marsala)

Filling

325g ricotta

130g sugar

for 8 cannoli

I don’t like the scent of burnt oil in the house; on the other hand, I was craving cannoli. I’m thinking, ’Could I bake them?’.

I had prepared the filling the previous night, draining ricotta and mixing it with the sugar.

To make the cannoli shells, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, butter, and egg. To give them their typical flavour, add 3 tablespoons of Port if you lack the classical Marsala.

Knead until you have a compact dough (insist until all the ingredients are fully incorporated!). Let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 balls. Then, crush them and roll them out. Draw circles using a 12cm-diametre bowl. Cut them out. Wrap them around the cannoli tubes. Use a few drops of water to stick the ends.

Place the cannoli tubes into a baking pan. Then, bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes.

By using a piping bag, fill the shells with the ricotta and sugar mixture.

Tip: I prefer filling the shells every time we have cannoli, keeping the piping bag in a mug in the fridge.

 

What to use for two portions?

2 small and ripe bananas

60ml milk

30g butter

60g flour

3g baking powder

a pinch of salt

a fistful of raisins

How to bake it?

Mash the bananas using a fork. Then, add the milk, melted butter, flour, baking powder, salt, and raisins.

Pour half of the batter into one ramekin and the rest into another.

Bake in the preheated oven at 180°C for 25-30 minutes (depending on the fluffiness of the pudding).

I wanted to try a vegan pască for a long time! It was the idea of my dear Ana Maria, the soul of NoMoMoo. You can try it, too, this year, multiply the amounts, and test its round version [in our family, pasca has always been square and flat 😊].

I hope you like it!

Serve it directly from the fridge!

[a 20x20 cm baking pan, but I recommend a 15x15 cm one]

You will need:

140g Cajoont

40g cashew sour cream

3 tbsp of [spring] water

1 tbsp of psyllium seeds

40g agave syrup

25g raisins

4 tbsp of flour

4 tbsp of semolina

+Cajoont, semolina -> baking pan

Bake away:

Let the delicious NoMoMoo products reach room temperature.

The psyllium seeds should sit in the water for at least 5 minutes.

Mix the ingredients listed above with the agave syrup, the raisins, the flour, and the semolina. Save a small amount of Cajoont and a little bit of semolina to ’butter and flour’ the baking pan; do it.

Then, pour the batter into the baking pan and bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven at 170°C.

Let it cool well.

Another suggestion: let it sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours before savouring it.

Happy and tranquil Easter to you! ♥

It was our girls’ birthday. ♥ Pi, Teo, Piti, Zo, and Gri turned 1 on February 19^th. It was a fun celebration! They even had balloons because they love them very much! J

In addition to the birthday cake, I wanted to bake them some treats because there’s no day without treats for us. Here’s how you can make them, too!

Use

125g organic wheat flour

3g sea salt

65g buffalo yoghurt

1 medium egg

3 tbsp of shredded Grana Padano

Mix the flour, the sea salt, the buffalo yoghurt, and the egg. Shred 3 tablespoons of Grana Padano. Then, knead until you get a compact dough.

Leave it for 30 minutes in the fridge. Then, take it out and roll it out (thickness: 2mm); cut out the treats (I received a kitten cutter at Christmas and I was happy to use it). You’ll get 12-15 treats depending on the cutter you choose.

Bake them at 180⁰C in the preheated oven for 10 minutes on baking parchment, in a large baking pan.

When they cooled, the girls went crazy with them.

They were a success!

You can keep the remaining treats in a sealed bag for 2-3 days (my cats and kittens ate them all).

Makes 4 pancakes (Φ 14 cm)

1 banana

1 egg

120g yoghurt

65g flour

4g baking powder

5g vanilla sugar

+ butter à pan

+ hazelnut spread à serving  

At times, we are craving a filling and fast breakfast. These pancakes can be a successful candidate to this end.

How to make them?

Mash the banana, add the entire egg, the yoghurt (I used buffalo yoghurt), the flour, the baking powder, and the vanilla sugar. Mix well.

Butter the pan and let it heat up. Spread a big ladle of batter onto the entire surface of the pan (thickness: 2-3 mm); flip the pancake only when you see bubbles form. (Be careful – banana pancakes have a different texture than regular pancakes; it is more difficult to work with them and are stickier.)

Serve them warm with a hazelnut spread. Not even our cats were indifferent.

What to use for 7 waffles?

130g flour

3g baking powder

200ml milk

3g salt

30g (melted and cooled) butter

2 tbsp of pumpkin seed butter

How to make them?

Have your waffle-making device ready.

Mix all the ingredients. Transfer the batter to the waffle-making device by using a ladle. Be careful! The batter will be very elastic. You can place a ball of batter in the middle of the waffle mould – it will spread when heated.

These waffles are very filling. They can even be used as ’bread slices’ or eaten with vegetables and cheese. 

🧇 

130g flour

3g baking powder

150ml sparkling water

50g vegan sour cream

3g salt

30g (melted and cooled) butter or vegan butter

I wanted to try another version of the waffles because I was out of milk, so I used vegan sour cream and sparkling water; keep the remaining ingredients unchanged. Of course, you can use vegan butter instead of the butter.

I didn’t manage to wish ’Happy New Year!’ to you yesterday, but I am doing it now! Have sweetness in your life during the entire year! ♥

We all have many desserts in our homes during this time of the year. When they finish, if you have a waffle-making device – I received one from my Dad on my birthday – and you’re searching for a light dessert, here’s a great recipe. You won’t need too many ingredients—

(for 7 waffles)

130g flour

3g baking powder

200ml milk

5g vanilla sugar

2 tbsp of sugar

30g (melted and cooled) butter

+ 150g whipping cream

15g sugar

blueberries (or any other fruits preferred by you)

Mix all the ingredients.

Transfer parts of the batter to the waffle-making device by using a ladle.  

Mix the whipping cream and the sugar.

Serve the waffles with whipped cream and blueberries – you will be happy like a child! 

🧇 

For a lighter version of the waffles, here are the ingredients I came up with—

130g flour

3g baking powder

150ml sparkling water

50g vegan sour cream

5g vanilla sugar

30g (melted and cooled) butter or vegan butter

You can have your sweet waffles with a hazelnut spread and pear slices.

Here’s a recipe right before Christmas, if you’ve not already baked everything. My dear Cristina gave it to me – and I thank her!

I only adapted it a bit; I can say that it was successful. I’ll also prepare it for Christmas Eve.

This is what you’ll need J for 28-30 sărăţele (or a large baking pan)—

125g sour cream

75g (melted and cooled) butter

6g salt

4g yeast

200g flour

+ 1 egg

+ shredded cheese

+ caraway seeds

How to make them?

Mix the sour cream, the butter, and the salt; then, add the yeast and the flour, being careful not to deactivate the yeast by placing it into contact with the salt.

Knead until you get a compact dough. Cover it and let it sit for one hour. It won’t rise much, but it will get more tender.

Split the dough into four equal pieces to make your job easier. Using a cutting roll, cut the sărăţele and place them into a large baking pan, on baking parchment.

After brushing the egg onto the sărăţele, you can leave them as such (plain) or sprinkle shredded cheese and/or caraway seeds onto them.

How to bake them?

Place the baking pan for 10-13 minutes in the preheated oven at 200⁰C, depending on how crunchy you want them to turn out. I like them fluffier.

They won’t last long, but they will bring smiles along!

Merry Christmas, with joy! ♥

P.S. I’ve lately been using only sour cream (200g) for a portion of sărăţele. The result is fluffier.

For a vegan version of the sărăţele, use the following ingredients for half of a portion (14-15 sărăţele):

80ml Yaygurt

3g salt

2g yeast

120g flour

Make them as shown above. Serve them warm!