“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.”
Mark Kurlansky
I’m late on the Daring Bakers challenge once again, actually really late! I had no time to get to a Povitica {pronounced po-va-teet-sa}, a culinary creation that sounded like music to my ears! Inspiration came from two wonderful Daring Bakers, Renata & Finla, and I just had to make this delectable looking Croatian Walnut Sweet Yeasted Dough Bread yesterday!
The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!
Povitica is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. If there is one thing I regret almost not baking, it has to be this bread. I’m eternally glad I stopped by Renata and made a mental note that I must make some soon. Next morning I stopped by Finla, and wild horses couldn’t keep me away from the kitchen. It was time to ‘Po-va-teet-sa’!!!
Povitica, or Croatian walnut bread, is a nostalgic favorite of many Eastern Europeans and their descendants. Also known as Orehnjača (walnut bread) and Makovnjača (poppy seed bread) in Croatia, Povitica is a favorite of many other neighboring cultures. Known also as Potica in Slovenia, Orechovnik in Slovakia and Štrudla in Serbian, recipes vary from region to region and family to family. Povitica is rolled yeast bread, somewhat akin to strudel. It is typically served at special occasions, such as the holidays, birthdays and weddings. The versatility of this bread makes it perfect for morning coffee, or as a simple dessert. By some, the process of making povitica is revered as a dying art, made by long gone grandmas and aunts in the “old country.” It is said that a gift of povitica from one family to another is a symbol of respect, making it a perfect hostess gift.
Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, were passed down through generations of families. I think Jennis choice for the Daring Bakers challenge is exemplary. Not only did she share a window on one of the most delicious yeasted dough breads we have ever had, she has helped preserve an art which is slowly dying… AND the recipe is one this talented lady put together too! All plans for the day were rapidly put on the back burner, as we had bread to bake! Bubbling active yeast must be one of the most satisfying sights in the world. Once that works, I am largely assured that nothing can go wrong … so what if the kids have been home all week, so what if the dogs in her terrible doggie teens, so what if there are piles of laundry to be done…so what???Making the dough and grinding the filling was a breeze all thanks to my trusted Thermomix. I had silky smooth, brioche like dough in minutes, and ground walnuts in seconds. Nothing like it!! Rolling and stretching was slightly nerve racking because I had the kids singing for lunch. I made the bread in fast forward mode, making mistakes along the way, but this beautiful bread is so forgiving {and delicious!}Once fitted into the loaf tin somewhat poorly, I heard horrified screams from the kids. Rolled my eyes up at hub and he explained it looked like a plucked chicken stuffed into a loaf pan. Uh-oh … indeed pretty unappetizing and like a Halloween joke maybe? Into the oven, and it rose, beginning to take shape. Within the first 15 minutes, it was a beautiful sight! The house was filled with wonderful aromas of sweet bread baking. It looked and smelt wonderful {no more plucked chicken look!}This challenge was as satisfying and fun as the earlier Phyllo to Baklava DB one! For all of you who have the spirit of ‘baking adventure in you‘, I would ask you to try your hand making Povitica some day, if not some day soon. It is one of the most beautiful and delicious sweet dough breads we have ever tasted. I plan to make a savoury version soon.
“When you look at a cupcake, you’ve got to smile.”
Anne Byrn
It’s been AGES since I decorated cupcakes or made iced sugar cookies. A few days ago when the daughter was frosting cupcakes for Mr PABs birthday, I thought back of the number of times I had done this for the kids when they were young. Now my food colour bottles need the cobwebs dusted off as the kids have grown up. IMHO {which was proved wrong} they are a tad old for colourful cakes and cookies etc. These Vanilla Bean Cupcakes topped with a silky butter cream and garnished with homemade marzipan made me think again! The kids LOVED them, the lad gently told his teen sis, “Mamas’ cupcakes are better than the ones you made for Papas’ birthday!” How brave of him, knowing that she can kill with her looks in these tumultuous teenage years! The cupcakes were certainly delicious and full of deep vanilla flavour. The frosting was silky smooth too, and didn’t set hard as a rock when refrigerated {must have been the low fat cream in there!}.I made them one morning when the kids were at school, and you should have lseen their amazement, ooohs and aaaahs echoing in the living room, when I brought them out. “Oooooh PURTY“, screamed the terrible teen, and then, ‘Yum marzipan!” she exclaimed. Hmmm … food connect? Marzipan always makes her recall the cakes I made for her 9th and 12th birthday many years ago, my first trysts with marzipan {pictures from long ago}!I love working with marzipan; it’s like going back to the kindergarten days and play-dough! The last I made marzipan was for these two delicious cakes – a Cinnamon Buttercream Autumn Cake {for a Daring Bakes competition}, and Ottolenghis Carrot Walnut Cake! The recipe this time was different from my previous one; easier and with just minimal ingredients. I found it online @ Only Recipes, by Alessandra Zecchini. I added neon purple food colour to it {which might explain why these aren’t ‘deep purple’!}. Why specifically PURPLE you might wonder?A mail in my inbox the other day made me bake cupcakes. It was an invite from the Pixel Project to contribute my favourite cupcake recipe for a “Paint It Purple” Cupcake Online Recipe Gallery. The project aims at painting the internet purple and selling cupcakes for the cause to end violence against women. I salute the initiative, and it led to Pinktober being painted a little PURPLE too. The Pixel Project are a global volunteer-led non-profit working to raise awareness, funds and volunteer power for the cause to end violence against women worldwide using social media and new technologies. The “Paint It Purple” is a campaign to raise awareness and funds for the cause to end violence against women (VAW) in communities worldwide. This campaign runs from 8 Oct to 24 Nov 2011 and covers Domestic Violence Awareness Month as well as being a warm-up for International Day of Elimination of VAW (25 Nov 2011).
The annual“Paint It Purple” campaign raises awareness about Violence Against Women (VAW) by getting a global audience to “paint” the internet purple during the campaign using social media. The campaign also raises funds for The Pixel Project, our partners and participating VAW nonprofits worldwide through cupcake bake sales and “Paint It Purple” parties.
“Paint It Purple” is open to all VAW nonprofits, grassroots groups, bakeries and individuals supporting the cause to end violence against women.
India has her own initiative in this direction, The Bel Bajao campaign, translated to mean “Ring The Bell“. “Around 35 percent of Indian women suffer from physical violence at the hands of their partners while nearly 40 percent men and women think that it is sometimes or always ‘justifiable’ for a man to beat his wife (UN Women report on Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice, 2011-2012).Domestic violence is an issue that cuts across class, race, gender, ethnic communities, education, sexual orientation, religion and any other form of diversity in the society. Women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner.“
I think the more we get involved in our individual capacities, the better the chances are that violence against women will find an end. Any action, however small, is good news. Let’s join hands and make a difference. Each voice counts, and in turn gives support to those at the receiving end, paving the way for a brighter and safer tomorrow.Learn more and/or get involved.
“Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits.”
Henry David Thoreau
Cinnamon, apples, walnuts, brown sugar…these are a few of my favourite fall ingredients. Put them in together to make a Classic Spiced Apple Walnut Buttermilk Coffee Cake and you will rock October! This is just what Abby Dodge guaranteed when she put out the#baketogether recipe for October … a Classic Spiced Coffee Cake with ‘your twist‘ to the recipe.
She says, “I selected Classic Sour Cream Coffeecake for this months’ #baketogether because it is, well, a classic – one that should be in every recipe box even if yours in stashed on your computer. The flavors are traditional: cinnamon, nutmeg (I like mine freshly grated), butter, brown sugar and sour cream. The method is straight-forward and the batter can even be made with a hand-held mixer (just like my Mom used). It’s these qualities that make it such a great #baketogether recipe. This base recipe is perfect as is YET there’s literally hundreds of ways for everyone to switch things up. It’s the perfect vanilla canvas that’s just waiting for some twisting and shaking.”Coffee cakes are usually single layer cakes that may be square or rectangular like a Stollen or loaf-shaped rectangular cakes, and are are typically flavored with cinnamon, seeds, nuts, and fruits. These cakes sometimes have a crumbly or crumb topping called streusel and/or a light glaze drizzle.
I love it when I have a classic basic recipe that I can play around with, which is why I like to #baketogether each month despite the obvious lack of time I feel.Moist, delicious, packed with flavour, light, FALL, fruity … these were the thoughts that buzzed through my head as I tasted the first bite. Even though the cake is said to taste better on day 2, it tasted fab on day 1. No cake can sit there in it’s ‘whole’ shape in our home; justice has to be done to it asap!The first bite into the lads mouth…and he said, “Mmmmmm, tastes just like pumpkin pie Mama!” It’s amusing to see how he connects to food. He loved that Praline Pumpkin Pie I made exactly two years ago. Anything with similar flavours takes him back to that gorgeous pie I baked from Park Avenue Potluck CELEBRATIONS for a virtual dinner party for the ‘fight against cancer‘ with the The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.The house filled with fall aromas as the cake baked, warm cinnamon aromas wafting through lazily, a good morning that day where there were thankfully no power cuts. I substituted the sour cream in Abby recipe with half home made yogurt and half buttermilk as we don’t get sour cream locally here. The substitiution worked a charm resulting in a fabulous moist texture.Before I get to the recipe, I’d like to thank the very talented and wonderful Jennifer Bartoli {who also blogs at Chocolate Shavings} for interviewing me for an article in the National Post, Toronto, that was published today. ‘Gear up for gastronomic greatness‘ makes for an interesting read. Its about me and 2 other very talented food bloggers and our favourite kitchen tools and appliances.
“Ice cream is exquisite, too bad it’s not illegal!”
Voltaire
This very unusual and ADDICTIVE Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream would be illegal if Voltaire had his way! It is beyond exquisite … silky, velvety, deep, sensuous and nothing like I’ve made or bought before. It calls your name as you read theBible of ice creams, The Perfect Scoop, a brilliant piece of work by Monsieur Lebovitz. His style of writing is charming, humourous and addictive as are his recipes. Bookmarking seems futile as I want to try each recipe, one tempting page after another!Coffee HAD to be my first pick for several reasons, primarily because it is my ‘favouritist’ flavour of all time. I am a HUGE coffee addict with a natural affinity to anything ‘coffee‘. Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream was also my first choice since the lovely lady who sent me the book from the UK, Jehanna @ The Cooking Doctor, included a bag of her favourite coffee in the precious parcel. The book itself had me singing, the coffee sent me into high pitched sopranos. Merci Jehanna!!Must be something in the air, the change of season, cooler weather around the corner, or then this coffee cupping session by the Indian baroness of coffee … filter coffee seems to be the only thing I want to use.My journey into the cup of coffee got more exciting all thanks to this hugely talented lady! It got even more exciting thanks to The Cooking Doctor!!
I also picked this eggless ice cream recipe as it uses ingredients easily available here in India {condensed milk and low fat cream}. Heavens knows how hard we try and overcome the non availability of whipping cream here, a daily culinary battle of sorts for many of us!A recipe that says ‘low fat cream’ is music to my ears. No substituting for once, and perfect scoops guaranteed! {I made this just over a month ago, hence the ‘melting moments’ as the weather was still warm}. Now I’m Ready For Dessert!!
“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.”
Steve Jobs
It’s been a sad last week. Think apple and think Steve Jobs, a man whose vision and brilliance silently and beautifully changed the way we look at things. He brought beauty into our everyday lives, gave ‘A is for apple’ a new meaning, i-tuning our very existence.With his passing away, the world lost an icon, a genius who became an inspiration and a daily connect to millions across the world. I long to get a Mac one day to add to the rest of my i-stuff. RIP Steve Jobs … these simple Bite Sized Apple Pies are a tribute to your brilliance!Apple seems to be ruling my thoughts of late. A few days ago I received a fabulous new cookbook, a book intriguingly called ‘The Apple Lover’s Cookbook‘ by Amy Traverso. I was the lucky winner at a giveaway sponsored by Pam & Kristy @ Three Many Cooks, and Kristy was sweet enough to mail it to me from the US. Gracias!! This is a book made of ‘apple dreams‘, quite the perfect book for Fall. For me, autumn means mainly apples and the book is bursting with apple ideas. Boomarked to make are Apple Chips with Spiced Yogurt Dip, Apple Clafoutis, Squash & Apple Gratin, Oatmeal Apple Pancakes, Baked Apple Oatmeal Pudding, Buttermilk Apple Buckle, Williamsburg Wrapples, Apple Brownies, Quick Bread-and-Butter Apple Pickles, Classic Applesauce. Who would have thought there could be a book deliciously dedicated to this wonderful fruit, a fruit Amy aptly refers to as the fruit of the future.
It’s the Secret Recipe Club time of the month again, another month that threatens to get over even before it begins. The kids are home for an autumn break, the pup on the threshold of doggie terrible teens and a wedding in the family are quite an explosive and happening combination. To add to it, our entire region has been hit by unprecedented power cuts that leave us ‘powerless‘ for almost 6-8 hours a day.
The Secret Recipe Club is the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’.The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click on the link if you want to join!!
Sometimes it’s difficult to keep up, and my post is a day late even though I managed to bake these pies in 2 batches 2 days ago when I scrabbled for my assigned secret site – Mrs Happy Home Maker. With a name like that, happiness for the home maker in me was guaranteed. Since I had apple on my mind, I narrowed my search to just that. To my delight the lovely lady Crystal loves apples too! I was short on time and done in by power-cuts, so these Bite Sized Apple Pies seemed perfect! Of them Crystal says, “These apple pies come in a tiny package, but they have a BIG flavor. Only 5 ingredients & you can have them ready to gobble up in 30 minutes too, and that’s probably my favorite part. It’s like apple pie on demand.”CUTE is the word. You must look at the Happy Homemakers post as she guides you through wrapping these up as ‘mummies‘! I did a ‘roll’ up to save time as my pastry wasn’t so well behaved given the warmish weather. The filling is adapted from Williamsburg Wrapples from the Apple Lover’s Cookbook. Once baked, these pies were delicious and gone in a heartbeat; the best little bites I’ve made in a while. {I used the left over pastry trimmings to make Pinktober ribbons for a few pies}. Simpler if you have refrigerated pie crust on hand, but simple even if you decide {or have to, as in my case} make your own. An absolute joy to make, delightful as they came out of the oven, they filled the house with warm fall flavours. The pastry stayed crisp even after the bites cooled down, and were a huge hit. With a drizzle of unsweetened cream, or without, we enjoyed them loads. Must thank the very talented and fun Crystal, the face behind Mrs Happy Homemaker for these pies on demand. So glad I met you via the SRC!Crystal writes a real fun blog, full of exciting new ideas like ‘Making’ you crave Mondays’ and ‘Crazy Cooking Challenges’. She tempts you to delve deep into her blog with her energy and step by step pictures.
“Almost all words do have color and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone’s eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too”
Gladys Taber
This ones going to be a short post. Its the PINK time of the year and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t shrug Mr PABs pink birthday cake off my shoulders. The dieting diva with all her charm, asked sweetly, ” Is ‘it‘ going to be PINK again!”. I love how well the kids grasp things that are important, so we had a fast track Chocolate & Strawberry Cream Cake this year!
The pink ribbon is an internationally recognized symbol of hope and awareness in the fight against breast cancer
Life has been a race against time and I had thoughts of barely throwing together a cake for Mr Man, PINK beginning to look pretty elusive. But the PINKPlum Fro Yo post had a couple of readers connect with me over the past few years, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear them ask about a PINK cake for Mr PAB… guess the pressure was on! Dive into the freezer and it was back to simmering strawberries and balsamic vinegar in brown sugar like Speedy Gonsalez. Gosh! Why did October get here so fast, and why did his birthday have to be at the very beginning? Sigh….In the midst of this, Jamie and I discussed Octobers theme for MacTweets and we both voted for PINK there too. I was really ambitious…really! No aged whites, a new recipe and lack of time is obviously a recipe for disaster. Ambitious me also piped pink mac ribbons! Needless to say the feet speedily failed me. I used a meringue/macaron ribbon to top my cake. A dusting of sugar hid its failings, yet added to the PINK!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
Here we go … my strawberry and chocolate cake for Pinktober since the teen insisted on chocolate. Before I get to the recipe I have to tell you that she decided to bake some cupcakes for her Dad all by herself {that DOES NOT include kitchen clearing and cleaning services}, and she set to work at the same time I was trying to layer the cake. I could have wept, but was VERY brave and soldiered on!The teen made pretty cupcakes {from my blog here} and declared they were better looking and tasting than any I had ever made! Of course they were… and then she went on to dress them up with butter-cream, sprinkles, oreos … ! She really did well on her first independent bake and frosting!
