1. Gingerbread Cake

 

Ingredients:

For dough:

• 2 ¾ cups of flour

• 1 package of baking powder (2 teaspoons)

• 6 large eggs

• 4 tablespoons of caramel (made of 3-4 tablespoons of sugar)

• ¾ cup of natural raw honey

• 1/2 cup of sugar

• 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

• 2 teaspoons of freshly ground spices: clovers, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ground ginger.

• Chopped walnuts, raisins, candied orange peels cut into small pieces.  

• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter for greasing the form 

• Unflavored breadcrumbs for sprinkling the form

For cake moistening:

• 1 cup of water

• 1 tablespoon of rum

• 2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed orange juice

For cream filling:

As for chocolate filling in Special II, Recipe 7: Chocolate Roulade Cake

Note: No hazelnuts are used in this recipe

• 227 g (16 tablespoons) of unsalted butter

• 2 egg yolks

• ½ cup of heavy whipping cream

• Vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

• 3 tablespoons of good quality cocoa

• 2 teaspoons of rum (optional)

• A few drops of rum flavor

• 4 tablespoons of plum butter (optional)

 

Preparation:

Step 1: Caramel

Place a small frying pan on high heat until the pan gets very hot. Put 3-4 tablespoons of sugar and mix until the sugar is completely melted and brown.

 

Then carefully pour ½ cup of water into the pan. Be careful because the liquid is very hot and will start steaming rapidly. Take the pan off the heat, stir the liquid, and let it cool down.

 

Step 2: Remaining Ingredients

Take 5-6 cloves, 5-6 grains of allspice, and grind in a mortar bowl. Add ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

Prepare honey by warming it a little bit until it turns into liquid but do not heat it. 

 

Step 3: Dough 

Separate yolks from whites. Set the whites aside. In a mixer, whip yolks with sugar and vanilla sugar until white. Slowly add honey and caramel. Add spices, walnuts, raisins, and orange peels. In a separate bowl mix flour with baking powder. Whip whites until stiff. Fold flour and whites carefully with a spatula into the yolk mixture.

Transfer the dough to one larger rectangular pan (approximately 12” x 8” x 2") or two smaller ones (approximately 9.5" x 5.5" x 2.5" each). Bake in oven preheated to 350°F. Place the pan on the middle rack for 40-45 min.

 

Step 4: Filling

Prepare filling according to Special II, Recipe 7: Chocolate Roulade Cake

 

Step 5: Finishing and Decoration

Once the cake is cool, cut it alongside in half. Moisten the bottom half of the cake and spread plum butter on it. Smooth the layer of plum butter and put the chocolate filling on top of it. Leave 1/3 of the chocolate filling for decoration. Moisten the top half of the cake and put it on the bottom half. Spread a thin layer of chocolate cream on the top and the sides. Decorate with walnuts, raisins, and pieces of orange peel. Gingerbread is a traditional European cake served on Christmas.

 

2. Poppy Seed Roll cake 

 

Note: You need two narrow long baking forms, approximately 14”x 4.5”x 3". This recipe is for two cakes.

 

Ingredients:

For dough:

• 60g of fresh yeast (4 ½ cubes) or 30 g of dry yeast if fresh unavailable

• 4 ½ cups of flour (750g)

• 4 large eggs

• 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract 

• ¾ cup of sugar

• 1 cup of milk

• 150 g (10.5 tablespoon) of unsalted butter 

• 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter for greasing pans

 

For filling:

Note: You need to start preparation 2 days before baking.

• 1 lb. (1/2 kg) of poppy seeds

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup of sugar

• 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

• A few drops of almond flavor extract

• 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter

• 3 teaspoons of orange candied peels (optional)

• ¼ cup of raisins

• 1-2 tablespoons of chopped almonds

 

Preparation:

Step 1: Filling (start 2 days before baking)

Put poppy seeds in a large pot and pour boiling water to cover them well. Let them soak overnight.

Heat up the soaked poppy seeds until they start boiling. Take the pot off the heat and let it cool down. Spread a linen or cotton towel over a colander. Pour the poppy seeds into the colander and strain them. Let the seeds remain in the colander for a while to make sure that the water is well drained. Grind poppy seeds in a meat grinder twice. You can also use a mortar dish for grinding. In a big wide pot, melt butter and add ground poppy seeds. Heat up the butter and poppy seed mixture, mixing frequently. Add sugar, flavors, raisins, almonds, and orange peel pieces. Cool down the poppy seed mass a little bit. Add two whole eggs and mix them well into the mass.

 

Step 2: Dough Mixing

Put flour into a large bowl. Warm up milk (it should not be hot, just lukewarm). Melt butter on low heat and keep it warm until you start using it. In a mug, mix yeast with a teaspoon of sugar and two tablespoons of warm milk. Mix yeast, sugar, and milk well and put the mug in a warm place. After a while, the yeast will start rising. Yeast is ready for use when its volume is doubled.

 

In a mixer, whip yolks with sugar and vanilla sugar. Save egg whites for later. Once the yeast is ready, make a little dip in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast into it. Let it rest for a few minutes. Then top the yeast with three or four tablespoons of flour (taken from the bowl) and gently mix flour into the yeast. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes. Then add yolks, milk, and butter. Mix well with a spatula until you obtain a firm ball. Then transfer the dough to a wooden board, sprinkled with a thin layer of flour, and knead for a few minutes. You can add a little bit of flour if the dough is too soft. If the dough is too thick, you can add a little bit of warm milk. When the dough is uniform and shiny, put it back into the bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Put the bowl in a warm place and let it rest there for an hour. The volume of the dough should double.

 

Step 3: Dough Forming

Cut the dough in half. Roll out the first half of the dough on a wooden board, sprinkled with a thin layer of flour, into a rectangular shape. The length of the cake should be approximately 2"-3” longer than the length of the form (around 16"-17" long). The cake width should be approximately equal to 11"-12" and its thickness around 2/8”-3/8”.

 

Spread a thin layer of egg whites with a brush (egg whites should be slightly whipped with a fork, so that you can work with them more easily). Spread one half of the poppy seed filling on the dough. Smooth out into an even layer, leaving 1” of free space around the surface. Spread another thin layer of egg whites on top of the poppy seed mass. Roll up the cake and close the ends and the edge across by sealing them tightly with your fingers. Pierce the top and sides with a fork in a few places. Place the roll in a form greased with butter and sprinkled with flour.

 

Prepare the second roll from the remaining half of the dough. Leave the prepared rolls for half an hour in a warm place. Whip one whole egg with a fork and spread thinly with a brush on top of the cake.

 

Put the cakes in a cold oven on the middle rack. Turn the heat on to 350°F and bake the cakes for approximately 50 min until golden brown. You can check if they are ready by piercing the top with a wooden skewer. The skewer should be dry when the cake is ready. 

 

​Note: If you have a top heating element in your oven, cover it loosely with aluminum foil. This is to protect the top of the cake from burning.

 

3. European Fruitcake

 

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups of flour

• 1 cup of powdered sugar

• 10.5 (150 g) tablespoons of unsalted butter 

• 1 package (2 teaspoons) of baking powder

• 5 large eggs

• 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract 

• 3½ cups of finely chopped dried fruit: one half of the portion should be hard dried fruit, such as: hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachio and another half should be soft dried fruit, such as: cranberries, apricot, prunes, raisins, dates, figs, and candied orange peel.

• 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter for pan greasing

• Unflavored breadcrumbs for or pan sprinkling

 

Preparation:

Step 1: Initial Steps 

Wash and chop fruit it into fine pieces, leave the raisins and cranberries whole. In a separate bowl, mix flour with baking powder. Prepare a rectangular pan of approximately 9”x5.5”x3” by greasing it with unsalted butter and sprinkling with a thin layer of breadcrumbs. 

 

Step 2: Dough Mixing

In a mixer, whip soft (at room temperature) butter with sugar and vanilla sugar. Then add slowly, one by one, a whole egg and continue whipping until the mass is well mixed. Add dried fruit and flour. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan. Bake in an oven preheated to 350°F. Put the cake on the middle shelf for about 35 minutes until golden brown. Let the cake cool down a little bit and take out from the baking pan. You can sprinkle the cakse with powdered sugar once it is completely cool.

 

This cake is very different from a traditional American fruitcake. You will be nicely surprised by its taste.

 

4. Chestnut Log

 

Ingredients:

For the log:

• 200 g of semisweet chocolate

• 200 g (14 tablespoons) of unsalted butter

• 4 - 5 tablespoons of water

• 2 lbs. of cooked peeled chestnuts (available at Trader Joe’s or other special stores)

• 2 large egg yolks

• 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

• A few drops of rum flavor

• 1 shot of dark rum

• 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

For the decoration:

• 100 g of chocolate

• 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar

• 2 teaspoons of water

• 1 teaspoon of rum

• 1 teaspoon of butter    

 

Preparation:

Step 1: 

Grind the chestnuts or chop them finely. Melt the chocolate over very low heat. In a small pot, first put 4 -5 tablespoons of water and then chocolate broken into pieces. Stir chocolate continuously until turns into a uniform mass.

 

Step 2:

In a mixer, whip butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, and yolks. Add ground chestnuts, melted chocolate, rum flavor, and rum. Mix until the mass is uniform. Transfer the mass onto a large piece of aluminum foil and form it into a shape of a log. Wrap the foil around the log and put it in the refrigerator. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

 

Step 3: Finishing and Decoration

Take the log out from the refrigerator and put it on a flat surface. Reshape if needed. Prepare chocolate decoration by melting all the ingredients on very low heat until smooth and uniform. Let the chocolate cool down until it starts thickening. Spread the chocolate over the log and let it settle. Make marks with a fork on the log to imitate a pattern of bark. Dip the fork in lukewarm water. You can decorate with a little piece of holly or a small branch of red current. You can also sprinkle with powdered sugar. Once again, use your imagination and be creative.

 

 

5. Apple Strudel

 

Ingredients:

For dough:

• 2 ½ to 3 cups of flour

• 1 large egg yolk

• 1 tablespoon of melted butter

• 1 tablespoon of neutral oil (olive oil of neutral flavor or sunflower oil)

• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

• ¼ teaspoon of salt

• ¾ cup of warm water

• ¼ cup of melted butter for greasing the pan and brushing the cake

For filling:  

• 5 medium size apples (Granny Smith or other tart apples)

• 1/2 cup of brown sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

• 3/4 cup of raisins

• 1/2 cup of dark rum for soaking raisins

• ½ cup of chopped walnuts

• ½ package of vanilla sugar (4g/0.14 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

• Juice and grated lemon zest from ½ of a medium size lemon

• 10 tablespoons of firm unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter to be melted

• 3/4 cup of unflavored breadcrumbs

 

Note: You need to prepare a large flat working area, such as a table covered with a plastic tablecloth. You also need a large white linen towel or cloth (approximately 4 feet x 4 feet). 

 

Preparation:

Step 1: Apple Filling 

- Melt butter and put away half of it for later.

- Use the other half of the melted butter to sauté breadcrumbs until golden brown. Put the breadcrumbs away for later.

 

- Soak raisins in dark rum for about one hour. Peel and slice apples in about 3/8” slices.  Add lemon juice, grated lemon zest, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla sugar, and chopped walnuts. Drain raisins and add them to the apple filling. Add half of the sautéed breadcrumbs and firm butter cut into small pieces.  Mix everything gently and put the mixture away. The mixture will release juices after a while, so it is important to drain it before use. 

 

Step 3: Dough

In a large bowl, put flour, yolk, melted butter, vinegar, oil, salt, and warm water. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until you make a firm ball. Then knead the dough until it is uniform and does not adhere to the hand. Transfer the dough on a wooden board and continue kneading. It is good to lift and throw the dough on the board multiple times. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and put it away for an hour.

 

Step 4: Forming Strudel

It is important to have a large working area for forming the strudel. The best place is a table covered with a plastic tablecloth or sheet for protection. Then cover the area with a linen tablecloth or towel of approximately 4' x 4'. Sprinkle the towel with a thin layer of flour. Place the dough on the linen towel and roll it out into a very thin, large rectangle. The dough has to be very thin and almost transparent. This is very important!

 

The dough should be elastic, so you can stretch and pull it. Shape a rectangle of approximately 3 ½' x 2 ½' . Cut off all uneven thick edges to obtain a nice rectangular shape. Leave the dough resting on the table for a few minutes. Place the apple filling along the longer edge of the dough and form into a log. Brush the rest of the dough with melted butter and sprinkle it with the remaining breadcrumbs.

 

Roll the dough into a long roll using the tablecloth to lift the dough. Seal the edges well and transfer it to a form covered with parchment paper brushed with melted butter. Place the roll seam side down in the form of a horseshoe. Brush the top surface of the strudel with the remaining melted butter. Bake it in an oven preheated to 350°F for about 40 min until golden brown. Place it on the middle rack. After cooling, sprinkle the strudel with powdered sugar or serve with vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream.  You can serve it warm. It is delicious!

 

 

6. Gypsy Mazurka Cake (Traditional for Easter)

 

Ingredients:

For dough:

· 5 large eggs yolks

· ¾ cup of sugar

· 100 g of flour

· 1 package of vanilla sugar (8g/0.28 oz.) or a few drops of vanilla flavor extract

· 1 ½ chopped cup of nuts: hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, and almonds.

· 1½ of chopped dates, figs, dried apricots, prunes, whole raisins and candied orange peels.

· Parchment paper

For chocolate cover:

· 150 g of dark semisweet chocolate

· 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar

· 2 teaspoons of water

· 1 teaspoon of dark rum

· 1 teaspoon of unsalted butter

 

Preparation:

Step 1:

Prepare a 12”x 8” x 2" rectangular baking pan by lining it with parchment paper that fits the bottom and sides well.

 

Step 2:

Toast chopped nuts in an oven preheated to 350°F just for a few minutes until they start turning lightly golden. You can skip this step but toasted nuts have a better taste and flavor. Mix the nuts with the remaining chopped dried fruit. The exact amount of each fruit is not important and depends on your taste.

 

Step 3:

Whip egg yolks with sugar and vanilla sugar in a mixer until white. Add the dried fruit. In a separate bowl, whip egg whites in a mixer until stiff.

 

Step 4:

Gently fold the whipped whites and flour into the egg and fruit mixture. Spread the mixture in a form, lined with parchment paper, and smooth it. Bake it in an oven preheated to 350°F. Put it on the middle rack and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Remove the cake from the form by carefully turning it over on a flat wooden board. Gently remove the parchment paper from the top. Let the cake cool down.

 

Step 5: Decoration

In a small pot, place all the ingredients for chocolate decoration and melt them on very low heat, mixing continuously until smooth and shiny. Let the mass cool down until it becomes thick. Spread the mass evenly on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with almonds, candied orange peel, or any other fruit used for baking the cake. Put the cake in the refrigerator until the chocolate solidifies.