Monday, August 23, 2010

Hungary's national ( birthday ) cake 2010 - Plum Dumplings Cake

Plum dumpling cake
photo and more background of this event: here

Reading the source mentioned above, I realised that the annual national cake invention started only four years ago, in 2007. That said, the first year winning recipe, the Madártej (Floating Island) Cake remained our favourite since. In fact, it was the flavour of our wedding cake!
While Sour Cherry Cake of Pánd (winner of 2009) also featured frequently on our dessert plates :)

We got around to trying the new winning recipe today (available sinced Aug 20th). I have to admit when both of us learnt that the winning cake (announced on the 4th Aug) was Plum Dumplings Cake, we doubt that we would like the cake as neither of us liked the traditional plum dumplings. Well, we're happy to say that we would definitely eat it again!

The cake consisted of chocolate sponge filled with plum flavoured mousse. In the filling itself, you will find a plum or prune dumpling (that look quite complicated to make!) . Topping was vanilla cream and finished off with (what I think is) tempered chocolate, decorated with prune wrapped in chocolate covered marcipan.

P1180295
cake we bought at local bakery.

own reference - National cakes recipes
http://www.kedvencetel.hu/orszag_tortaja.html
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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Spicy pickled vegetables { acar }

P1180124
Whenever I have excess cauliflower I like to make this pickled salad to accompany meat dishes.
To learn about its origin, please read here .
As I intend to eat the salad on the same day that it's prepared, I didn't follow the usual process of pickling. What I did was ...

Spicy "pickled" vegetables
Ingredients :-
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Carrots
ginger
garlic
vinegar
sugar
turmeric
fish sauce
spicy Hungarian chili paste (erős pista)
sesame seeds, toasted , for sprinkling


Method
1) Blanch the cut vegetable in boiling water. Start off with carrot (longer to tender) followed by cauliflower and finally cucumber. Do not over cooked as you want a little bite to the vegetables.
Set aside to drain off excess liquid on a kitchen towel. Put aside some of the boiling water to wet the salad later.
2) Grate ginger and garlic. Heat a little oil in a pan and saute the grated ginger and garlic. Once fragrant, sprinkle a pinch of turmeric and stir a bit. Next add in the spicy Hungarian chili paste, sugar to your taste and few dashes of fish sauce (not too much , as the sauce is very salty). Set aside until assembling salad.
3) Place drained vegetable into salad bowl, splash a few dashes of vinegar, and add in the cooked spiced mixture . Coat salad evenly. Taste to check the balance of sweet and sour. If needed add the water earlier.
4) Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving

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Thursday, August 05, 2010

Chunky chips

From the masterchef australia masterclass

1) Blocking potatoes, producing rectangle of the same size to cook evenly
2) Cook potatoes in cold salted water on high heat. Bring to boil and lower to simmer til cooked
3) Place potatoes in the fridge for more than 1/2 day
4) Deep fry in peanut oil at 130°c
5) Once golden brown, remove and place on kitchen towel.

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Sunday, August 01, 2010

Basic crepes

P1180269
wow, these were really light (much lighter than the Hungarian type) and crispy on the edges. Like it a lot... definitely a keeper !

Stumbled upon recipe here

Basic Crepe

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup plain flour
  • 2 free range eggs
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil or melted butter (but in cold weather, these little globules will set hard and not do their job well)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • soft butter to grease pan

Method

  1. Pop non-stick crepe/frypan on low heat to begin warming.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, a quarter of cup of milk, salt, melted butter or oil and whisk till silky smooth. Add another half a cup of milk and whisk till nicely incorporated. The mixture should be quite watery. If you have the correct consistency, the batter will split into droplets when poured from the ladle in a slow stream. If it forms a smooth band of liquid as it is poured from the ladle, your crepes will end up too thick.
  3. Heat a 20 to 23 centimeters non-stick frypan to medium. To test, ladle a droplet of batter into the pan. If it sizzles and instantly bubbly, it’s probably a bit too hot. Just grab the pan and making sure no one is around you, madly wave it around to cool it down a tad. Return to stove, and with some paper towel smear some butter onto the entire surface of pan. Start by ladling just enough (quarter cup should be perfect) of the batter into the pan to roll and cover the surface. You have to work quickly as it should begin to cook instantly. When the crepe is perfect, it will start to crisp up on the edges. At this point lift up an edge with a butter knife and with both hands, carefully pick up the crepe to swiftly flip it over. This only has to cook for literally a second on the other side and then you can flip it onto a plate. Repeat till all mixture is cooked. You should end up with crepes that are just under two millimetres thick; any thicker and you will lose that magic silkiness, which is what a good crepe is all about. This will mean that you are either pouring too much mixture into the pan and letting the excess settle instead of pouring it out, or that your batter needs thinning with more milk.


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Monday, August 23, 2010

Hungary's national ( birthday ) cake 2010 - Plum Dumplings Cake

Plum dumpling cake
photo and more background of this event: here

Reading the source mentioned above, I realised that the annual national cake invention started only four years ago, in 2007. That said, the first year winning recipe, the Madártej (Floating Island) Cake remained our favourite since. In fact, it was the flavour of our wedding cake!
While Sour Cherry Cake of Pánd (winner of 2009) also featured frequently on our dessert plates :)

We got around to trying the new winning recipe today (available sinced Aug 20th). I have to admit when both of us learnt that the winning cake (announced on the 4th Aug) was Plum Dumplings Cake, we doubt that we would like the cake as neither of us liked the traditional plum dumplings. Well, we're happy to say that we would definitely eat it again!

The cake consisted of chocolate sponge filled with plum flavoured mousse. In the filling itself, you will find a plum or prune dumpling (that look quite complicated to make!) . Topping was vanilla cream and finished off with (what I think is) tempered chocolate, decorated with prune wrapped in chocolate covered marcipan.

P1180295
cake we bought at local bakery.

own reference - National cakes recipes
http://www.kedvencetel.hu/orszag_tortaja.html
AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Spicy pickled vegetables { acar }

P1180124
Whenever I have excess cauliflower I like to make this pickled salad to accompany meat dishes.
To learn about its origin, please read here .
As I intend to eat the salad on the same day that it's prepared, I didn't follow the usual process of pickling. What I did was ...

Spicy "pickled" vegetables
Ingredients :-
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Carrots
ginger
garlic
vinegar
sugar
turmeric
fish sauce
spicy Hungarian chili paste (erős pista)
sesame seeds, toasted , for sprinkling


Method
1) Blanch the cut vegetable in boiling water. Start off with carrot (longer to tender) followed by cauliflower and finally cucumber. Do not over cooked as you want a little bite to the vegetables.
Set aside to drain off excess liquid on a kitchen towel. Put aside some of the boiling water to wet the salad later.
2) Grate ginger and garlic. Heat a little oil in a pan and saute the grated ginger and garlic. Once fragrant, sprinkle a pinch of turmeric and stir a bit. Next add in the spicy Hungarian chili paste, sugar to your taste and few dashes of fish sauce (not too much , as the sauce is very salty). Set aside until assembling salad.
3) Place drained vegetable into salad bowl, splash a few dashes of vinegar, and add in the cooked spiced mixture . Coat salad evenly. Taste to check the balance of sweet and sour. If needed add the water earlier.
4) Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving

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Thursday, August 05, 2010

Chunky chips

From the masterchef australia masterclass

1) Blocking potatoes, producing rectangle of the same size to cook evenly
2) Cook potatoes in cold salted water on high heat. Bring to boil and lower to simmer til cooked
3) Place potatoes in the fridge for more than 1/2 day
4) Deep fry in peanut oil at 130°c
5) Once golden brown, remove and place on kitchen towel.

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Basic crepes

P1180269
wow, these were really light (much lighter than the Hungarian type) and crispy on the edges. Like it a lot... definitely a keeper !

Stumbled upon recipe here

Basic Crepe

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup plain flour
  • 2 free range eggs
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil or melted butter (but in cold weather, these little globules will set hard and not do their job well)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • soft butter to grease pan

Method

  1. Pop non-stick crepe/frypan on low heat to begin warming.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, eggs, a quarter of cup of milk, salt, melted butter or oil and whisk till silky smooth. Add another half a cup of milk and whisk till nicely incorporated. The mixture should be quite watery. If you have the correct consistency, the batter will split into droplets when poured from the ladle in a slow stream. If it forms a smooth band of liquid as it is poured from the ladle, your crepes will end up too thick.
  3. Heat a 20 to 23 centimeters non-stick frypan to medium. To test, ladle a droplet of batter into the pan. If it sizzles and instantly bubbly, it’s probably a bit too hot. Just grab the pan and making sure no one is around you, madly wave it around to cool it down a tad. Return to stove, and with some paper towel smear some butter onto the entire surface of pan. Start by ladling just enough (quarter cup should be perfect) of the batter into the pan to roll and cover the surface. You have to work quickly as it should begin to cook instantly. When the crepe is perfect, it will start to crisp up on the edges. At this point lift up an edge with a butter knife and with both hands, carefully pick up the crepe to swiftly flip it over. This only has to cook for literally a second on the other side and then you can flip it onto a plate. Repeat till all mixture is cooked. You should end up with crepes that are just under two millimetres thick; any thicker and you will lose that magic silkiness, which is what a good crepe is all about. This will mean that you are either pouring too much mixture into the pan and letting the excess settle instead of pouring it out, or that your batter needs thinning with more milk.


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