Posts Tagged ‘cherry’

Every Romanian family I know has their own best recipe for a summery and refreshing cherry cake. I think this cake was my favorite while growing up, and my Grandma used to make it just perfect. The problem is that all my Grandma’s recipes were lost when she passed away, long before I started showing interest in baking. For years I’ve been longing for this cake, and also made some tries to recreate it. What can you do, the taste (and smell, for that matter) sense has a very long memory, and thank God for that!

So after trying several recipes that were close but not the real deal, until this one. This one is not only the best recipe I’ve tasted yet for the classic Romanian cherry cake, but also a great base recipe for a simple pound cake. The original recipe is my aunt’s, Suzy, the woman that cooks the closest to how my Grandma used to, and sometimes even better (but don’t you tell anyone!). Oh, the happiness on my face the first moment I’ve tasted it… A stranger (= for that matter, a non-foodie) would never understand…

The original version of this cake, however, was a bit dense and lacked a bit of moist in my opinion, so I tweaked with it a little, replacing half of the butter with oil (an ingredient that gives a great moisture to cakes) and milk. Now I think the recipe is just perfect. The cake has a very rich flavor, due to the egg yolks it contains (continue reading in the tips section how you can use the egg whites) and also due to the lemon zest and juice, that contribute their great aroma to the cake.

Some notes and tips about this cake:

* In this kind of cakes we’re looking for them to be airy and moist. From the moment flour comes in contact with fluid, the mixing action causes a gluten net to evolve, this in turn, will cause our cake’s texture to be elastic. This is definitely a texture we are looking for in yeast cakes, but certainly not in this cake. So you need to pay attention and mix the batter as little as possible.

* When you move the batter into the pan, it will be very short. No worries, it doubles its height while baking.

* Instead of cherries you can use peaches, nectarines or apricots.

* If you want to use also the 4 egg whites that are left after preparing this cake, you can prepare a foam frosting: a little before the cake has finished baking, beat the egg whites with 4-5 Tbsp sugar (I used 4.5) until soft peaks. When the cake is ready, get it out of the oven, evenly spread the foam over it, and place back into the oven for about 8 more minutes, until the foam becomes golden.
If you don’t feel like foam-frosting your cake, you can freeze the egg whites for later use. Don’t forget to mark the number of whites you are freezing and the freezing date. You can use them later for making yummy financiers or cute little meringue kisses.

* If you’re in a miniature mood, you can also make this cake as muffins. The baking time will then be about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out with moist crumbs on it.

Cherry cake / Adapted from my aunt Suzy’s recipe
For a 20X25 cm pan

Ingredients:
100 gr butter, soft
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
juice + zest from one lemon
10 grams vanillated sugar (can be replaced with 1 tsp vanilla extract)
2 cups self raising flour
350 gr cherries, pitted

Directions:
1. If you’re using canned cherries, place them in a strainer for about 1/2 hour, until the liquid drains out of them.
2. Preheat your oven to 356F (180C).
3. In a bowl place butter, oil, milk, sugar, yolks, lemon and vanillated sugar. Mix well until a uniform mixture forms.
4. Gradually add in the flour, while mixing.
5. Grease the pan, scatter some sugar on its sides (to make the crust a bit crunchy) and move the batter into the pan. The batter will be quite low, don’t worry, it’s ok, it will rise while baking.
6. Spread the cherries evenly over the batter, you can give them a little push into the batter, using your fingers. Don’t worry, this cake is strong enoough to hold the fruit on its surface, and it won’t let them fall to the bottom.
7. Bake for about 45 mins, or until a wood toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs on it.

Avi’s birthday was a week before Shavuot - a Jewish holiday during which, among others, it’s common to eat dairy products. So that’s why, in the spirit of the holiday (and because Avi really likes them) I decided to make 2 cheese cakes. The first one, the one I’ve told you about in my previous post, was supposed to be the pretty one (let’s, for a moment, ignore the fact that it didn’t come out pretty as I hoped for in the end…), and this one I made because it’s the best cheese cake there is! Seriously, it is, try for yourself and see!

I baked both cakes at my friends’ house, and I had only a very limited period of time to make them both. Since assembling the mousse cake took me longer than I expected, I didn’t have enough time to wait for this one to finish baking. What do I do? I thought to myself, worried that all the work was for nothing, and that the cake is going to be ruined. Knowing that they always say that cheesecakes are better off cooling inside the oven, I decided to take my chances and estimate how much longer it needs to be in the oven for, set the timer, and left the house. I came back after 3 hours - and was surprised to find out that the cake was just perfect. That being said, when Avi’s friends from work came to our house in the evening, I was still stressed out that it wouldn’t be as good as always - until I tasted it and relaxed All was peaceful again.

The cake has a really mild taste, and the eggs in it aren’t felt at all (something that bothers me sometimes about baked cheesecakes, the emphasized eggish taste), and the sour cherries simply complete it. It’s also very light in texture. 
Usually I make a baked crust for it, but this time, as I was short on time, I used the same base as I used with the mousse cake, it’s a wonderful base that I use regularly since I’ve discovered it, and it was great with this cake as well.
Unfortunately I didn’t get to take many photos of it since there were people here, so here are the leftovers

Cherry Cheesecake / Adapted from Hans Bertele’s recipe
For a 9 inch cake

Ingredients:
For the base:
150 gr Graham Crackers, ground
100 gr butter, melted
zest of half of a medium sized lemon

For the filling:
500 gr low fat cheese (9%)
10 Tbsp sugar
3 medium sized eggs
2 medium sized egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of half of a medium sized lemon
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
120 gr butter, melted
1 cup milk
350 gr sour cherries (fresh or canned)

Powdered sugar

Directions:
1. The white cheese in Israel is quite runny, in order to deal with that and prevent my cheesecakes from being too moist, I drain the fluids. Place the cheese on a piece of clean cloth or on an absorbent paper, and let it stay for half an hour, or until most of the liquids are out.
2. Prepare the base: mix the ingredients of the base to a uniform mixture. Spread the mixture out evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Place the pan in the freezer until finishing making the cake. Preheat the oven to 338F (170C).
3. Prepare the filling: Whisk together the cheese and sugar.
4. Whisk eggs and egg yolks together with the vanilla extract, and gradually add into the cheese mixture. Add in the flour, butter and milk and stir well.
5. Take the crust out of the freezer, spread the filling on top of it. Scatter the cherries evenly upon the filling, they will sink in a bit, and it’s ok.
6. Bake for 40 mins, or until the cake firms up and starts to get golden.
7. Let cool and powder with powdered sugar.

עוגת גבינה ודובדבנים / עיבוד למתכון של הנס ברטלה
לעוגה בקוטר 24 ס”מ:

רכיבים:
לבסיס:
150 גרם ביסקויטים, טחונים דק
100 גרם חמאה, מומסת
גרידה מחצי לימון בינוני

למלית:
500 גרם גבינה לבנה 9%
10 כפות סוכר
3 ביצים מס’ 2
2 חלמונים מס’ 2
1 כפית תמצית וניל
קליפה מגוררת מחצי לימון
1/2 כוס קמח
120 גרם חמאה מומסת
1 כוס חלב
350 גרם דובדבנים חמוצים מגולענים (משומרים או טריים)

לזריה:
אבקת סוכר

הכנה:
1. מסננים את הגבינה בתוך בד או נייר סופג למשך כחצי שעה.
2. מכינים את הבסיס: מערבבים כל חומרי הבסיס לתערובת אחידה. שוטחים בתחתית התבנית ומפזרים באופן אחיד. מכניסים למקפיא עד לסיום הכנת המלית. מחממים תנור ל - 170 מעלות.
3. מכינים את המלית: טורפים או מקציפים גבינה וסוכר במהירות נמוכה.
4. טורפים ביצים וחלמונים עם תמצית וניל וקליפת לימון, ומוסיפים בהדרגה ותוך כדי טריפה לתערובת הגבינה. מוסיפים קמח, חמאה וחלב ומערבבים היטב.
5. מוציאים את הקלתית מהמקפיא, יוצקים עליה את המלית ומפזרים את הדובדבנים. הם ישקעו חלקית בתוך המלית, וזה בסדר.
6. מחזירים לתנור ואופים כ - 40 דקות, עד שהעוגה מתייצבת ומתחילה להזהיב.
7. מצננים ומאבקים באבקת סוכר לפני ההגשה.

I’m absolutely crazy about cherries! Seriously, if you ever want to tempt me into eating something - all you have to do is give me just about anything with cherries in it, and I’m in! My Grandma used to make this heavenly cherry cake, that was surely among my top 5 favorite cakes as I grew up. It’s a traditional cake, that I think every Romanian woman has a recipe for.

A while ago I decided to try and recreate it. The person that I remember making a cake very much like my grandmother’s was Anca, a very good friend of my Mom’s. In October when she came to our wedding, I asked her for the recipe, made it, and it was fabulous, but not as moist as my Grandmother’s.

This weekend, Diana, one of my best friends, came over and we cooked dinner. For dessert I decided to make this cherry cake. I had a hard time deciding which recipe I should use this time, and finally we decided to use her Mother’s. Instead of a cake pan we made it as cute little muffins. They came out really great, eventhough they too weren’t as moist as my Grandma’s… But don’t worry, the quest continues, and I’ll post about my next try, and the one after it - until I get it just right.

Cherry Muffins / Diana’s Mom
Makes 24 small muffins or 20 bigger ones

Ingredients:
5 large eggs, at room temp.
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
350 gr sour cherries

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 356°F (180° Celsius).
2. Beat the eggs in the mixer for 2-3 mins, then add the sugar gradually and continue beating for 15-18 more mins.
3. Lower the mixer’s speed to minimum and gradually add in the oil.
4. Fold the flour into the mixture, slowly and gradually.
5. Pour the mixture into the greased muffins pans, fill each muffin hole just about 3/4 of its height.
6. Drain all the water out of the cherries (that is if you’re not using fresh ones), and place about 5-6 cherries on top of each muffin.
7. Bake for about 25 mins, or until the muffins get a beautiful golden color and a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of them comes out with moist crumbs.

מאפינס דובדבנים / אמא של דיאנה (חברתי)
עבור 24 מאפינס קטנים או 20 גדולים יותר

רכיבים:
5 ביצים גדולות, בטמפ’ החדר
1 כוס סוכר
1/2 כוס שמן
1 3/4 כוס קמח
350 גרם דובדבנים

הכנה:
1. מחממים תנור ל - 180 מעלות.
2. מקציפים את הביצים במיקסר למשך 2-3 דקות, לאחר מכן מוסיפים אליהן את הסוכר לאט לאט וממשיכים להקציף עוד כ - 15-18 דקות.
3. מנמיכים את מהירות הערבול עד למינימום, ומוסיפים לאט לאט פנימה את השמן.
4. מקפלים את הקמח לאט ובאופן הדרגתי לתוך התערובת.
5. ממלאים את תבניות המאפינס המשומנות. חשוב להקפיד למלא רק כ-3/4 מגובהו של כל שקע, כי המאפינס תופחים בתנור.
6. מסננים את כל הנוזלים שהגירו הדובדבנים (במידה ולא השתמשתם בדובדבנים טריים כמובן, אותם אין צורך לסנן מנוזלים), ומניחים על גבי כל מאפין כ - 5-6 דובדבנים.
7. אופים כ-25 דקות, או עד שהמאפינס מזהיבים וקיסם המוחדר למרכז אחד מהם יוצא עם פירורים לחים.