Author: jadwiga49hjk

I love cooking and baking. I love trying out new recipes and currently am trying out many old favourites from my Polish cookbooks and family recipes. I am trying out many variations, often to make them easier but still delicious. I collect glass cake stands and china tableware, mainly tea plates, jugs and serving dishes, many of which I use on a daily basis. They are an eclectic mixture from the 20th & 21st century.

Apple Cake with Sultanas

  • I have a bumber crop of Bramley apples this year.
  • I know I watered the fruit trees early on in the year before we had our hosepipe ban.
  • This recipe is my Mama’s best recipe with added sultanas.
  • My father did not like this addition so it was a version she did not make.
  • It is equaly delicious.
  • *
  • I will be trying out new apple recipes this year – look out for them soon.

Apple & Sultana Filling – Ingredients

  • 5 to 6 Bramley Apples
  • Granulated Sugar to taste – keep it slightly tart
  • A little water
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 100g of sultanas
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Method

  • Make the apple filling first, even the day beforehand as it needs to be cold before you use it.
  • Peel and core the apples and cut them into thick slices or chunks.
  • Stew the apples gently with some sugar and very little water. You can make this in a saucepan on the stove or place the apples and sugar in a dish in the oven.
  • Do not add a lot of sugar at the beginning as it does not want to be too sweet, you can adjust the sweetness at the end.
  • Do not make it too much of a purée, cook so that you have some soft apples but with some harder less cooked chunks as well.
  • Leave the mixture to cool and then add the ground cinnamon. 
  • Add the sultanas and leave for at least 30 minutes so the sultanas plump up.

Cake – Ingredients

  • 300g plain flour
  • 3 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 200g butter
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk (save the white for the topping)
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and water
  • Method
  • You need a round tin with a loose base or a spring form tin or you will not be able to get the cake out.  I always use an loose base anodised aluminium tin, 22cm in diameter and 8 cm deep, which does not rust.
  • Grease the tin well.
  • Rub the butter into the flour to make fine crumbs and add the sugar and baking powder.
  • Add the egg yolk and the lemon juice and water as needed and mix together to make a soft “dough” (try not to add more flour),  handle it as little as possible.
  • Leave it to chill for about ½ an hour as this makes it easier to handle.
  • Pre heat the oven to GM5 – 190oC.
  • Take slightly more than half the dough and press it into the cake tin.
  • Spoon the apple & sultana mixture on top of this.
  • The rest of the dough will go on top of the apple & sultana mixture.
  • I use a rolling pin to make a circle that is smaller than the tin diameter and then place this on top.
  • Do not worry if the dough falls apart, just place it on with the breaks nearly touching.

Topping – Ingredients

  • 1 egg white and caster sugar
  • Slightly beat the egg white with a fork and brush this over the top of the dough.  You will not need it all.
  • Liberally sprinkle caster sugar over the egg white.
  • Bake for around 45 to 50 minutes until the top is a golden brown.
  • I tend to check the cake at 40 minutes and will cover the top with greaseproof if it starts to brown but is not yet cooked through.
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  • Leave to cool before getting the cake out of the tin.
  • Loosen the side with a spatula.
  • Use a tin can and put the cake tin on this and slide the side of the cake tin down.
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  • Do not put the cake in a air-tight covered container as the apples absorb moisture and you loose the crispness of the cake.

New Magazines

  • I am back from a trip to Poland.
  • I stayed in Głogȯw & Wrocław with one of my friends.
  • I bought a couple of food magazines to add to my collection.
  • There are several recipes I am going to try soon both savoury and sweet.
  • These include soups and serniki  – cheesecakes.
  • Look out for these in the near future.
  • I need to go out and buy some of the ingredients to get started …. 

Beetroot & Apples – 2

  • The first beetroot & apple recipe was one that contained horseradish and was usually served cold.
  • I bought some organic beetroots and steamed them but thought they did not have much flavour.
  • The Bramley apples in the garden are just becoming ripe so I decided to use these as well.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 steamed beetroots
  • 2 large Bramley apples
  • A teaspon of sugar – optional

METHOD

  • Coarse grate the beetroots.
  • Peel and core the apples and coarse grate them too.
  • Mix the two together and heat gently till the apples are cooked.
  • You might want to add a little water.
  • Check on tartness – you might want to add a little sugar.
  • Serve hot with roast meats 
  • Or cold with salads or smoked meats.

Kefirowe with Raspberries

  • I recently made a cake with raspberries on the top.
  • These tasted so good I thought I would go back to an earlier recipe with fruit and this time just use raspberries.
  • I will give the recipe again here for ease.

This cake made with kefir is lovely to make in summer or early autumn with fresh raspberries equally you can use frozen fruits later in the year.

Ingredients

  • 350g plain flour
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 175g of granulated sugar
  • 2eggs
  • 400ml of kefir*
  • 125ml of sunflower oil
  • Grated rind of 1 large orange
  • *
  • Around 300g of fresh raspberries OR
  • Frozen fruit should be part defrosted first
  • *
  • Icing sugar to dust – optional
  • *my tub of kefir was 350ml so I added 3 tablespoons of Greek style yoghurt.

Method

  • Grease and line with one piece of greaseproof a 32x22cm baking tray.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C
  • Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
  • In another bowl mix the eggs, oil, kefir and rind together.
  • Pour the kefir mixture into the dry mixture.
  • With a wooden spoon or Danish whisk mix well together until you have an even thick batter.
  • Pour the cake batter into the prepared tin.
  • Place the fruit evenly over the top
  • Bake for 40 – 45 minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the tin on a wire cake rack.
  • *
  • Dust with icing sugar to serve – optional.

Royal Doulton – Counterpoint & Duchess – Bramble Rose tea plates.

Almond & Raspberry Cake

  • I came across this recipe and thought I would give it a try.
  • The cake is easy to make as it is a batter.
  • I used fresh raspberries but I think defrosted frozen raspberries would also be fine.

INGREDIENTS

  • 125g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 75g ground almonds
  • 150g butter
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of lemon juice=1 large lemon
  • 2-3 drops of vanilla essence
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 – 200g of fresh raspberries

METHOD

  • Preheat the oven to GM4-180°C.
  • Use a 20cm square tin (one with a loose base is best).
  • Grease and line the base and 3 sides with greaseproof paper.
  • Mix the flour, baking powder and the ground almonds together.
  • *
  • In a saucepan melt the butter, sugar and lemon juice together until well combined.
  • Leave to cool a little.
  • *
  • Add the butter mixture to the dry mixture.
  • *
  • Beat the eggs with the vanilla essence.
  • Add the egg s a little at a time.
  • Mix well until you have a smooth batter.
  • Pour the batter into the tin.
  • Place the raspberries over the top.
  • *
  • Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the top is golden.
  • Cover the top with greasproof or foil near the end to prevent burning if not cooked through.
  • Leave to cool on  wire cake rack.

Duchess – Bramble Rose – tea plate

Leczo – 2

  • Having just recently come across my friend’s recipe for Leczo, I then found  another version marked in a book I bought in Poland around 10 years ago.
  • Smak Węgier (Taste of Hungary) by Robert Makłowicz.
  • This is a vegetarian version of leczo.
  • I thought I should give this a go.
  • I cut down the amounts used in half  – though Robert says he likes this served cold as well as hot.
  • In Poland many would make this for bottling.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 large onions – chopped
  • Around 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
  • 500g of yellow or red peppers – 5-6 peppers – chopped
  • 1 hot red chilli pepper – chopped
  • 500g of ripe tomatoes  – home grown are the best or
  • 3 tablespoons of tomato purée in 30ml of vegetable stock
  • 2 cloves of garlic – chopped.
  • Salt to taste

METHOD

  • Gently fry the onions and garlic in the sunflower oil without browning.
  • Add the peppers and chilli, stir and continue cooking.
  • Skin the tomatoes if using and chop these or add the tomato purée and stock.
  • Stir and cook gently for around 20 to 30 minutes, with a lid on the pan.
  • How cooked you want the vegetables is up to you.
  • Add salt to taste if needed.
  • *
  • Serve with boiled rice or
  • Eggs – gently fried or steamed above the sauce in a shallow pan.

The image from Robert’s book is titled – The getaway of the vegetarian.

Note – this tastes good cold and can be served with cold meats.

Jarosz – is an old Polish word for a vegetarian – there was no need to to invent a new word from English.

Jaroszewicz is a common surname – we had many friends with this surname.

Fruity Rice Salad

  • This salad is super on a warm day – good to be eating it outside.
  • I have served it up with cold meats, Polish sausage or roast chicken or pork.
  • It is a cold salad 

INGREDIENTS

  • Cold cooked rice
  • 1 tin of pineapples – chopped
  • 1 red skinned apple – Pink lady is good – chopped
  • 80g of raisins or sultanas
  • *
  • Mint leaves to garnish

Method

  • Drain the pineapples – keep the juice.
  • Soak the raisins in the pineapple juice for at least 20 minutes.
  • In a large bowl – mix the rice, pineapples, apples and soaked dried fruit.
  • Include all the juice from the soaked dried fruit.
  • Add a touch of ground black pepper – optional.
  • *
  • Garnish the salad with some fresh mint leaves.

 

Wedding or Celebration Cake

  • My friends are getting married next week.
  • It will be a small private wedding in the Dales.
  • They have been together for a long time and rather than give them a present I offered to make a cake.
  • A Polish wedding cake could be a tort – a layered cake.
  • But as this needed to be made ahead and last awhile – 
  • I offered to make my Mama’s never too late Christmas Cake.
  • This is more a Polish take on an English style cake.
  • I know they both like fruit cake.
  •  
  • Because it is so moist it will only keep for about 2 months.
  • I just covered it with a top layer of marzipan and bought a wooden
  • Mr & Mrs Sign – see photo below.
  •  
  •  
  • Ingredients
  • 900g mixture of currants, raisins & sultanas
  • 175g chopped mixed peel (if you have a 200g tub just use it all)
  • 175g glacé cherries cut in half (if you have a 200g tub just use it all)
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon & 1 orange
  • 1 large cooking apple, peeled and coarse grated
  • 225g fine grated carrots
  • 2 teaspoons rum
  • 110 ml strong cold tea (I used a scented one like Earl Grey)

**********

  • 350g Butter
  • 350 g soft dark brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons of black treacle
  • 6 large eggs – beaten

*************

  • 400g plain flour – sieved
  • ½ level teaspoon salt
  • 6 level teaspoons mixed spice
  • ½ level teaspoon of cinnamon
  • ½ a grated nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa  – yes cocoa! – sieved
  • 1 tablespoon ground almonds

Method

  • Put all the fruit, rinds, carrots, rum & tea into large bowl,  mix and leave for 15 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 2 – 150oC.
  • This amount made a  25cm square cake.
  • Grease and line the cake tin.
  •  
  • In another  large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, beat in the treacle and eggs.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients together & fold them in using a large metal spoon.
  • Fold in the fruit mix using a large metal spoon.
  •  
  • Put all the cake mixture into the tin to fill the shape and smooth the top.
  • Bake for around – 2 hours.
  •  
  • The above is just a  guide as it does depend on your oven – you need to check earlier.
  • Leave to cool completely in the tin.
  • Wrap in several layers of foil to store if not decorating it straight away.

Decorating the cake

  • I decided to just use marzipan to cover the top of the cake.
Marzipan
 
  • Marzipan is a paste made from ground almonds, honey or sugar & egg white.
  • It is thought that it originated in China and then came to the Middle East and from there it came to some parts of Western Europe through Spain & Portugal and to Eastern Europe from Turkey.
  • The old name in English is marchpane and the Polish is marcypan.
  • The name appears to come from Italy where it was known as panis martius or marzapane  which means March Bread – but why March Bread – I am not sure!
  • It was certainly being used in the 15th century in Europe.

Preparing the cake for marzipan

  • Brush the surface of the cake with warmed apricot jam.
  • I usually make my own marzipan but of course you can buy ready made marzipan.
  • If you are going to ice the cake as well then allow 1 week for the marzipan to harden so the nut oils do not discolour the icing (If you know it will be eaten quickly this is not really a problem).

Ingredients for 3 egg whites

  • 3 egg whites
  • 225g ground almonds
  • 120g icing sugar
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 1 -2 drops of almond essence

Method

  • In a bowl mix the ground almond, icing sugar and caster sugar.
  • Lightly beat the egg whites & add the almond essence.
  • Add the egg white mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon until you get a unified mass of marzipan.
  • You want a mixture that you can roll out – you may have to add more icing sugar to achieve this.
  • You need to dust a board with icing sugar to roll out the marzipan easily.
  • Try and get a piece that will cover the top.
  • Though I found it easier to piece it together.
  • Dust the top well with icing sugar.
  • *
  • Use a cake frill to cover the outer edges of the cake – optional 

Apricot Crumble Cake

  • I saw a recipe using tinned apricots and a crumble type mix on top.
  • I thought my Mama’s cake dough for apple cake –  jabłecznik –  for the base would be better than the one in the recipe I saw.
  • I think tinned apricots are my favourite tinned fruit.

Ingredients – Base

  • 150g  plain flour
  • 1½ teaspoons of baking powder
  • 100g butter
  • 40g granulated sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 or 2 tablespoons of lemon juice or water
  • *
  • 2 tins of apricots – drained – chop each half into four

Ingredients – Topping (kruszonka)

    • 120g plain flour – krupczatka – pastry flour – if you have it.
    • 60g butter
    • 40g granulated sugar

Method – Base

  • You have to use a loose bottom or spring-form tin or you will not be able to get the cake out.
  • I use a loose bottomed anodised aluminium cake tin which is 22cm in diameter and 8cm deep.
  • Grease the tin well.
  • First make the cake base by rubbing the butter into the flour to make crumbs, then stir in the sugar.
  • Add the baking powder and stir.
  • Add the yolk and lemon juice and bring the ingredients together to form a soft dough – do not handle the dough too much.
  • Cover and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  • *
  • Pre heat the oven to GM 4 – 180ºC.
  • Make the dough into a rough flat circle and press it into the base of the tin.
  • Cover the dough with the chopped apricots.

Method – Topping

    • Make the topping by rubbing the butter into the flour to make crumbs and then stir in the sugar.
    • *
    • Sprinkle the topping crumbs over the apricots.
    • Bake in the oven for around  65 – 70 minutes.
    • Leave to cool in the tin.
    • Use a long metal spatula to ease the cake from the side of the tin, then place the cake onto the top of a tin can and slide the side down.

Duchess – Bramble Rose tea plate

Leczo

  • My Polish friend came round and talked about a sauce she had made the night before.
  • I had never heard of it!
  • Maybe it is more popular in different parts of Poland?
  • I did a bit of reseach – it was not in my “Polish Bible”.
  • But I now know it is comes from a sauce that is is popular in Hungary.
  • So of course you can expect red peppers.
  • The following is the recipe from my friend.
  • I will look at some different versions later.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 red peppers – chopped (yellow or orange – depending on availability).
  • 2 onions – chopped
  • 2 courgettes – chopped
  • 250g Polish sausage eg Silesian – chopped
  • 2 large tomatoes – chopped or 2 tablespoons of tomato purée
  • Sunflower oil for frying
  • A little vegetable stock.
  • Salt & pepper to taste (might not be needed)
  • *
  • 2 cloves garlic – chopped fine
  • 1 teaspoon hot paprika or chilli flakes

METHOD

  • Chop all the ingredients into cubes.
  • Use a large saucepan and add a little oil.
  • Lightly fry the onions.
  • Add the peppers, mix together and carry on frying on a low heat.
  • Add the courgettes and repeat.
  • You might need to add a little stock – do not let it boil dry.
  • Add the sausage, mix and add a little stock.
  • Add the tomatoes or the tomato purée and more stock.
  • With a lid on, simmer gently for around 20 minutes adding stock when needed.
  • Checking and stirring during this time.
  • Season to taste.
  • * 
  • Add the chopped garlic, hot paprika or chilli flakes before serving.

Usually served with pasta or rice or with Polish potato pancakes (This reminds me of gulasz with potato pancakes.)

I would think of this as a more winter dish in some ways but all the vegetables are around in the late summer.

Some people bottle the vegetable part of this recipe and add the sausage at the end.