Yeast Pancakes

  • These would be called placuszki drożdżowe in Polish.
  • They are small American style pancakes.
  • They are similar to dropped scones in the north of England.
  • They are similar to bliny but made with wheat flour.
  • They are a variation on my bliny recipe and you could use half wheat and half buckwheat flour  (I intend to try this soon).

Ingredients

  • 170g plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon of dried yeast
  • 250ml of lukewarm milk.
  • 3½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 50g of melted butter
  • 2 eggs
  • Pinch of salt
  • *
  • Little bit of sunflower oil for frying

Method

  • In a bowl mix the yeast, 1 tablespoon of  sugar and 125ml of milk.
  • Leave for around 10 minutes to froth up.
  • In a large bowl mix the flour, salt and 2½ tablespoons of sugar.
  • Mix in the eggs, 125ml of milk and the butter.
  • Add the yeast mixture and mix well.
  • Cover the bowl (a shower cap is good) and leave to rise.
  • This will depend on the room temperature – mine took 90 minutes.
  • Use a cast iron gridle pan or similar.
  • Heat the pan up and add a little sunflower oil.
  • Place large tablespoons of batter on the pan.
  • Adjust the temperature to a medium heat so not to burn them.
  • Cook on both sides.
  • Keep in a warm oven whilst making more.
  • Serve sweet or savoury

Served here with caster sugar on La prune by Jet for Ter Steege of the Netherlands.

Currant Tea Cakes

  • This recipe is a variation of Yorkshire Tea Cakes –  bułeczki.
  • These are soft bread buns with the addition of currants.
  • In Polish the word – rodzynki – is used for raisins and sultanas – ie dried grapes.
  • I do not know what word is used for currants – the dictionary gives the word   porzeczki  –  but that is used for berries such as black  or red currants.

Ingredients

  • 340g plain flour
  • ½ tablespoon of dried yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • 30g granulated sugar
  • 30g of butter
  • 220ml of milk & water mixed – lukewarm
  • 60g currants

Method

  • Mix the yeast, sugar and milk and water mixture and leave to froth up.
  • In a large bowl rub the butter into the flour.
  • Add the salt.
  • Stir in the currants.
  • Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
  • Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for an hour.
  • Grease a baking tray.
  • Divide into 6 pieces and shape into flattened circles.
  • Place the circles, evenly spaced onto the greased baking tray.
  • Cover and leave for 40 – 60 minutes
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM6 – 200°C
  • Bake for 10- 12 minutes.
  • Leave on the tray for a few minutes then put them on a wire rack to cool.

They are delicious, split, toasted and buttered.

Makaron with Pineapples

Ingredients

  • 250g cooked small sized pasta
  • 1 tin of pineapples (425g)
  • 100g of sultanas
  • 70g granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs separated
  • 50g butter

Method

  • Soak the sultanas in the juice from the pineapples for several hours.
  • Chop the pineapples into small pieces.
  • Melt the butter.
  • Grease an oven proof dish with some of the butter.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Mix the pasta with the rest of the butter.
  • Mix the sultanas and liquor with the pasta.
  • Mix in the chopped pineapples.
  • Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till pale and frothy.
  • Lightly whisk the egg whites.
  • Mix the whites with the yolk mixture and whisk again.
  • Mix the pasta mixture with the egg and sugar mixture.
  • Put the mixture into the buttered oven proof dish dish.
  • Cook for 40 -50 minutes.
  • Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Served in Royal Doulton – Carnation 1982 – 1998

Ciasteczka with currants & peel

Ciasteczka is the nearest Polish word for biscuits. It can describe small soft cakes or crisper style biscuits or cookies.

At home we always spoke about biskwity and it was only when I first went to Poland that I realised this was NOT A POLISH WORD!

The word nearest to descripting English biscuits is herbatniki – these are biscuits to have with a cup of tea (herbata).

These are often petit beurre, morning coffee or rich tea type biscuits – plain thin biscuits.

These ciasteczka are quite a bit richer – variations of these I would have enjoyed cutting out with my mother.

Ingredients

  • 240g plain flour
  • 120 butter
  • 120g granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon of baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 50g currants
  • 30g mixed peel
  • 1 egg – beaten
  • 1 tablespoon of milk – optional

Method

  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 – 180°C.
  • Grease 2 to 3 baking trays.
  • Rub the butter into the flour till it resembles breadcrumbs.
  • Stir in the rest of the dry ingredients.
  • Add enough of the egg to make a soft dough.
  • You might need some of the milk.
  • Roll out the dough to 1cm thickness.
  • Cut out circles using a 7cm circular cutter.
  • Place on the baking trays.
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes till lightly golden.
  • Leave to cool on a wire baking rack.

Yorkshire Tea Cakes

I have been looking at some old Yorkshire recipes and tried out this recipe for soft bread buns – tea cakes in Yorkshire  – bułeczki in Polish.

This recipe is so easy and the tea cakes are delicious – I think I will be using this recipe often.

Ingredients

  • 340g plain flour
  • ½ tablespoon of dried yeast
  • ¼ teaspoon of salt
  • 30g granulated sugar
  • 30g of butter
  • 220ml of milk & water mixed – lukewarm

Method

  • Mix the yeast, sugar and milk and water mixture and leave to froth up.
  • In a large bowl rub the butter into the flour.
  • Add the salt.
  • Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
  • Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for an hour.
  • Grease a baking tray.
  • Divide into 6 pieces and shape into flattened circles.
  • Place the circles, evenly spaced onto the greased baking tray.
  • Cover and leave for 30-40 minutes
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM7 – 220°C
  • Bake for 10- 11 minutes.
  • Leave on the tray for a few minutes then put them on a wire rack to cool.

Mama’s Pouring Potato Pancakes

  • My mother once said that she had made some potato pancakes from boiled potatoes with the batter being of a pouring consistency.
  • She said the mixture was a similar to  krokiety kartoflane – potato croquettes.
  • Now I never actually tried these nor attempted to make them before.
  • This recipe is the result of a several tests with different quantities.

Ingredients

  • 200g cold boiled starchy potatoes
  • 3 tablespoons of plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 200ml of milk
  • *
  • Sunflower oil and butter for frying

Method

  • Mash the potatoes so they are lump free.
  • Add the flour and salt.
  • Add the eggs and mix well.
  • Slowly add the milk , you might not need it all.
  • Mix until the batter is like double cream.
  • A Danish whisk is good for this.
  • Melt a small amount of butter and add a little oil to your pancake pan.
  • Use a ladle to measure out the batter and tip the pan to spread.
  • Turn and cook on both sides.

Served here with maple syrup – but will be good with savoury options too.

Makaron with Apples

  • This is a sweet dessert made with cooked pasta.
  • Mama would often make this dish when I was young.
  • The general word for pasta in Polish is makaron .. from the Italian macaroni or maccheroni which is thought to originate from the Greek makaria – food made from barley!
  • If you use home-made noodles or chopped tagliatelle – you could call this łazanki  with fruit.
  • Amounts of pasta and apples are not that critical.

Ingredients

  • 250g cooked small sized pasta
  • 500g cooking apples
  • 100g & 100g granulated sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 3 eggs separated
  • 50g butter

Method

  • Peel and chop the apples.
  • Partly cook them with 100g of sugar.
  • Leave then slightly chunky.
  • Add cinnamon and stir.
  • Leave to cool.
  • *
  • Melt the butter.
  • Grease an oven proof dish with some of the butter.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM4 180°C.
  • Mix the pasta with the rest of the butter.
  • Whisk the egg yolks with 100g of sugar till pale and frothy.
  • Lightly whisk the egg whites.
  • Mix the whites with the yolk mixture and whisk again.
  • Mix the buttered pasta with the egg and sugar mixture.
  • Spread out half the pasta as a layer at the bottom of the dish.
  • Put the cooked apples on top of the pasta.
  • Spread the rest of the pasta on top of the apples.
  • Cook for 40 -50 minutes.
  • Dust with icing sugar and serve.
  • *
  • Can be served hot, warm and even cold.

Plate by Johnson Brothers – Snowflake -1960-1979

 

Liver & Pineapple

  • I saw a recipe for liver with pineapples and thought that it should be good.
  • It is a variation on my simple recipe in lovely liver.
  • Use lamb, ox or pig’s liver – whichever you like best.

Ingredients

  • Around 100g of liver per person.
  • 1 or 2 onions (I like lots of onions with the liver).
  • Tinned pineapples – 1 or 2 rings per person – and the juice.
  • Italian herbs
  • 1 -2 tablespoons of plain flour
  • Butter & sunflower oil to fry
  • Salt & pepper

Method

  • It is easiest to make this using 3 pans or 2 pans and a grill.
  • Fry the onions in butter & sunflower oil till golden.
  • Thinly slice the liver.
  • Coat the liver in a mixture of flour and pepper.
  • Lightly pan fry the liver slices in a mixture of butter & sunflower oil on both sides.
  • Sprinkle on some Italian herbs.
  • Add around 150 ml of  vegetable stock (can be from a cube, concentrate or powder) … depends on the size of your pan & the juice.
  • Put the lid on the pan (a glass lid is good for this) and simmer gently for 2 -3  minutes.  (The time will depend on the thickness of the slices)
  • Heat the pineapple rings on both sides on a grill or in a frying pan.
  • Add the onions to the fried liver and mix together.
  • Season to taste.
  • Put the onions and liver into a warm shallow serving dish.
  • Place the pineapple rings on top and serve.

 

Serve with boiled potatoes, rice or noodles.

 

 

Fruity Yeast Cake

  • This started as a recipe for buns but the dough was much too soft.
  • I decided to make it as a large flat cake ( placek) instead.
  • It has turned out similar to my aunt’s recipe for  drożdżówka  a sweet cake made using yeast.
  • This yeast cake is made with spelt flour (not strong flour) and the mixture is mixed with a wooden spoon or a Danish whisk to form a soft mixture and is not kneaded.
  • As with any recipe made with yeast, timings are so unpredictable depending on many variables including the room temperature.
  • I try to bake with yeast when I am at home for most of the day with other activities to do whilst waiting for the dough to rise.

Ingredients

  • 450g spelt flour
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 100g butter
  • 180g currants
  • 40g mixed peel
  • 25g fresh yeast
  • Around 280ml of milk – warmed
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice

Method

  • In a bowl mix the flour and salt.
  • Rub in the butter till you have breadcrumbs.
  • Stir in the sugar, mixed spice, currants and mixed peel.
  • Make a well in the centre, add the yeast and enough of the warmed milk to make a soft dough.
  • Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place to rise.
  • The rise will not be very large.
  • Line a large baking tray with a rim.
  • Tip out the dough and spread it out to the edge of the tray with a spatula.
  • Cover and leave to rise for 30 to 60 minutes.
  • Pre-heat the oven to GM6 – 200°C.
  • Bake for 20 – 25  minutes.
  • Cool on a baking rack for 5 minutes.
  • Remove from the baking paper and put back on the rack to avoid it going soggy at the base.

Royal Doulton – Sonnet  tea plates – 1971 – 1998

As with most yeast cakes this is best eaten as soon as possible as it will soon go stale.

If all is not eaten on the day of baking, I cut the cake into slices and pack into a plastic container and freeze – these are then toasted and served with butter at a later date.

Sweetcorn Fritters

  • I have been making these for years but cannot remember where I got the recipe from.
  • Originally I used one small carton of natural yoghurt.
  • I now buy large pots of yoghurt and I use my 125ml measure instead.
  • I always use tinned sweetcorn but you can use frozen sweetcorn, cooked and cooled.
  • There are lots of ways to eat these – I often have then with grilled bacon and fried eggs.

Ingredients

  • 250g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 125ml of yoghurt
  • 125ml of milk – some extra might be needed.
  • 1 tin of sweetcorn (340g) – drained
  • ½ teaspoon of turmeric – optional
  • Sunflower oil to fry

Method

  • Put the flour and salt into a large bowl.
  • Make a well in the centre.
  • Add the eggs, yoghurt and milk.
  • Mix together – a Danish whisk is good for this.

  • Aim for a thick batter – add a little more milk if necessary
  • Add the sweetcorn and mix again.
  • Heat a little oil in a frying pan.
  • Drop large tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan.
  • Cook on both sides.
  • Keep warm on a plate in the oven whilst making the rest.

Variations

Add some chopped spring onions or chives to the batter or chilli flakes or chopped chilies.