On May 16th, I am teaching a cooking class at Orange Tree Imports, that is going to be Ukrainian desserts.
We are choosing to support World Central Kitchen. I’m going to donate my teacher fee, and I think Orange Tree will donate a % of sales from the night – so even if you can’t join the class (I think it’s full!) you can come in and shop and support the cause.
You can also make a donation online at anytime using this handy “donate” button!
Here’s what we’re making:
Olia Hercules Curd Cake with Caramelized Apples
This cake is a variation on Sernyk, a cheesecake that is eaten in Poland and Ukraine. Olia’s recipe from her book Summer Kitchens, has a nice headnote story about how she came up with this version for a friend’s father’s 70th birthday. It uses ricotta, which is wetter than the cheese usually used in Ukraine.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced – between 1 1/2 and 2 cups apples
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup semolina flour, corn meal, or unbleached white flour
- 1 16-oz carton of whole milk ricotta cheese, or good quality cottage cheese
Butter an 8-inch square pan, or springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment or waxed paper. Heat the oven to 350°
Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet and add the sliced apples. Stir to coat them with butter and cook a few minutes until they are softened a bit. Sprinkle in the dark brown sugar and cook until the apples are looking a little caramelized. Cool in the pan a few minutes, then transfer to your prepared baking pan.
Whip the egg whites in a stand mixer until they are foamy, then add the 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and the first pinch of salt. Whip until you have soft peaks – they should not be too dry. Transfer the egg whites to another bowl, and cream the softened butter and light brown sugar in your mixer bowl – no need to clean it in between.
Add the egg yolks, the second pinch of salt, and the vanilla, and mix until fluffy. Add the flour, whatever type yo are using, and fold in the ricotta.
Pour the batter over the apples and bake for 30 minutes. The middle should still be jiggly.
Let cool for about 15 minutes in the baking pan, and then unmold and invert apple side up. Eat at room temperature or chilled.
Goose Feet Cookies, gusinie lapki
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s version
- 1 cup all-purpose or unbleached white flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 stick (1/2 cup; 8 tablespoons; 4 ounces) unsalted butter, very cold – even frozen
- 4 ounces farmer cheese, or homemade ricotta, or drained cottage cheese *see note
- 1 egg yolk from a large egg
- about 1 tablespoon cold water
- about 1/2 cup sugar (or cinnamon sugar) for coating the cookies
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together using your fingers or a fork.
Place a box grater in the bowl, and grate the butter into the flour mixture. Stop a few times as you grate to knock the butter out of the grater and use your fingers to coat the butter with flour, and break up any clumps.
Toss everything together and crumble in the ricotta, farmer, or cottage cheese over the flour and butter and then mix everything together with your fingers or a fork.
Mix the egg yolk and cold water together, then drizzle it over the dough, and mix with a fork. Use your hands to kind of knead the dough together in the bowl, and add just a bit more water if necessary. You want to see streaks of butter and cheese.
Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour or for up to 2 days.
When you’re ready to shape and bake the cookies, place a rack in the center of your oven and heat it to 350° . Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. It’s best to bake one pan at a time.
Put the sugar in a bowl that’s at least 3 inches wide (or you can use a plate).
Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch (thinner is better than thicker here), turning the dough over once or twice and flouring the surface as needed. The dough is very easy to roll and thins out quickly. Using an approximately 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can from the rolled-out dough. Collect the scraps and set them aside for now.
Dorie has the best instructions for shaping: “One at a time, drop a round of dough into the bowl of sugar. Fold the sugared side in half. This seems counterintuitive – your instinct is to fold the plain sides together, but you need to have a sugared half against a sugared half and so you need to lift the dough to fold it. Lay the half circle in the sugar and fold it into a quarter circle, again putting sugared side against sugared side. Dip one side of the quarter circle in sugar and place the packet on the baking sheet, sugared side up. You don’t want sugar on the bottoms of the cookies because it will burn.”
Repeat the rolling, cutting, sugaring and folding with the other disk of dough. Press the scraps from both disks together and roll, cut, sugar, and fold as many more cookies as you can. I got 31 cookies.
Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 25 to 30 minutes – they’ll be a light golden brown. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and allow the cookies to come to room temperature before serving.
Best the day they are made!
*Note I think what works best for these cookies is home made ricotta, and the good news is, it’s really easy to make! See this excellent recipe and instructions from The Kitchn. The main thing you need to do is make sure to get whole milk that is NOT ultra pasteurized. Organic Valley which is what I normally buy, is UHT. Here is south central Wisconsin we have Sassy Cow and that works great. It delicious when it’s freshly made and lemony, and still good after refrigerating.
Ukrainian Honey Cookies
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (I upped the salt from the original and it made the cookies delicious!)
- about 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy.
Add the egg and beat well.
Stir in the honey and vanilla extract.
Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl, and mix until dough comes together in a large ball.
Chilling this dough is not required. Scoop 1 tablespoon portions onto cookie sheets lined with parchment and press a pinch of nuts onto top of each cookie.
Bake at 375°for approximately 8 minutes or until lightly brown. These cookies will be soft and chewy.