Recipe: Hungarian “Csoroge” doughnut recipe

 

Well, when I started this blog, I wanted to include plenty of Hungarian or Eastern European recipes. Sadly it`s not happening much, first of all, I dont get around to cook them much, and seconds these recipes are so well known for me, I always forget they would be more interesting for people reading this blog from outside Hungary. So now I`m putting my foot down, and yes more Hungarian recipes are coming! Yes `Im not going to be lazy about them! Hungarian cooking is delicious, and very different from what I experienced in my travels. Most of the time, the recipes are very easy, also cheap, and most of the time not vegetarian friendly. We love our lard, or just fat, fat and fat, even with bread if you wish!

And baking, we love baking, frying, not caring too much about our health and cholesterols.

So “Csoroge” “Doughnut”, I guess you are asking yourself WTF?? is “Csoroge”. Well in case you are in Hungary once, you are blinking at the menu and feeling confused, lost, and about to start to panic, just relax. Plenty of time the name of the dish represents where, from which region of Hungary its originated to. So “Csoroge”, is most likely from the historical region of “Csorog” or lets say “Hortobagyi pankaces” or “Bugaci salad” or “Vecsesi pickles”

This dish cheap, fast and easy dish, we call as a doughnut, but it`s more like a crisp to be honest. It`s perfect with all kinds of jam, my favourite at the moment is blueberry , but as soon the summer arrives, I`m getting my hands on some raspberry jam..yumm yummy!

Ingredients

• 6 Egg yolks
• 1 pinch of  Salt
• 2 spoons of sugar Sugar
• 1 spoon of brandy
• 1 spoon of  white Vinegar
• 1 cup  flour
• half a cup of  Sour cream

1. In a big bowl, mix the flour with the sour cream and the egg yolks. Create a nice and soft dough. Add the sugar, vinegar, and brandy. Mix well, and kneed until smooth. I would say for a good 10-15 minutes.

Roll the dough out, for a clean, bit floury surface, a bit thin, not thicker then your finger.

Cut diamond shapes. Make a whole in the middle, and pull a loop through the middle.

Deep fry, in plenty of oil. Serve with cinamon sugar and jam.

Enjoy!

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Recipe: deep fried Mars bars!

Well, I remember when I moved to Sydney and entered to one of Bondi`s infamous chip shops, and noticed this Mars bar treat on the menu, I wasn`t convinced. Back then, I wasn`t really adventurous. Also I wasn`t convinced after 1 year as well, I thought I try and try and try later later later… Never happened.  And I was finishing college and finishing with Australian living and thought I must try this once, this and gambling.

The fried Mars bar was surprisingly good, before I tried to imagine how it might taste, I was close,but my imaginary version wasn`t nearly as good. Let me start, the dessert doesn`t taste as bad as it sounds. Actually it`s kinda delicious. The chocolate melts well with the batter, which still holds the whole thing together, it`s almoust like a chocolate filled doughnut, but much better! Anyway, you must try!

Of course the Aussies say it`s their invention, but I’ve been noted by a few people, that it`s oridinated to Scotland, and it`s a popular part of the chip shops “healthy diet”. Wikipedia says the same thing. Anyway I never been, and the Aussies and the Scots can argue on this as much as they want.  Today it`s been tested on 30 sweet loving people, who were very satisfied.

Ingredients

4 Mars bars

150 g self raising flour

150g dry coconut

2 eggs

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

plenty oil for frying.

Keep Mars bars in fridge before frying.

Make batter, with flour, coconut, milk, egg and salt in a bowl. It needs to b a bit thicker then a pancake mix. Just like any other batter.

Heat oil.

Take mars bars out of the fridge,, (remove packaging of course..) roll into flour, then dip into batter, make sure it covers the whole bar.

Gently put it in the hot oil. It has to cover the whole bar. It fries in approx. 1 minute, so make sure don`t burn.

It it straight up, maybe with some vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!

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Recipe: Caramel and Amaretto Cupcakes recipe!

 

Now I started experimenting with cupcake frosting, and finally found a good oven at my workplace which doesn`t have a strong ventilation, so my cakes turn out to be decent nowadays.

Experimenting with the frosting is nice..not as much in colour but in taste. Adding some flavoured alcoholic drink like amaretto or triple sec, can really make some wonders. For the cakes, I found the most amazing basic vanilla cake recipe on Australias taste.com.au. The recipe is perfect, and it`s higly recommended to be used. Just follow the steps one by one!

Basic vanilla cupcake recipe ingredients by taste.com.au

200g butter, softened

• 1 3/4 cups (370g) caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 4 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups (405g) self-raising flour
• 1 cup (250ml) milk

• Butter frosting

• 200g butter, softened
• 6 cups (900g) icing sugar mixture
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk

Extras for taste: Ready made caramel topping, 3 shots of amaretto, and 4 tbs of cocoa powder!

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 24 1/3 cup (80ml) muffin pans with patty cases.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until just combined. Add the flour and milk in alternate batches and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
3. Spoon mixture evenly among the patty cases. In the middle add some caramel topping and cover with dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until very pale. Gradually add the icing sugar while beating. Add the milk and beat until well combined. Add cocoa powder and amaretto
5. Divide frosting into small bowls and colour. Use a small palette knife or round-bladed knife to spread the icing

 

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Recipe: Poppy seed cupcakes with orange/triple sec frosting.

After visiting New York, I couldn`t wait to go home and start making my own cupcakes. I had so many ideas, but lack of time to make all of them. Now when I have some time at work, I try to sneak some cakes in the oven, and try experimenting. unfortunately the oven at work isn`t really cupcake friendly. The problem is with the ventilation. First of all it`s waaaaay too hot, and the ventilation is so strong the cakes become a bit well”funny shaped” The taste is good, it just looks a bit funny, but doesn’t matter as people still like them, so im happy.

From a party I had plenty of icing leftover, it was for a cake and it`s a bit runnier then the usual butter cream frosting, so it was just good to dip the cakes in it. I was a bit worried, but they turned out just fin, and the taste was still rich and enjoyable.

Ingredients (for 24 cupcakes)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites from large eggs
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup 2% milk

• • 2 large eggs• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup ground poppy seed

Icing

250g butter

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup milk

juice of one orange

handful of orange zest

1 shot of triple sec

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar salt, shortening milk, vanilla in a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed untill combined. Add egg whites and mix untill fluffy and smooth, on high speed. Mix in the poppy seed.

Using 2 spoons, or an ice cream scoop, fill the liners, but don`t over fill, your cupcakes are going to rise. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Leave it on a wire rack to cool when ready.

Icing- Beat the butter with the icing sugar until smooth, add the milk, the juice, zest, and the triple sec.

Ice your cupcakes, and decorate them as you like!

Enjoy!

 

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New York: Billys Bakery

Billy’s Bakery

184 9th Avenue
Between 21st and 22nd Streets

Website

If you are visiting New York, and if you have this thing for cupcakes, Magnolia Bakery isn`t the only place worth visiting. In fact the city is the heaven for cupcake lovers, offering fresh delights almost on every street or corner. I found “Billy’s Bakery” in Chelsea, and the fresh cakes being frosted and decorated in the huge window just attracted me in. They were so cute, colourful, and pretty, we had o try one. Red Velvet cake is of course the favourite, the only other place beside the states was London`s “Hummingbird Bakery” where I could find them, they were delicious.

The shop in Chelsea, is tiny, but plenty to choose from. I loved the rustic interior design, Everything is so colourful, like you were in a fairy tale. Here you could also have a small look on the cake making process, to be honest I have this thing for open kitchens. Chefs, bakers etc shouldnt be hidden, this way you can bring the costumers a bit closer.

The cakes were delicious, the price usually is about 3 dollars per cake. If you are either in Chelsea or Tribeca I would recommend treating yourself with a cupcake!

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New York: Chelsea Market in words and pictures

Chelsea Market

75 9th Avenue (Between 15th and 16th streets), New York

Chelsea Market Website

Chelsea Market building New York

This enclosed shopping center and food court was once home of the famous Oreos, and is now one of the No.1 meeting point of the city’s gourmet food lovers. Naturally I had to visit it. If you want a piece of advise, you won`t have breakfast before you go there. The market has plenty to offer! From cupcakes to foccacia, from risotto to sushi, even if you are picky, you`ll want to try them all.

Chelsea market Amy`s Bakery

Gourmet food tours, should be the best way to visit the area. The tours are available on the markets website. Unfortunately I didn’t know about these, and only discovered them when we arrived to the market, they seemed fun and interesting, and surely You can try, and taste more products this way, also you can learn some insight stories about the establishments. Next time I visit I`ll surely join one of them, but not only the market`s but whole a whole Chelsea tour.

Amy`s Bakery, Lobsters place, Chelsea Market New York

2 of my favourite businesses were “Amy`s Bakery” and “Lobster`s Place”- even thou I dont` eat seafood. If you are a sushi lover I would strongly recommend to pick up 1 or 2 plates of freshly made rolls there, or just look at the making process from the window. And of course fresh lobsters and plenty other seafood is available. What I liked the most, is the presentation of different products, from all around the market, everything is so organized, colourful and creative! And most of the time, open, so you can look at the production process of several bakery, or restaurants, or pretty much anything.

Chelsea market, New York, Buon Italia

Chelsea and it`s market should be a foodies dream destination when visiting New York Ci, it`s a nice walk from Times Square for the more adventurous tourists!

 

Buon Italia, Chelsea market, New York

 

Recipe: Mango and Passionfruit cheesecake.

Now as a self-confident cheesecake-baker, which means 3 successful cakes in a row, I started to experiment. Sometimes I read the “Cheesecake Factory`s” menu as in inspiration, trying to not to look at the pictures as my heart would break. Cheesecakes are pretty much good with anything of course fruit wise, and when you know what you are doing, they are also rewarding and easy! Baking is fun, and the results are getting better and better with some practice. So when I had a few mangoes in my fridge, I thought why not? Mango cheesecake here I come!

But I thought mangoes by themself are not enough, I wanted something special, and also something sour. When in my cocktail cabinet I found an old bottle of Monin passionfruit cocktail base. The 2 fruits are just great together. If you don’t have any passionfruit, you could also try some blackberry or cranberry cordial, they work good as well!

ingredients

• 2 hand-full of plain small biscuits broken into small pieces
• 150g of melted butter
• 600g of PHILADELPHIA creme cheese:)
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe mangoes
  
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• vanilla extract
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp of sour creme
• cold whipcreme
• 1 fresh passionfruit or passionfruit pulp..like Monin.

Preheat the oven for 18cC. Mix the melted butter with the biscuit, 2 tbsp of sugar, vanilla, and juice of half a lemon in a bowl. Mix it well together, until it becomes soft. Lay it down equally on your cake base and put it in the oven for about 10 minutes.

In a bowl mix the creme cheese, with the sugar, and sour creme. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, mix it well. Whip the egg whites until it becomes a nice white foam, and fold it in the creme cheese mix carefully with a plastic spatula. Add some vanilla extract, the other half of the lemon juice and the whipped creme.

Take the biscuit base out of the oven. Lay down the fruits, and pour over the cheese mix. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let it set and cool before u take it out of the base. Serve cold!

Mango and passionfruit cheesecake

Budapest: Sugar! review

Sugar! Shop Paulay Ede street 48 District VI, Budapest

If you are hungarian or live in Hungary you must have read about this place in some fashion magazine, or design page, or watched a program on the local culinary channel. Sugar! was a big hit among Budapest cake lovers a few years ago.  Even when it was hidden a IV. district residential area, which was hard to reach by public transport. Children, and adults went crazy when they saw the places design with M&M`s filled tables and colourful pies, heart-shaped mousse and even more magical wedding and birthday cakes. Even Sarah Jessica Parker received a custom-made Sex and the City gift from them. Oh and theres the shop, from wasabi tasting lip gloss to fluffy telephones and tones of jelly belly its a crowd pleaser. No wonder they were going to open a new shop somewhere in the city center, because nobody understood why it has to be so far-far away? The reason for its first location was the actual Hortvath cake shop and patisserie, which had a very nice name among the districts residents, and the owner and founder of sugar is a lucky member of this sweet loving family.

So, now in the heart of Budapest, on Paulay E. street just a few minutes away from the Opera House, or Octogon or Andrassy street, for a bout a year now, we can enjoy the Sugar! cakes.  So if you visiting, moving, studying in this beautiful city and you like your cakes, you should really check it out! Of course there are some things ou should know before you enter and you order.

Just as everything, Sugar! isn’t too perfect as well. My problem is sometimes that in the cakes they put more effort on the design then on the actual taste. So, this why please don`t buy cupcakes there..those are horrible! But, I do recommend the pies and the cheesecakes, pretty much all of them! especially the sour-cherry and the deluxe pie, or the strawberry and banana..or you know..any of them!:) If you are in for something special try any of the milk rice combinations..my favourite is the vanilla based rice with sour strawberry topping! Most of the mousse look good, but we found them tasteless..such like the chocolate-chilli and the lavender mousse were good looking but empty inside..like a bad date! If you around maybe you can still taste some from their Tokyo collection monsters. They look so cute you don’t even want to eat them, but the treat you’ll find inside is really worth to destroy some of these blue or red japanese monsters. Of course there are shakes and lemonades, and yes, they are all fabulous. My problems with the lemonades are that there’s a bit too many things in them and not enough liquid.. so you can’t really enjoy it, not to mention when the fruit gets sucked in the straw and you can’t drink from the glass as you get hit in the face by falling mints and ice. So yes there are ways I can criticise Sugar! but there is a reason I go back from time to time. It`s good, it`s fun and tasty!