Banoffee Pie is one of the easiest dessert you can make. To cook this heavenly delicious treat you will  need to sacrifice only 25 minutes of your time. I think it’s a pretty good deal for a dessert, that nobody can resist.

Banoffee Pie

By voloshyna, March 18, 2014

• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• For the base: -
• melted butter - 4 oz
• graham cracker crumbs - 1 1/2 cups
• For the caramel: -
• butter - 4 oz
• dark brown sugar - 1/2 cup
• sweetened condensed milk - 1 can (14 oz)
• For the filling: -
• big ripe bananas - 2, sliced
• heavy whipping cream - 2 cups
• vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
• confectioners sugar - 3 tablespoons, or to taste
• dark chocolate - 1/3 cup, grated

Instructions:

Mix graham cracker and melted butter until well blended . Press mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Cool in refrigerator.  Melt the butter and sugar into a non-stick saucepan over a low heat, stirring all the time until the sugar has dissolved. Add the condensed milk and bring to a rapid boil for about a minute, stirring all the time for a thick golden . Spread the caramel over the base, cool and then chill for about 1-2 hours. Meanwhile whip the heavy cream with the vanilla extract and confectioners sugar, until soft peaks. Place sliced bananas over toffee. Topped with a whipped cream. Finish with the grated chocolate. Refrigerate before serving.

Growing up in Ukraine, one of my absolutely favorite dishes were my grandma’s incredible crepes. Oh, that was really something. Just imagine a huge plate with a mountain of fresh and hot crepes thin as silk, with a jar of homemade apricot jam standing nearby and a cup of hot, aromatic black tea. These are the memories I will tell my children about. I can still feel the taste and smell of those crepes, like it was only yesterday!

Probably that is why I love crepes so much and it was one of the first dishes I learned to cook. When I lived in Ukraine I’d tasted hundreds types of crepes, sweet and savory, with honey, jam, mushrooms and caviar. Some of them where thin and flawless, some thick and lush, but I love all of them and cannot give my heart to any particular recipe. These memories gave me an inspiration to search for even more interesting, rustic and traditional crepes and blinis recipes. They are an integral part of our Ukrainian culture and now I want to be close to it like never before.

I’ve decided to start with a pretty basic crepes recipe my mother taught me. I think every crepe lover should know it, because with this classic recipe you can create countless numbers of different variations. But this is just a beginning, I’ve already found a couple of rare old cook books from Ukraine and USSR, with some wonderful recipes I’m willing to try. Hope all you fellows will support me in my small culinary adventure! 

Basic French Crepes Recipe

By voloshyna, March 6, 2014

• Total Time: 01h 50min
• Prep Time: 01h 10min
• Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• milk - 1 cup
• water - 1 cup
• eggs - 3
• salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• sugar - 2 tablespoons
• all-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
• melted butter - 3 tablespoons

Instructions:

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. In a bog bowl whip the eggs until blend, mix in the milk and water. Beat in flour mixture until smooth; stir in the 3 tablespoons melted butter. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or better overnight. Gently stir the batter if separates. Heat a crepe pan over medium-high heat until really hot. Cover with a thin layer of butter and pour a small amount of batter. Rotate the pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Cook over moderate heat until lightly browned on the edges, about 1 minute. Loosen the edges with a spatula and flip over the crepe. Cook on the other side for15-20 seconds. Transfer the crepe on a platter . Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve hot.

My last recipe for the Chinet Baking Series. This Lemon Sheet Cake will be a perfect dessert for Veterans Day, everybody will definitely like the weightless cream frosting!

Lemon Rum Sheet Cake

By voloshyna, November 1, 2013

Ingredients:

• For the cake: -
• all-purpose flour - 2 cups
• freshly grated lemon zest - 2 tablespoons
• baking powder - 1 teaspoon
• salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• sugar - 1 1/2 cups
• melted butter - 1 cup
• water - 1 cup
• Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
• eggs - 1, lightly beatten
• vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon
• heavy whipping cream - 3/4 cup, cold
• For the syrup: -
• water - 1/2 cup
• caster sugar - 6 tablespoons
• lemon juice - 3 tablespoons
• rum - 1 tablespoon
• For the frosting: -
• cream cheese - 8 oz, room temperature
• mascarpone cheese - 4 oz, room temperature
• confectioners sugar - 3/4 cup
• lemon juice - 2 teaspoons

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl mix the flour, lemon zest, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add melted butter and beat with a hand mixer until smooth.  Add in the eggs, water, yogurt and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Spread the mixture into a greased 11-in. x 13-in. baking pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup, by boiling the water and the sugar together, then add the lemon juice. Boil for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Let to cool and mix with a rum. Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle with the syrup. Leave to cool. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, lemon juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Stir in the whipped cream. Spread the frosting over the cake. Store in the refrigerator.

Very exotic pancakes recipe from Camille Le Fall. Your new must try recipe=)

Gones banana pancakes

By voloshyna, March 19, 2013

• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• all-purpose flour - 1 cup, packed
• baking powder - 1 tsp
• vanilla sugar or superfine sugar with a drop of vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• brown sugar - 1-2 tbsp or to taste
• egg - 1
• milk - 7 tablespoons
• coconut milk - 3/4 cup
• rum - 2 tsp
• melted butter - 2 tbsp
• bananas - 2 small
• Nutella - 7-8 tbsp
• grated coconut -

Instructions:

Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter and coconut milk. Stir in the rum.  Pour the liquid into the flour and beat until the batter is smooth.  Leave to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Peel bananas and slice into rounds. Cook the pancakes over medium heat, and as soon as the underside begins to brown, turn it with a spatula. Continue cooking until the other side is cooked and no longer sticks to the pan. Transfer the pancake on a plate. Cover with a layer of Nutella and sliced bananas, sprinkle with grated coconut. Serve immediately.

Savarin some kind of rum baba – moist yeast dessert, saturated in sweet syrup or light alcohol. I found this recipe in one Ukrainian culinary magazine, in this variation savarins saturated in a ginger and lemon syrup, topped with whipped cream, different fruits and berries. Every bite of this small cakes is like a pice of heaven!

Ginger & Lemon Syrup Savarins

By voloshyna, December 25, 2012

Ingredients:

• For the batter: -
• bread flour - 1 cup
• salt - 1/4 tbsp
• sugar - 2 tbsp
• dry yeast - 1 tsp
• lemon zest - 1 tbsp
• eggs - 2
• melted butter - 1/4 cup
• warm milk - 3 tbsp
• For the syrup: -
• water - 3/4 cup
• lemon juice - squeezed from 1 lemon
• granulated sugar - 1 cup
• finely chopped ginger - 1 tsp
• For the topping: -
• heavy whipping cream - 1 1/4 cup
• vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• confectioners sugar - to taste
• berries and fruits - of your choice

Instructions:

Mix the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Mix the milk, melted butter and eggs, then pour in and beat well to make a thick, sticky batter. from this amount of batter you can get 1 big savarin or 4-6 small, depends on sizes of your molds. Fill the savarin molds 1/2  with a batter; cover with a towel and leave in a warm place for 30-45 minutes or until it's doubled. Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake the savarins for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Let them cool in their rings 3-4 min, then turn them out. To prepare the syrup, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Dip the savarins in the syrup then place them in a rectangular pan and drizzle more syrup over them. Cover and let them soak overnight. Add more syrup the next day if they'll absorb it. When you decided to to make a filling for your savarin rings, just whip cream with a sugar and vanilla extract until stiff peaks. Filled savarins with a homemade whipped cream and top it off with fruits and berries.

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