Manitou's Cake - Caramel Cake

We had an Alaskan Malamute and every time my mom made this cake Manitou was present. When she caramelized the sugar he showed up and he didn’t leave the kitchen until the cake was done. He knew that smell, he knew something good is cooking, and I think he knew the recipe J. He watched my mom making this cake, he wouldn’t leave the kitchen for a second. This was his favorite dessert, and because we don’t know the name of this cake, we named it Manitou’s cake. Now he is watching us from heaven, and every time I make this cake I know he is there with me, waiting for a little piece. I loved him with all my heart.

You can make icing for this cake, we like it with a cup of milk and this is how Manitou would like it too ;-)

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water (to stop the caramelization process)

Put sugar in a small saucepan, with tall sides, and cook over medium heat until it is dark amber.
When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water.

Whisk over medium heat, for about 10 minutes, until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky.

Set aside, let it cool.

1 cup sugar

100 g oil (I used sun flower oil)

2 cups flour

5 eggs

He is Manitou. Look at that big smile :-)
He loved to play in the snow.

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup walnuts + 1 teaspoon flour

Preheat oven at 350F.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add the sugar and the egg yolks, and mix until thick, fluffy and forms a ribbon. Add caramel syrup, flour, oil and the baking powder to the egg yolk mixture, little by little mixing well.

Beat egg whites in a separate bowl and then fold it in very gently in the mixture.

Pour it in a lined baking sheet. In a small bowl add the walnuts and 1 teaspoon of flour, and shake it well until the walnuts are coated. Shake off excess flour. This will keep the walnuts on top of the cake.

Bake it in a preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (when cooked a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean).

Note: If you want the cake to be super moist, reserve about 3-4 tablespoon of syrup and when the cake is baked make some holes in the cake with a toothpick, and pour the caramel syrup with a spoon over the cake.

Tags: Caramel Cake recipe, Caramelized Sugar Cake recipe, prajitura cu zahar ars recipe

Creamed Spinach

I could eat this every day, it is one of my favorites. If I don't have time to cook I just take a box of frozen spinach from the freezer and in 10 minutes I have a great lunch or dinner. I always have frozen spinach, eggs and milk at home. You can use cream or milk for this recipe, I usually make it with milk.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh spinach cooked, well drained and chopped or 1 box frozen spinach

2 tablespoons oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Heat oil in a small saucepan over low heat; add the crushed garlic and sauté garlic in butter for about 1 minute. Do not let garlic burn or it will be bitter.

Add the flour to make a roux.

Add salt and pepper and heat until mixture bubbles, stirring constantly.

Gradually add the milk stirring constantly until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Add the chopped spinach into sauce and season with extra salt or pepper if needed, or add more crushed garlic.

Serve with eggs and fresh bread.

Tags: creamed spinach recipe, hungarian creamed spinach recipe, spenot recipe, spenot recipes, spanac recipe

Mushroom Stew - Hungarian

We love mushroom stew over polenta or mashed potatoes. So easy to make and super cheap, you have to try it. You can make it without sour cream, but I think that the sour cream makes the sauce super creamy and tasty. This is a hungarian recipe my mom used to make a lot.

Ingredients:

2 lb mushrooms, sliced

1 large onion

2 large tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoon paprika

4 tablespoon oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup sour cream

salt

black pepper

2 tablespoon flour

chopped parsley

Directions:

Pour oil into a large pan and sautee onions on a low heat until soft and translucent.

Add paprika and chopped tomatoes and stir well.

Add the mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes.

Season with salt and black pepper and than cover the mushrooms with water.

Cook on low heat with cover for about 30 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the flour with a little water, until smooth, add the sour cream and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the mushroom stew, add the crushed garlic and cook for a few minutes.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with mashed potatoes and meat, or with polenta.

Tags: Mushroom Stew, hungarian Mushroom Stew recipe, Mushroom Stew recipe, gombaporkolt recipe, tocanita de ciuperci recipe, tejfolos gombaporkolt recipe

Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad

This salad is super easy to make and it's ready in no time. Sometimes I put all the ingredients on the table and we make our own salad at the table, it's a lot of fun.
Delicious and refreshing salad, and soooo pretty.

Ingredients:

1 apple, thinly sliced (Gala, Jonagold, etc)

baby arugula

pomegranate seeds
feta cheese or blue cheese

roasted almonds

raspberry vinaigrette

Directions:

Arrange baby arugula on a large plate, transfer the apple slices on the plate, sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top, crumble feta or blue cheese on top and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette. Toss to combine.

Enjoy it.

Tags: Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad recipe, Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad recipes, Baby Arugula Apple Pomegranate Salad with almonds and cheese, arugula salad with pomegranate, apple, feta and almonds

Hungarian Cabbage Salad

My mama used to make this salad for us a lot. It goes well with any meat and potato dish. I love it and it's a very simple and cheap salad.
This makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1 medium cabbage, shredded

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoon white vinegar

pinch of caraway seeds, (optional)

salt, black pepper to taste

Directions:

Put shredded cabbage in a large strainer, sprinkle salt, let stand. When cabbage softens drain out the liquid.
In a large salad bowl add the water, vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix until sugar is dissolved and put the cabbage in the salad bowl over the vinegar mixture. Add black pepper and caraway seeds
Mix well, taste for seasoning, and leave it in the fridge for a few hours before tossing again and serving.

Note:
You can add more or less vinegar, or more sugar, make your dressing tangy or sweet, add garlic to it, go crazy. Perfect salad to go with meat and mashed potatoes.

Tags: hungarian cabbage salad recipe, cabbage salad with vinegar recipe, white cabbage salad recipe