Pascha is a traditional Easter dish made from curd cheese & nuts and dried fruits. It tastes very similar to a cheese cake, but it is made without a crust and the texture is a little firmer. This year I veganized the recipe and made this delicious dessert/cake without butter, cream and cheese. The cake consists of blended cashews and millet and is flavored with orange juice and vanilla. Since I´m a total sucker for nuts, I really liked the taste – it tasted like a heavenly creamy cashew cheesecake with huge amounts of other crunchy nuts and chewy cranberries and raisins. The only thing I wasn´t so happy about was the texture – I don´t have a high speed blender, so I had to add more liquids in order to blend the nuts properly until smooth and creamy. The cake wasn´t firm enough to hold its shape, so I had to freeze it for few hours to make sure it firms up properly. So I guess this ended up being more a semifreddo than a pascha, but the taste definitely compensated the lack of texture. It disappeared dangerously fast, so I assume that everybody was pretty happy about having pascha in form of an ice cream. In the recipe below, I reduced the amount of liquids, so you should end up having a nice and firm pascha, when you decide to give it a try. Just make sure you use a good blender, which can handle blending nuts without adding to much liquids to the mixture.
There is nothing better than the aroma of something freshly baked. The scones are very easy to make, light and fluffy and pretty adjustable – you can change the flavor with anything you want. I made them with orange zest and chopped brazil nuts and ate them plain with coffee. But I imagine that they would taste even better with whipped coconut or soy cream and a blob of jam. I used palm sugar as a sweetener so they´re not overly sweet, but feel free to adjust the amount to your preferring. They taste the best when still warm & fresh. Semolina cake is one of my all-time favorite cakes. It´s very easy and fast to make, deliciously moist, rich and chewy. Without regular flour, sugar and oil it´s also secretly healthy. You can also make a chocolate ganache or add 1-2 spoons of cocoa to the cake batter to make it even fancier. If you are a fan of fudgy cake texture, you definitely won´t regret making it. Usually, I make the cake with grated apple, poppy seeds and raisins, but feel free to adjust the recipe to your own liking. Instead of an apple, you can add 1 grated carrot and some apple sauce or substitute the poppy seeds with more ground hazelnuts. It would also be great with dates instead of raisins and some chopped walnuts inside. You simply can´t go wrong with this cake, you don´t need a special technique or much time – just one bowl and handful of love. When I was a kid, I definitely wouldn’t choose semolina pudding for dessert. Maybe because it was considered baby food. But as the years went by I became a big fan. I like the sweet variations more than the savory ones. I often cook it for breakfast with raisins or eat it just plain with fresh fruits, or bake it wrapped in phyllo sheets as a midday snack or use it to make a cake soaked in heavy syrup with strong black tea. Ok, you get the idea… It´s always wonderfully filling, creamy yet light and healthy. Just the perfect accompaniment to your daily cup of tea/coffee. |
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