Romanian Coffee Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

It’s been a long while since the last time I made it home to Romania for Christmas.  And the funny thing – I was really impressed with how things improved; the city was lively and joyous during the holiday season dotted with bright lights, ornate Christmas trees and open markets where vendors were eager to entertain and sell their goodies to the hungry and curious crowds.  Without a doubt, there was a delicious excess of options – everything from hot mulled wine, traditional offal concoctions and deep fried flatbreads slathered with fat dollops of sour cream, cheese and garlic, to a wide assortment of cookies, candies, homemade fudge and other Christmas breads and cakes we simply can’t live without.  Overabundance is an understatement and I welcomed it with open arms because we, Romanians, never shy away from a big feast whether at home or on the city streets!  

The same can be said about the bonanza of extravagant options on my grandmother’s dessert Christmas table.  But among the usual suspects of cookies and homemade pretzels, buttercream-covered cakes stood front and center.  And one of them was this grand Coffee Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting.

This is not your regular coffee cake to be enjoyed with a nice cup of coffee or tea.  This cake is the coffee.  It’s so intense and loaded with coffee that paired with coffee would feel redundant and overdone.  This Coffee Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting will overshadow all the coffee cakes you’ve ever made; because this is a cake of layers of coffee upon layers of more coffee, upon layers of cocoa and more chocolate.  I can easily say this coffee cake is in a league of its own and a single bite will give you that invigorating boost of espresso that you didn’t know you wanted but so desperately needed. 

The cake is refined, moist, laced with coffee and spiked with rum.  The frosting is firstly cooked into submission until it becomes pleasantly thick and velvety with a cafe au lait hue and deep coffee aroma; then it’s gently whipped with my favorite ingredient – butter – and speckled with toasted walnuts that only add a charming texture to the already assertive flavor.  And you can never have too much chocolate because the rich chocolate ganache drizzled on top completes this spectacle of a cake.  Enjoy!  

Romanian Coffee Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

By Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Makes: 24 squares

Ingredients for the batter:

·         8 large eggs, at room temperature, separated

·         240 grams sugar

·         120 grams all-purpose flour

·         2 teaspoons baking powder

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         25 grams ground coffee

·         25 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

Ingredients for the Rum Syrup:

·         ½ cup sugar

·         ½ cup water

·         ¼ cup rum

Ingredients for the coffee buttercream frosting:

·         4 large eggs, at room temperature

·         240 grams sugar

·         14 grams instant coffee crystals

·         300 grams butter, at room temperature

·         50 grams roasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Ingredients for the chocolate ganache:

·         170 grams (6 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

·         2/3 cups heavy cream

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions for the batter:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.  Coat the bottom and sides of a 14 x10 x 2-inch baking pan with butter and flour.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, coffee grounds and cocoa powder.  Set aside. 

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. 

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar using an electric hand mixer.  Gradually, add the flour mixture. 

In a large bowl, beat the egg white until medium-firm peaks form.  In batches, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.  Continue to fold and gently stir until the batter thins out. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.  Cool completely in the pan on a rack.  

Instructions for the Rum Syrup:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water and whisk until the sugar dissolves.  Off heat, add the rum, whisk well and set aside to cool completely.  Once the cake has cooled, pierce the surface with a fork.  Using a spoon, drizzle the syrup all over the top of the cake.  You will use more than half of the syrup.  However, you want the cake to be moist but not overly damp.  Just discard the remaining of the syrup.  Allow the cake to sit and absorb the syrup, about 1 hour.    

Instructions for the coffee buttercream frosting:

In a medium heat-proof bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar for 2-3 minutes.  Put the bowl on top of a pan of simmering water, making sure that the base of the bowl doesn’t come in contact with the water.  Gently beat the eggs and sugar mixture with a whisk until it thickens and looks like a thick cream, about 25-30 minutes.  Add the instant coffee crystals, mix well and cook the cream for 2-3 minutes longer.  Set aside to cool completely, stirring occasionally. 

In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Slowly and in batches, add the coffee cream and beat on medium-low speed, scrapping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy.  Don’t whip!  Gently fold in the walnut pieces.  

With a knife or offset spatula, evenly spread the frosting over the cake.  

Instructions for the Chocolate Ganache:

Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl and set aside.  Combine the heavy cream and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Cook until small bubbles appear on the outside edge of the cream.  Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate chips.  Using a fork or a spoon, gently stir until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  

Drizzle the chocolate ganache all over the cake.  Allow the ganache to harden.  Cut the cake into squares and serve. 

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

Feta Cheese and Dill Stuffed Flatbread

I’m an only child, which on occasion means being spoiled rotten.  So, when at age eleven I demanded a puppy, my parents happily obliged.  Granted, the three of us lived in an eight hundred square foot one bedroom apartment on the sixth floor of a ten story building with no air conditioning during the scorching summer months.  Did it matter?  Not at all…  The four of us simply learned how to gloriously bake in the one bedroom hell of a sauna.  But being treated like a princess was not the case when visiting my grandparents in the northern part of Romania.       

Maramureș, a region in the northern part of Romania, is a place where time seems to stand still and hundreds of years of culture and traditions are firmly engrained in the rugged mentality, hardened way of life and extremely hardworking people.  It is here where the nearby volcanic mountains are proudly covered in a dense layer of snow well into spring; where locals master the elaborate process of making the famous ţuică drink every year (my ninety five year old great-grandmother is still deeply invested in this process); not to mention how chickens and other domestic animals roam freely around the yard all day long and are considered proud members of the family.  Maramureș is also the place where I learned how to forage for plump beautiful mushrooms in the untamed forests, how to gingerly maneuver a two handle saw and help my grandfather cut wood at the very young age of four, and most importantly where I learned how to whip up this rustic and mouthwatering Feta Cheese and Dill Stuffed Flatbread. 

These flatbreads are without a doubt a staple in my grandma Aurica’s kitchen – simple, basic dough stuffed with a cheesy goodness.  It can’t get better or easier than that!  They are unpretentious and versatile; delicious for breakfast, satisfying as a snack, great for lunch, and light for a quick dinner.  Needless to say, they are a terrific alternative for the beloved bread.  The yeasty dough winds up tender and sweetly chewy while nestling a perfectly salty and savory interior.  These Feta Cheese and Dill Stuffed Flatbreads are deeply flavorful without being fussy and I guarantee you won’t stop with just one.  Enjoy!  

Feta Cheese and Dill Stuffed Flatbread

By Simply Romanesco inspired my Grandma Vicki and Grandma Aurica

Makes: 15 stuffed flatbreads

Ingredients:

·         500 grams (3 ½ cups) all-purpose flour

·         ½ teaspoon baking soda

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 packet (7 grams) fast rise dry yeast

·         1 ½ teaspoon sugar

·         1 large egg, at room temperature

·         125 ml (1/2 cup) water

·         125 (1/2 cup) whole milk

·         50 ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil, plus more for frying

Ingredients for the filling:

·         350 grams (12 oz) feta cheese

·         A good bunch of fresh dill, chopped (the green parts of green onions, chopped, also work really well)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, yeast and sugar.  Mix well.  Add the egg, water and milk and, using clean hands, gently combine all the ingredients.  Add the oil and mix well until the dough gathers into a ball.  Knead the dough for a few minutes until it becomes pliable and easy to work with.  Leave the dough in the bowl.  Cover the bowl with a dish towel and allow the dough to rest and rise for an hour and a half until it almost doubles in size.

In the meantime, combine the feta cheese and dill in a medium bowl and set aside.

Divide the dough into 15 balls.  Lightly flour the work surface and the rolling pin and roll out the balls of dough one at a time.  Add a heaping Tablespoon of the feta cheese and dill filling and fold the edges of the dough to seal the filling inside.  Set aside and allow the filled concoction to rest for 10 minutes.  Proceed the same way with the rest of the dough. 

Lightly flour the rolling pin and roll out each of the filled doughs careful not to break the surface and the filling to spill out.    
    

  

In a large skillet, heat about ½ cup of vegetable oil over medium heat.  Add one or two flatbreads at a time and cook them over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden-brown.  Place the cooked flatbreads on a platter and cover to keep warm.

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)

25 years of remembrance

On November 9, 2014 the world celebrated 25 years since the fall of the infamous Berlin Wall.  Romania, though, had to wait for another month and a half to properly rejoice in the prospects of a future filled with freedom and democracy.  The Romanian Revolution of December ’89 occurred 25 years ago, yet I remember it as if it was yesterday.  I was only four years old; but the memories of those bloody events and gory week in late Dec. ‘89 are some of the most vivid memories of my life and I truly believe they will accompany me forever.  It’s funny how a child’s brain works – just like a sponge – it absorbs anything and everything whether it’s a foreign language or graphic, gruesome events and images.  Sometimes, I feel that my memory came to life during that week.  I don’t have any specific recollections before Dec. ‘89; everything was a mere blur, but after that things and life came into focus. 

My hometown, Arad, was one of the pivotal cities of the revolution.  Situated only thirty miles north of Timișoara, the birth city of the Romanian Revolution, it didn’t take long for my hometown to join the manifestations against the communist regime.  Unfortunately, the many victims were a bitter aftermath. For me, the days back then all blended together in a cacophony of rich memories.  As it turns out, what I remember the most were events that actually transpired during the bloodiest night my hometown experienced during the revolution.  

It was the night of Saturday, Dec. 23 through Sunday, Dec. 24.  I was at my nanny’s place across the street from my grandparents’ house.  Her grandson, Alex, was there too.  I recall it was a fairly mild winter; there was no snow on the ground just yet.  That specific evening, strange, repetitive firearm sounds came from outside, which prompted our curiosity to rush to the window and investigate.  The sounds were coming from the river bank.  So, Alex and I, two four-year olds, perched on the window, craned our necks and were met by a blazing spectacle of red and green colors displayed above the river.  They were fairly loud and colorful but they were not fireworks.  I was smiling in awe until my nanny stormed through the bedroom door and yanked us down from the window before securely closing it.  My grandpa showed up a few minutes later to take me home.  

While crossing the thirty yards from my nanny’s house to my grandparents’, I glanced over my shoulder to steal another peek of the back and forth display of colorful lights clearly visible above the river as my grandpa was purposefully dragging me home.  That night, I slept on the floor of my room with my grandparents.  My parents were not with us and it was only later that I discovered where they spent that dreadful night.   The next day, on a very sunny and clear Christmas Eve, I wasn’t looking for Christmas gifts from Santa under the tree; I was scavenging for bullets on the street outside the house.  Luckily, my grandparents’ house was untouched, but we still found a handful of bullets on the street.  Not to mention the bullet surprise in my very own bedroom at my parents’ apartment. 

The night before Christmas Eve, while I was at my grandparents’, my dad was at home in our flat on the sixth floor of a ten story apartment building located on one of the most assaulted streets during that frightening night.  Our neighbors from across the hallway found refuge in our bathroom, the only room in the apartment with no windows, since their apartment was shattered to pieces.  That same night, a bullet was shot through my bedroom window.  The bullet went through the balcony window, the bedroom window and the curtains before hitting the wall above my bed, recoiling back underneath the window and eventually melting on the hardwood floor.  

Fortunately, I was not sleeping in my bed that night, but my dad was lounging on the couch in the next room over. After a few hours in the bathroom, he decided that he would not spend the entire night hiding there and grabbed a bottle of wine and sprawled on the couch in the living room.  In his own words, ‘if I were to die tonight, at least I would do it with my stomach full.’  A few years ago, my mom finally replaced the old curtains that bared the black rimmed hole of the bullet and held intact the memories of that horrific night, yet the melted mark of the bullet still mars the hardwood floor of my bedroom to this day.     

While my dad was in our apartment my mom was stuck at work and couldn’t come home due to the slaughter throughout town.  She only returned home in the awfully sunny morning covering the five long miles from the factory to the apartment on foot through the blinding layers of freshly laid snow that was barely coating the bloody and bullet scattered grounds.

The horrendous events of those days escalated with the speedy trial and execution of our former dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day.  I was sitting in my own little chair next to my family gaping at the incredible events unfolding on TV.  It was like watching live reality TV but with people being shot with real bullets, laying in puddles of blood and never getting up again.  And yes, I witnessed it all.

My parents were exactly the age I am right now when the revolution took place.  Would I be as brave as they were, gathering during tumultuous times in the town hall square and protesting against an oppressing regime while handing out holiday candy to the armed soldiers?  I don’t know… I don’t believe so… But they did and so did many other Romanians who experienced the revolution and lived to tell about it. 

Aside from my personal story and because we’re still in the midst of cookie season, I also want to share with you my grandma’s recipe for one of my family’s favorite holiday cookies: Sugar Snails.  These adorable concoctions are always present on our Christmas table.  It’s rather easy to guess why – you get a heap of servings, they’re great with coffee or tea, cute, a little crunchy, a lot nutty and good, really good.  And as my mom likes to say – ‘anything with walnuts is a winner.’  I absolutely agree with that.  Enjoy this sweet treat and Happy New Year everyone!    

Sugar Snails

By Simply Romanesco inspired by my Grandma Vicki

Makes: 55+ servings

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

·         250 grams (1 stick plus 2 Tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

·         300 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more to roll out the dough

·         1 teaspoon fast rise dry yeast

·         2 Tablespoons sour cream

·         4 large eggs, at room temperature

·         ¼ teaspoon salt

·         Up to ¼ cup milk, if necessary

For the Sauce:

·         280 grams (10 oz) walnuts, ground

·         280 grams (2 ¼ cups) Confectioners’ sugar

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         Lemon zest from 1 lemon

Instructions for the Dough:

Separate the egg whites and egg yolks.  Set the egg whites aside. 

In a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, yeast, salt, sour cream and egg yolks until the dough gathers into a ball.  If the dough is too dry, add a bit of milk to the mixture (a couple of Tablespoons).  The dough should be neither too dry nor too soft.  Gather into a ball and divide in four pieces.  Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and put it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Instructions for the Sauce:

In a medium bowl, combine the ground walnuts with the confectioners’ sugar and lemon zest.  Set aside.  Using an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the vanilla extract until firm peaks form.  Using a spatula, gently mix in the walnuts and sugar mixture.  

Preheat the oven to 350º F.  Line four baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Transfer the dough to a working surface.  Flour the rolling pin and working surface and roll out the dough into a ¼-inch thick rectangular sheet (work with one ball of dough at a time).  Spread a fourth of the walnut sauce all over the rolled out dough leaving a 1-inch margin.  Gently roll up the sheet into a log and cut (flour the knife so that the dough does not stick to the knife) as many 1-inch pieces as possible placing them on one of the baking sheets.  Bake the snails for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.  Repeat with the rest of the dough.  

Once out of the oven, allow the snails to cool on a cooling rack before dusting them with more confectioners’ sugar.      

  

Poftă Bună! (Bon Appétit!)