Tiramisu

It has been a while since we posted a new recipe on our blog. Yesterday our cousin Sinisa and his wife Julie came over to show us how to make tiramisu. I have been planning on trying to make it for a while, but Sinisa said that he found a really simple recipe and we made it yesterday. The tiramisu really was simple to make and it was so delicious! So I wanted to share it with everyone! Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 16 oz of Mascarpone cheese (for tiramisu)
• package of ladyfinger biscuits
• 3-4 cups of espresso or other strong coffee (we used homemade Turkish coffee)
• unsweetened (or semi-sweet cocoa powder if you would like it sweeter)
• some rum (we used about 1-2 tbsp or according to your taste)

Directions:

• Cook the coffee a few hours ahead of time and set aside for it to cool.
• Also take out 6 eggs and leave them out so that they are room temperature when you start making the cake.
• When you are ready to start making the tiramisu cake, break the eggs and separate the egg yolks and egg whites in two different bowls.  You will have two extra egg whites left over, so you can save them to use for something else.  
• First beat the egg yolks until mixed well and add half of the sugar and keep beating them until it becomes smooth like seen in the photos below.

• Add the Mascarpone cheese to the egg yolks, mix well until smooth and set aside.

• With a mixer, beat the egg whites and then add the other half of the sugar and keep mixing until they get the texture similar the whipped cream.  See the pictures below.

• Next, fold the egg yolks and egg whites like it is shown in the pictures below.  You want to slowly mix them so that they still keep the fluffy texture of the egg whites.

• Pour the cooled coffee into a wide bowl (wide enough for you to be able to dip the ladyfingers in the coffee) and add the rum.

• Next, quickly dip the lady fingers in the coffee on both sides and place one by one in a dish that you will be using for your tiramisu.  See the photos below.

• Pour half of the egg mixture on top of the ladyfingers that were placed in the serving dish and even out the top with a rubber spatula.

• Next, sift the cocoa powder over the egg mixture. 

• Place another layer of ladyfingers (dipped in coffee), the other half of the egg mixture and more cocoa powder on top.

• Finally, cover the tiramisu with a plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool for about 8 hours.

• When the tiramisu is finally done, take it out of the fridge and enjoy!  Our was perfect for Ivan's birthday and it was really delicious.  We will definitely be making it again!  I hope that you'll like it too! 

Buhtle (Jam-Filled Sweet Rolls)

It has been a while since I had Buhtle, and the other day I remembered how tasty they are and had a craving for them.  So I searched for some recipes online and came up with my version of them.  I am pretty happy with how they came out, even though I'm sure that if I made them again, they would probably come out even better.  They taste best when they are still warm, but the next day they do dry a little, so if you would like them to be more moist, you can add more butter.

Buhtle are sweet rolls filled with jam, marmalade or can be even filled with Nutella.  I tried a few with Nutella this time as well, and they were very tasty!  But whenever I think of Buhtle, I remember eating them as a child and loved them with apricot jam.  Those are my favorite!  :-P

First, I would like to tell you a little bit about Buhtle.  Buhtle is a Bosnian / Serbo-Croatian name for Buchteln and they originated in Bohemia.  They are sweet rolls made of yeast dough, filled with jam (or even poppy seeds or curd) and baked in a large pan so that they stick together.  They are served as a dessert, but can also be served as a main dish.

So, this is how I made them:

Ingredients: 

(Serving Size: 6)

• Yeast:
• 1 dcl (about 7 tablespoons or a little bit less than half a cup) of lukewarm milk
• 1 packet of yeast
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Dough:
• 1/2 kg (about 4 cups) of all purpose flour
• 10 dkg (about 0.4 cups) of sugar
• 10 dkg (little bit less than a stick) of melted butter (the rest of the butter will be used at the end)
• 1.5 to 2 dcl (between 11 and 14 tablespoons) of lukewarm milk
• 1 egg
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• pinch of lemon zest (I used lime zest since I did not have lemons in the house)
• pinch of salt
• Filling:
• jam or
• marmalade or
• Nutella
• Topping:
• left-over melted butter
• granulated sugar 

Procedure: 

• For the yeast, warm up the 1 dcl of milk a little bit, add 1 packet of yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar and put aside in a warm place for it to rise and start bubbling.

• In the meantime, melt the butter and let cool a little.
• For the dough, warm up the rest of the milk, add the egg, and mix well.

• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, lemon peel, vanilla sugar, yeast mix, milk and egg mix, and the melted butter. 

• Using dough hooks, mix the ingredients until the dough is not sticky and you are able to pull it away from the bowl and form into a ball.  Add more flour if the dough remains sticky and knead some more.

• Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours until it doubles in size. 

• After the dough doubles in size, knead a little with your hands, and then form into 15 small balls of equal size.  Flatten them a little so that it is easier to work with them. 

• Fill each one with a teaspoon of your favorite filling, like seen in the photos below.  I used apricot jam, wild raspberry jam and Nutella.

• Close each one by covering the jam with dough, then twisting and sealing the dough, like it is shown in the photo below.  The twisted and sealed dough should be facing down in the pan. 

• Place all the Buhtle into the baking pan lined with wax paper like it is shown in the photo below.  They should be touching.  Let them rise for a few more minutes.
• Top with remaining melted butter and apply evenly.  
• Sprinkle with granulated sugar if you wish. (I did not add much since I did not want mine to be too sweet.)

• Place Buhtle into the cold oven and then set the oven to 160 C or 325 F. 

• Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden. 
• When they are done, they should look like this! :)

Prijatno! Enjoy! :)

Sources:

• http://www.coolinarika.com/recept/mekane-buhtle/?meta_refresh=1
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchteln