In my previous post I mentioned that this year I was searching for something sweet, but at the same time, something on a healthy side.

I judged the newly found recipes by the picture of the finished product, followed by the ingredients.

I did not even pay attention to how involved the preparation process might be. This one requires several steps.

I already shared the recipe for the Ginger-Lemon Pinwheels, and now you will get to hear about the “Black and White Striped Cookies“.

They look much more appetizing than they actually are.  I am very honest here, because once again, I expected a little lighter texture , than what this recipe produced.  I guess I am spoiled by all the other “full of butter” cookie recipes I make all the time.

These may not be flaky as regular cookies, however they are only 73 calories each!

Great  for dunking, with a cup of tea.

This recipe yields 3 dozen cookies.

Ingredients for Vanilla Dough:

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs. ice water

Directions for Vanilla Dough:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, place the butter, sugar and egg yolk.
2. Beat at medium speed until smooth, and creamy lemon color looking.
3. Beat in the vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, using a whisk, mix flour and salt.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
6. Beat at low speed until combined.
7. Sprinkle ice water, and beat until moist (dough will be slightly crumbly).
8. Form a 4-inch dough ball on a plastic wrap, cover and chill one hour, or until firm.

Ingredients for Chocolate Dough:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract ( I used rum extract)
• 2 Tbs. ice water

Directions for Chocolate Dough:

• In a medium mixing bowl, add butter, egg yolk, and sugar.
• Mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy.
• Beat in the vanilla (or your favorite flavor) extract.
• In a separate bowl, using a whisk, mix the flour, salt and cocoa.
• Gradually add cocoa mixture to butter mixture, beating at low spreed until combined.
• Sprinkle ice water over the surface of the dough.
• Beat just until moist.
• Make a 4-inch dough ball, placed on a plastic wrap, and chill for one hour, or until firm.

Chocolate and Vanilla Dough Assembly:

1. Lay two overlapping sheets of plastic wrap, on a moist surface.
2. Remove and unwrap the chilled Vanilla Dough, and place it on the plastic wrap.
3. Cover the dough with two additional overlaying sheets of plastic wrap.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to form a 12 x 8 rectangle.
5. Place the rolled out dough in the freezer, while you are working on the Chocolate Dough.
6. Follow the same process with the Chocolate Dough.
7. Once both doughs are firm enough, remove the plastic wrap, place the Vanilla Dough on a lightly floured surface, and cover it with the Chocolate Dough.
8. Press down gently.
9. Cut dough stack in half crosswise, to form 2 (8 x 6 inch rectangles).
10. Stack these two half on top of each other, alternating the chocolate and vanilla sides.
11. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes, or until firm.
12. Cut the dough crosswise into 6 (6 x 1-1/3 inch) strips.
13. Stack 2 strips on top of each other to form a stack, alternating vanilla and chocolate, to form a stripe pattern.
14. Wrap in plastic wrap, pressing gently.
15. Repeat same procedure with the remaining 4 strips to form 2 stacks, making 3 stacks total.
16. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes, or until very firm.
17. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
18. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (not wax paper – it will scorch).
19. Working with one stack at a time, using a sharp knife, slice each stack to 12 slices.
20. Place them 1 inch apart on the parchment lined pans.
21. Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes.
22. Cool in pans for 5 minutes.
23. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

The hardest part in making these cookies, was rolling out the dough between the plastic wrap, and trying to keep it in a rectangular shape.  I used some additional engineering, by trimming the uneven sides and using this dough to even out any imperfections.

It is also a time consuming process, with all this rolling out of the dough, cooling, stacking, and cooling again.

These cookies are not very sweet, and as I mentioned above, tend to be on a denser side, thus very suitable for dunking.  They remind me of Biscotti.

If you tried this recipe, or plan to try it, please chime in with your tips and comments.

TIP: This is a good recipe for Phase III of the Fat Smash Diet.

As you already know, I love trying new recipes.  Most of the time I try a recipe based on a sample I enjoyed, made by someone else.  Other times, I just try a recipe based on the ingredients, and a picture of the finished product.

This time I was looking for some “light and healthy” cookie recipes, to cater to some of my guests who are dieting, yet wish to satisfy their sweet tooth.

The Ginger-Lemon Pinwheel Cookies in this post, were one of the ones I decided to try.

The picture looked very appealing to me, and the ingredients did not call for anything out of the ordinary, so it sounded like a great choice.

Normally I only share successful recipes, but even though I was slightly disappointed with the final result of this recipe, I will share it any way, because it might appeal to someone who is looking for low calorie cookies.  Actually, I will probably make these again, and play with the recipe a little.

This recipe yields about 40 cookies @ only 81 calories each.

Ingredients for Ginger Dough:

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses (I used dark molasses)
• 1 large egg yolk (save the white for the Lemon Dough)
• 1- 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt – (I used 1/8 tsp)
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• Dash of ground allspice

Directions for Ginger Dough:

1. In a medium mixer bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.
2. Mix about 3 minutes, at medium speed.
3. Add molasses, and egg yolk, and beat until blended.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour and all the spices.
5. Gradually add to the butter mixture, and beat at low speed until combined.
6. Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Ingredients for Lemon Dough:

• 8 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg white (saved from Ginger dough)
• 2 tsp. ground lemon rind
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1- 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt (I used 1/8 tsp)

Directions for Lemon Dough:

1. In a medium bowl, mix butter and sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Add egg white and beat until blended.
3. Beat in lemon rind and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour with all the dry ingredients.
5. Gradually add to butter mixture, and beat at low speed until blended.
6. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
7. Unwrap ginger dough, roll between two sheets of plastic wrap, into a 13×8 rectangle.  Dough will be quite thin (3/16 inch).
8. Chill for 10 minutes.
9. Roll the lemon dough in the same way, and chill as well.
10. Once chilled, remove the top sheet of plastic wrap from the Ginger and Lemon Dough.
11. Stack Lemon Dough on top of Ginger Dough, leaving 1/2 inch border along the long side of the Ginger Dough.
12. Remove the remaining plastic wrap.
13. Starting with the long side without the border, roll up dough tightly, jelly-roll fashion. If you do not roll tightly, you will end up with a whole in the middle of your pinwheel.
14. Seal edges (do not seal ends of roll).
15. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze for 30 minutes.
16. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
17. Unwrap dough roll.
18. Cut with a sharp knife, into 40 slices, about 1/4 inch thick.
19. Reshape rounds.
20. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (wax paper will scorch – do not use).
21. Arrange cookie slices 1 inch apart.
22. Bake one batch at a time, for 8 minutes, or until set and slightly browned.
23. Cool on wire racks.

If anyone tried these cookies before, please share your comments.

Some of my guests actually enjoyed them, even though these cookies are on a denser side, more like biscotti, or as I call them “dunking”  tea cookies.

If you are watching your diet, you definitely would have no guilt having a couple of these, instead of any of my other ones, which are scrumptious, but not so low in calories.

TIP: This would be a good cookie for Phase III in The Fat Smash Diet.

This recipe came up at a spur of a moment, after I made an error in purchasing chopped dates, rather than chopped figs, intending to make Cream Cheese Fig Bars.

Since I never baked with dates before, it was a wonderful experience, and the Granola Date Bars turned out great.

I will definitely make these again, since they make a perfect mid morning, or mid afternoon snack, not to mention the abundance of fiber in these.

Next time I will try to mix in some Super Cranberry, Cherry, and Almond Muesli, made by Dorset Cereals, which I love for breakfast.

I guess the good old saying  “If God gives you lemons, you have to learn to love lemonade”, pairs up well with the birth of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz chopped dates (2 cups)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup (Organic Vanilla Almond FlaxPlus Granola (or increase the oats by 1/2 cup)
• 1 -1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( I used unbleached flour)
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (may use margarine)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Directions:

1. Combine dates and water in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to boil, and cook 3-4 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened.
3. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.
4. Set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, granola,baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
7. Mix well, to incorporate all ingredients.
8. Stir in melted butter, and mix to moisten dry ingredients.
9. Measure 2-1/2 cups of oats mixture, and press gently into a 9 x 9 inch baking pan, to make the bottom crust.
10. Top with date filling, leaving 1/4 inch margin all around the edge, free of filling (to prevent filling from crusting up,  and burning during baking).
11. Combine chopped nuts with the remaining oats mixture, fill the margin around the date filling, and spread the rest on the top of the filling.
12. Press gently into the filling.
13. Bake at 350 degrees F, for 2o minutes.
14. Cool in pan on wire rack.
15. Cut into serving size, 1 x 3 inch bars, or 1 x 1 inch bite size chunks.

Enjoy.

TIP: This recipe is NOT for The Fat Smash Diet phase I, but is OK in phase III.

It is a known fact that holidays mean spending fun time with family and friends, as well as enjoying lots of delicious food and drinks.

As our family tradition, and to alternate with our married children in-laws, we celebrate Christmas Eve on December 24th, by the  Gregorian calendar , and then again the Traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve, per Julian calendar, on January 6th.

I am still making all the traditional foods and baked goods for both dates, but have more time for shopping, as this year’s  gift exchange will take place in January.

Since I will be doing most of my baking later on this month, I will share links to my past year’s baked goods recipes, for your convenience and baking pleasure.

Cream Wafers

Miniature Nut Cups – Tea Tassies

Sugar Cut- Out Cookies

Sugar Wafers

Pecan Butterballs

Dycio Crescents

Frosted Lemon Cookies

Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

Chocolate Scotcheroos

Ginger Chocolate Truffles

This should give you a good start for early holiday baking.

Boys will always be boys…isn’t that the truth.

While little girls like to have cute party themes for their birthdays (Candy Land, Minni Mouse, Sesame Street), boys prefer to have fun with Pirate theme.

My previous post shared the numerous decorations and games for this Pirate Theme Birthday Party, so this post will be all about food, and the Pirate Theme appropriate labels for appetizers, and other foods.

If you only saw the labels, you would never guess what type of food would end up on your plate.

Here are some of the items listed on the menu.

OK, I think you get my point…..now let me show you the actual food next to these tags.

This was a very refreshing White Rum Punch, with  a very special pirate ladle, and plastic skulls floating on the surface of the punch.  All the Adult Pirates loved this punch!

Some of the appetizers, and snacks, displayed here (Pirate Shoe Leather, Swords and Peg Legs, Polly Parrot’s Treats, Seaweed Salad, Desert Pudding, etc.).

So, if you are not able to read this tag, these are the “Octopus Legs and Eyeballs”…..very appropriate label, don’t you think?

No, we did not hunt for Parrots….this is a Rotisserie Chicken, cut up into serving pieces, served with a special basting sauce from Phil’s Chicken House, located in Endicott, NY (part of the Triple Cities around Binghamton, New York).

This is the best chicken ever, so if you are ever around that area, I recommend this place for some finger licking meal.

This was a wonderful display of fruits (oranges, pineapple, kiwi and star fruit), labeled as “Tropical Sea Creatures Salad”.

The center piece of the party display, a Pirate Ship Cake, with Captain Maks in charge, and a close up of the ocean waves, water and sharks.  Special creation by mom of Captain Maks.

Personal cake for the Birthday Boy – Captain Maks, with some edible Gold Coins, to add to the cake decorations.

These delicious, chocolate cupcakes were nestled in special Pirate Ship wraps, surrounded by many other sweet treats, for everyone to enjoy.

My hat’s off to Captain Mak’s parents, for planning the party in such a creative way, and for organizing the whole event.

Each family was assigned a day of the week to prepare a dinner for everyone, leaving one day free of cooking, to enjoy a dinner out.

It was lots of fun, since we had a different theme meal each day, and each group only cooked once during the whole week.

The weather was fairly cooperative, so there was time for sun bathing and walking on the beach, as well and taking the children on boardwalk rides, flying kites, and building sand castles.

The grandparents checked out the nearby casinos in Atlantic City, which was lots of fun, but no big winnings…..sigh.

Hopefully you will find these ideas very useful, and perhaps your next special birthday party will also be as creative, and enjoyable.

As always, I am looking forward to hearing your fun stories.

This torte recipe was passed on to our family by our cousin Ira (Eera), from Ukraine, hence the name “Torte Ira”.

The filling for this torte is quite different, since it uses a rather non-traditional main ingredient.

Most torte fillings are made mainly with butter, powdered sugar, chocolate or cocoa, plus various flavor enhancers.

This filling uses it’s share of butter, and much less sugar than most, but the bulk of the filling is made out of cooked Cream of Wheat.

You would never guess that Cream of  Wheat is the main ingredient of this filling, by just tasting it, because it is very creamy and light, despite the amount of butter it contains.

This torte is best refrigerated, to keep its ideal texture, thus  suitable mostly as an after dinner dessert, rather than a party dessert, requiring an extended exposure to room temperature.

Torte Ingredients:

• 4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (4- 1 oz squares), melted
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup all purpose white flour

Torte Directions:

1. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate and butter.
2. Add vanilla extract.
3. Remove from heat, pour into a large mixing bowl, and cool.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with salt, until light and fluffy.
5. Add sugar and beat a couple of minutes longer.
6. Fold the egg mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture.
7. Add sifted flour, and blend it in well.
8. Grease a lightly flour, a 9 x 13 x 2 sheet cake pan.
9. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.
10. Pour the torte batter into the prepared pan.
11. Place on a middle oven rack, and bake for 25-30 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven to cool in the pan. (see TIP below)

Ingredients for Filling:

• 2 cups whole  milk
• 4 Tbs Cream of Wheat
• 1 1/2 cup butter (3 sticks), room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1 Tbs alcohol (brandy, liquor, cognac, whiskey), or your favorite extract

Directions for Filling:

1. Use a 2 quart sauce pan.
2. Add milk and Cream of Wheat, and bring to boil.
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally so it does not stick to the bottom and burn.
4. Set aside to cool off.
5. In a medium bowl, add softened butter, juice and extract.
6. Mix to blend well.
7. Mix in the powdered sugar, until creamy.
8. Add cooled Cream of Wheat, and mix to blend all well together.
9. Spread filling over the cooled cake.
10. Set aside.

Chocolate Icing Ingredients:

• 8 0z semi-sweet baker’s chocolate (8 – 1 oz squares)
• 4 Tbs whole milk, or heavy cream for whipping

Chocolate Icing Directions:

1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate.
2. Add milk, and incorporate into the melted chocolate.
3. Remove from heat, and pour over the filling.
4. Smooth out with the back of a spoon, for smooth, even finish.
5. Cool in the refrigerator, until it begins to firm up.
6. Remove from the fridge, and pre-cut through the chocolate icing, to form serving pieces.  This will ease the final cutting to serving pieces later on, once the chocolate fully cools and hardens.
7. Cover, and keep in the fridge at least over night.
8. Just before serving, cut through the filling and the cake, place on a serving platter, and serve.

Enjoy.

Please share your comments.  I love to hear your feedback.

TIP:  Please don’t be alarmed after the cake is baked, because it will seem very dense and brittle.  It will soften up by the moisture from the Cream of Wheat filling, seeping down into it.

That is another reason, why this torte does hold up well, exposed to room temperature for an extended period of time.  It holds its shape best, being refrigerated.

If you need a quick snack, or a simple dessert, all you need to do is to reach out for a box of Cocoa Krispies Cereal, and whip up some tasty treats.

I usually make the traditional Rice Krispies treats, with melted marshmallows and butter, but when I noticed this recipe (on the cereal box), I really wanted to try it.

I liked the finished product, since as simple as it was to make, it tasted rich and delicious.

The addition of chocolate and peanut butter to the cereal, really kicks it up a few notches, and turns it into a nutritious, and a very tasty treat.

It makes a great school lunch snack, or a prefect after school treat, for your children, or grandchildren.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 1 cup peanut butter (I used organic)
• 6 cups Cocoa Krispies cereal
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (I used dark chocolate)
• 1 cup butterscotch chips (you can also use peanut  butter chips)

Directions:

1. Add sugar and corn syrup into a 3-quart saucepan.
2. Cook over medium  heat, stirring frequently, until sugar dissolves, and mixture begins to boil.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in peanut butter.
5. Mix well.
6. Gradually fold in Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies cereal, until all well coated.
7. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2  cake pan, with butter, Crisco, or cooking spray (I used butter).
8. Spoon in the Cocoa Krispies mixture, and press down firmly, and evenly.
9. Set aside.
10. Add chocolate and butterscotch chips into a 1-quart saucepan.
11. Cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until all chips are melted, and blended together.
12. Spread melted chocolate/butterscotch mixture over the cereal mixture, smoothing it evenly with the back of a spoon.
13. Let it cool off, and firm up.
14. Cut into serving pieces.

Enjoy.

Today I decided to turn my regular Banana Bread into a delicious cake like creation, and the results were quite rewarding.

I was convinced that adding some chocolate to the recipe, will enhance the texture and flavor of my Banana Bread, and topping it off with a creamy chocolate glaze, will make it that much more decadent.

After all, how can anything chocolate, not taste great!

I am sure all the chocolate lovers will agree with me on this one.

The total baking time took a little longer than I expected, but once the bread looked done (springing back up when lightly tapped), I was happy with the results.

Dark and White Chocolate morsels, melting on top of the baked cake, to form a creamy topping.

Creamy Chocolate glaze on this Chocolate Banana Bread, is indeed the “Icing on the Cake”.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs. Vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk (whole of low fat)
• 2 large, very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
• 2 cups cake flour (Softasilk)
• 1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup dark chocolate morsels

Chocolate Glaze Ingredients (optional)

• 1/2 cup white chocolate morsels
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate moresels

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the white and brown sugar with the eggs, until a thick creamy mixture forms.
2. Add Vanilla extract, melted butter, salt, milk and sour cream.
3. Add mashed bananas.
4. Mix, to blend in well.
5. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cocoa.
6. Gradually add to the egg mixture, mixing continuously on medium speed, until smooth batter is formed.
7. Fold in 1 cup of dark chocolate morsels.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
9. Grease a loaf pan with vegetable shortening (Crisco), flour lightly bottom and sides.
10. Pour the cake batter into the pan.
11. Bake on the middle oven rack for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
12. I lightly tapped the top of the bread, and once it was springing back, I knew it was fully baked.
13. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
14. Remove from the pan onto a wire rack (see TIP below), and gently arrange the remaining dark and white chocolate morsels on top of the loaf.
15. Leave them on until melted enough for easy spreading all over the top of the bread, to form a creamy chocolate glaze.
16. Cool off completely before slicing.

Keep at room temperature for serving, or cover loosely with foil, and refrigerate for later use.

Enjoy.

TIP: For easier chocolate glaze preparation, you may prepare a “paper lift” to remove the bread from the pan. Place a large enough sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil, in the pan, so it extends a few inches above the long pan sides.  Place the cake back in the pan, on top of the paper lift.  Arrange the chocolates morsels all over the bread as stated in the directions.  Once the topping sets, you can lift out the bread from the pan, by grabbing both sides of the extended paper, and pulling it upwards, to lift it out of the pan.

It’s my Goddaughter’s Birthday, so I am making a special cake to celebrate this occasion.

I was searching for a new recipe to make it a very special project, and decided on an Orange Torte.

I was very excited about making this cake, because it is different from other ones, since it is layered with tangy custard like filling, rather than cake icing.  The cake, the filling, and the icing, all have a common ingredient, which is orange juice and orange rind.

The whole cake has a refreshing, slightly tangy taste, which makes it stand out from the usual everyday cakes.

Since I made this cake with three layers of filling, plus icing on top and sides, it is quite fitting to call it a torte.

Torte Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 4 egg whites (set egg yolks aside)
• 1/2 cup butter, unsalted, softened
• 2-1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. orange zest (grate the peel of one whole orange, set aside)
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Torte Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
2. Add orange zest.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Set aside.
5. Add the orange juice to the water.
6. Set aside.
7. Gradually add the flour mixture alternating with the water/juice mixture, to the creamed eggs and sugar.
8. Keep on mixing until all is well incorporated.
9. Beat the eggs whites to a stiff peaks.
10. Fold egg whites to the mixture.
11. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
12. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, and dust lightly with flour.
13. Divide batter in half, and fill both cake pans.
14. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake, comes out clean.
15. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.
16. Remove from cake pans, and cool completely on wire racks.
17. Split horizontally each cake round to form 4 cake discs.
18. Set aside until ready to layer the torte.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs. cornstarch
• 1-1/2 tsp. orange zest
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten (use the ones set aside)
• 2 Tbs. butter

Filling Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, orange zest and salt.
2. Mix the water with orange juice and egg yolks.
3. Gradually blend in orange juice/water/egg yolk mixture.
4. Cook over medium heat, stiffing constantly, to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot, and forming lumps.
5. The mixture will turn out thick and bubbly (resembling pudding).
6. Remove from the heat.
7. Add butter, and mix until melted.
8. Cover, and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Frosting Ingredients:

• 6 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 Tbs. orange zest
• Dash of salt
• 4-6 Tbs. orange juice

Frosting Directions:

1. In a medium size mixing bowl, cream the butter.
2. Add the confectioner’s sugar, salt, orange zest and 4 Tbs. orange juice.
3. Mix well.
4. Add more orange juice as needed, so the frosting has a good spreading consistency.

Torte Assembly:

1. Place one of the bottom cake discs on a cake platter.
2. Spread 2-1/2 Tbs. of filling over it, leaving about 1/4 inch of the cake edge, free of filling,
3. Cover with a second cake disc.
4. Repeat the process, with remaining cake discs and filling.
5. Spread the cake frosting all over the top and sides of the cake.
6. Decorate to your own style.  I chose orange slices, mint leaves, and the remaining orange zest, for the finishing touches on my Orange Torte.
7. Keep it refrigerated until ready to serve.
8. Once the frosting sets, it is best to cover the cake with foil, to keep the frosting from drying out too much.

Enjoy.

TIP: This torte holds up very well for several days, so you can make it ahead of time, and keep it refrigerated.

Poppy seeds are used in many food preparations, in cooking and baking.   Dried poppy seeds are not exactly something one would like to snack on, but once used in breads, cakes, salad dressing, etc, it enhances the texture and flavor of the dish.

I personally like onion rolls sprinkled with poppy seeds, Poppy Seed Cake, and Poppy  Seed Roll (Zavyvanets – in Ukrainian).

Today I will share a recipe for a Poppy Seed Cake.

This recipe is quite easy, since it calls for a can of ready made Poppy Seed filling, unlike when my mom was baking with poppy seed, she had to prepare her own filling from scratch, which was a long process.

She cooked the poppy seeds, then she drained it well, then grind it twice on a fine blade.  After that she would flavor it, and finally it was ready to be used for baking.

Aren’t you glad Solo does all this hard work for us?  I sure am!

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil (or any vegetable oil)
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 1 can (12.5 oz) Poppy Seed Filling (by Solo)
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose white flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites.
2. Set the egg whites aside.
   
3. In a large bowl, add 3 egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar.
4. Beat well until light and fluffy (it will resemble vanilla pudding).
5. Add in oil, and mix well.
6. Mix in the Poppy Seed filling.
7. Add milk and Vanilla extract, and mix one minute longer.
8. In a separate bowl, combine the flour with the baking soda and baking powder.
9. Gradually mix it into the batter.
10. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.
11. Fold into the batter, evenly.
12. Preheat the over to 325 degrees F.
13. Grease well a 9 x 13 x 2 sheet cake pan, and dust it lightly with flour.
14. Pour the batter into the pan.
15. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
16. Remove from the oven, and cool in the pan, for 10 minutes.
17. Invert it from the pan onto a wire cooling rack, to cool completely.
18. Cut into serving pieces, and dust the tops with powdered sugar, before serving.

Enjoy!