My eight-year-old son has a dream, he wants to open his own restaurant when he grows up. Every day after school when his homework is done he sits quietly and plans his dream. I have helped him to make layout of the kitchen, put together design of the tables and the milkshake bar. He even planned for piano to be put in the corner for the live entertainment. He already knows what kind of people he needs to hire, he learns about walk-in freezers, pantry and ovens. He started asking his school friends if they would like to take a position at his place and there is already someone who wants to take cleaning job. Menu with special drinks and desserts has been planned, business cards design has been prepared. And now we are getting to the most exciting part - cake. My dear son has asked me to teach him how to bake a restaurant quality chocolate cake. And there it is, ladies and gents: cake recipe for my son's future family friendly restaurant. It is rich, chocolaty with a crunch of almonds. This cake will melt in your mouth and with some mint chocolate for your glaze it will come out refreshing!
Almond-Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze - Queen of Sheba Cake
Limoncello Apple Fritters
Fritters, similar to doughnuts in so many ways, and they are also deep-fried cakes. The batter for fritters is usually lighter, with less flour than for doughnuts and often is mixed with vegetables such as corn or fruits such as apples. Country-stile food, fritters are as comfortable on a plate with couple of fried or poached eggs as they are on a dish holding roast chicken. Best of all, they are quick to make and certainly tasty to eat.
Russian Monday: "Blinis" - Savory Buckwheat Pancakes
Shrovetide (or “maslenitsa” in Russian) is celebrated in the last week before Christian Orthodox Great Fast, seven weeks before Easter. Shrovetide is the holiday preserved by Slavic peoples from pagan (pre-Christian) times. Those days it was called differently when just like many other nations, ancient Slavs had traditional feast associated with winter wires and meeting of spring. At the time this feast was associated with the name of Veles - god of fertility and livestock in ancient Slavs pantheon. This holiday represented awakening of nature from winter sleep and marked beginning of the work in the fields. Also, feast table must have been plentiful and very hearty as it was meant to manifest the hope for the harvest year. Time of this holiday has always been cheerful and it was believed those who refuse to be merry would end up living “in bitter trouble” for the rest of the year.
Lemon-Cream Tart with Candied Kumquats
To enjoy a lemon tart at its best, serve it warm or cold, but never chilled. For this recipe I have used sweet pastry which is easy to prepare. Serve the tart as it is, or sprinkled with a generous layer of confectioners' sugar. It is delicious accompanied by candied kumquats or red berries in season.
