This recipe comes from my grandma Pavka (and was emailed in by my cousin Katka). I adapted it a bit by adding coconut flakes to the filling. Besides the ingredients below, you will also need muffin cups. I recommend the mini size, because these treats are super rich, and the tiny ones are just enough.

Chocolate layers: 150g of chocolate, 3/4 stick of Crisco, 3 teaspoons of cocoa
Filling: 100g of ground nuts, 150g powdered sugar, 1/2 stick of Crisco, 2 teaspoons of cocoa, 1dL (0.4 cups) milk

Start by melting the chocolate. I didn’t really pay too close attention to the amount of each ingredient. I started by melting 3 squares, but the chocolate was too thin so I added another two. Roughly, the ratio of chocolate to the fat should range between 3:1 to 2:1.

You can use a double boiler (one pot immersed in another one containing boiling water), but I find this not necessary. Just place the pot on the smallest burner your stove has, and turn it to the lowest setting. Keep stirring so the chocolate doesn’t burn. Also, do not fully melt it, turn the heat off when there is still a small piece of solid chocolate left. This way, the piece will melt from the residual heat, but won’t get hot enough to de-temper the chocolate. You can also add cocoa and powdered sugar to taste.

Arrange the muffin baskets on a tray (I used a baking sheet), and pour in about a tablespoon of chocolate into each cup. Pour it in close to the center, so the chocolate distributes evenly all around. Make sure to save half the chocolate for later. Place in a cool place or the fridge to allow the chocolate to set. I think it’s better to use a cold basement than the fridge, since the drastic change in temperature between the outside and the fridge (usually just few degrees above freezing) can cause the chocolate to crack or turn murky.

Ganache

Šuhajdy are made of three layers, and the middle layer is sweet ganache cream filling. To make it, simply combine sugar, cocoa, flavoring, milk or cream, and solid fat (Crisco) in a pot. Bring to boil on low heat. Let go through the boil for a minute, while continuously stirring. Another way you could make it is by first scalding the milk and then pouring it over the mixture of sugar, nuts, and fats. As far as the flavor goes, feel free to experiment with what you like. There are basically two kinds of šuhajdy: nut (orechy) and coconut (kokos). I used bit of each! What looks like ground nuts in the picture above is actually roughly equal combination by volume of hazelnuts, walnuts and coconut flakes, which I ran through the blender. I didn’t use any alcohol, but a shot of rum would blend in nicely.

Bring the chocolate baskets up from your basement or the fridge, and spoon in the filling. The filling is much thicker than the thin chocolate, so you really need to make sure to pour it in the middle so that you get a smooth, level layer. Also remelt the second half of chocolate (or make more if you ran out), and top off the baskets. Then top each cup with a walnut.

Place in a cool place to allow the chocolate to set. That’s it. Very easy and super delicious. Enjoy!

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In this recipe, which comes from Varecha.sk, I show you how to make medové rezy, or honey slices. I have never made anything like this before, heck, it was just few weeks ago that I baked my first ever cake. If you had told me two years ago I will ever bake a cake of any kind, I would have told you were totally nuts. Yet here I am, making one of the most delicious Slovak rezy.

Slovakia fames itself on its many various delicious sweets, called koláče or zákusky. Koláče are generally things that your grandma would make, the simple but delicious home baked cakes and cookies. Zákusky on the other hand, are the elaborate cakes and pastries that you are more likely to find in the many cukráreň, or pastry shop. These are further subdivided into rezy (which means something like “cut-outs”) and torty) (tortes). If you ever find yourself in need of some culinary inspiration, just type in “rezy” into Slovak Google’s image search…

Here are the ingredients you’ll need, nothing fancy. Just one note. You should probably use cake flour, which is more similar to the Slovak hladká múka (smooth flour) specified by the recipe. But no worries if all you have is all purpose. That’s what I used and everyone I offered the bars to loved them.

Making the wafers

Combine 600g of flour (about 5 cups of flour, from this handy flour calculator) with 150g of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of cocoa, 3 tablespoons of honey, 50g (about half a stick) of melted butter and 3 eggs. This mixture will initially look like nothing that could ever turn into dough.

But keep working it, and it will eventually turn into a solid block with the consistency of play dough (plastelína). Form it into a cylinder and slice into 4 equal sections.

Roll out each section into a plate slightly larger than the bottom of your baking pan (mine is 13×9). To do this, first place a section onto a wooden board, which you have dusted with flour. The board should be bigger than your baking pan. Flatten the section with the back of your hand until you get a fat circular pancake. Then use your fingers to flatten it even more, making sure to close up any tears that form along the edges. Then roll the circle slightly more than the length of your baking pan. Turn the board 90 degrees and roll out in the other direction. Then place wax paper over the plate. Carefully flip the board over to remove the dough. Place it onto a baking pan turned upside down. Use a knife to cut off the dough sticking over the edges. Also use a fork to poke the dough in few places. This is done to keep it from puffing up. I ended up with enough left overs to make fifth plate.

Bake each slice for 8 minutes at 350F. I baked them one at a time.

The custard

Alright, the hard part is done. To make the custard filling, combine 0.5L (about 2.1cups) milk with 5 heaping tablespoons of corn starch. At least that was the recipe. I found I had to add another two tablespoons to have it solidify (perhaps I didn’t boil off enough of the milk). Boil all this together and then combine with 250g of powdered sugar, little bit of vanilla, a shot of rum, and another 250g of butter. That’s some 2.5 sticks – I think Julia Child would approve. Use a hand held blender to whip the custard.

Fill the layers

To assemble everything together, take one layer and spread the custard on it. Add another wafer and top this one with jam (raspberry or red currant if you can find it). Cover with the third layer and spread on the remaining custard. Then cover with the last wafer. At least that’s how it supposed to be done. I instead made WCJWJJWCJW (wafer/custard/jam/wafer and so on). Weigh the slices down with something like a sack of flour and let sit for several hours in a cool place. Initially, the wafers will be quite hard and crunchy, but will soften and taste very much like soft Graham Crackers.

Chocolate Topping

After the wafers have softened (such as the following day), top them them with a chocolate layer. Use a double boiler (one pot sitting in another one containing boiling water) to melt 4 squares of dark baking chocolate with half a stick of butter. I used 100% chocolate. Since this was too bitter, I added about 2 teaspoons worth of hot chocolate mix. The original recipe said to turn the cake over so you end up coating the layer that was on the bottom. I have no idea why you should do this, besides perhaps aesthetics. I ended up coating the top layer because it was more uniform.

Place in fridge (or freezer) to allow the chocolate to set. Serve by cutting out individual slices about inch wide and 3 inches long. You’ll end with about 50 of these. Boy, this thing was delicious!

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Few weeks ago I showed you how my grandma Pavka makes fancy fluffy apple pancakes. In this recipe I show you how my other grandma, Terka, makes pancakes. Her pancakes (or crepes, palacinky) are simple, easy and cheap to make. They require just a few ingredients and take just few minutes to prepare. And best of all, they are just as tasty.

Start by combining 2 cups of water (voda) and 1.5 cups of flour (múka). Add one tablespoon of sugar (cukor) and a pinch of salt (soľ). Whisk well. The batter should be thin – just a tad thicker than milk.

Preheat a frying pan with a flat bottom. Take it off the stove, and brush on bit of grease with a pastry brush. Pour on a small ladle’s worth of batter onto the pan and let spread out evenly before placing back on the stove. Fry for about a minute and flip over with a knife. Take off just as the pancake starts turning brown.

And that’s it. Wait for the pancake to cool off before spreading on jam or sweetened cottage cheese. Roll into cylinder, or fold into a triangle. Top with chocolate (čokoláda), poppy seeds (mak), nuts (orechy) or whip cream (šlahačka). Enjoy!

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I prepare pancakes (palacinky) by simply mixing flour, eggs, milk and sugar. However, today my grandma (from my dad’s side of the family) showed me a recipe for a slightly more elaborate version. The batter for these pancakes includes shredded apples and beaten egg whites (to make the batter fluffier). They were bit more work, but were delicious!

Start by grating two semi-sweet apples (jablká). Then take two eggs (dve vajcia) and separate the yolks (žĺtka) from the whites (bielka). Using a hand-held blender, beat the whites until you get stiff “snow”. Combine the yolks with the milk (mlieko), 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar (práškový cukor) and a dash of salt (soľ).

Add 2 cups of flour (múka) and mix together. Then add the shredded apples and mix some more. Add more milk if needed. The batter should be relatively thick (similar to the batter for American-style pancakes).

Finally mix in the “snow”. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Heat up oil in a frying pan. Scoop out the batter and nicely spread throughout the frying pan with the ladle. You can also use a butter knife to spread the batter. Fry on one side for about 5 minutes, until golden brown. Carefully flip over using a spatula or a knife and a fork and fry on the other side for few more minutes. Add bit oil to the pan after each pancake.

Spread your favorite jam (we used strawberry) on the pancake. Fold over and top with powdered sugar and chocolate. Enjoy!

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Bear paws (medvedie labky) is a cookie that is an integral part of any Christmas table in Slovakia. Although Slovakia is known for its kolache (koláče), elaborate sweet deserts found in cukráreň, the pastry shop, this type of a sweet is called krehké pečivo, meaning fragile baked good. It’s quite simple to make, however you’ll need baking molds. The form most commonly used is in the shape of a crescent moon, which may also be the shape of a rožok, or a bread roll. For this reason, this desert is sometimes also known as vanilkové rožky or vanilla rolls. I am not sure where the name bear paw comes from. Perhaps the original molds had such a shape?

Combine 280g of flour (múka, slightly more than 2 cups) and one 20g packet of vanilla sugar (vanilkový cukor). Also add 220g of margarine (margarín), 100g of powdered sugar (práškový cukor) and 100g of ground walnuts (mleté orechy). You should also add one yolk (žĺtko), but we were out of eggs. So we substituted by adding little bit of milk (mlieko).

Without adding water, mix the ingredients together to make dough. The margarine should be sufficient to emulsify everything, but if not, add just a hint of water or milk.

Take your baking forms and grease them lightly with oil (olej). One dip of the pastry brush in oil will be sufficient for at least half a dozen forms. Then dip each in a bowl containing flour. Shake off the excess flour – you want to coat them just lightly.

Take a small chunk of the sticky dough and spread it evenly in the form. It’s better not to fill all the way to the rim.

Bake on the bottom rack of an oven preheated to some 375F. Bake for about 8 minutes, turning around half way. They are done when they start turning brown. The picture on the right shows my grandma removing the cookies from the metal forms right after they came out of the hot oven! She must have major calluses on her fingers from all these years of cooking and baking that keep her from getting burned. Please wait for the forms to cool before removing the cookies.

Lightly coat each rožok in powdered sugar. Shake off any excess sugar. This is optional, but you can dip the ends in melted chocolate. To prepare the sauce, melt butter, powdered sugar and baking chocolate in a pot submerged in another pot containing water. This double pot technique is used to keep the chocolate from getting burned.

If you need more chocolate, you can add ground cocoa (kakao).

Then dip the ends and place in a cool place to allow the chocolate to set. You can also combine two pieces together. Sometimes two pieces are joined with a cream made out of milk (200mL), flour (3 tablespoons), yolk, vanilla sugar (1 packet), margarine (200g) and powdered sugar (200g). We did not bother with this step, since these guys are tasty even without the filling. But I did make one piece filled with chocolate. If you decide to prepare the cream filling, mix the margarine and the powdered sugar into the cooled mixture of the other ingredients.

And that’s it. Quite easy, isn’t it? This is one of my favorite Slovak sweet treats.

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