Medovník – Czech Honey Cake

Medovník is traditional Czech honey cake. Honey is its integral ingredient and thank to its attributes provides long durability. Medovník is very popular dessert in Czech restaurants and sometimes presented as birthday cake.

Ingredients

  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 280g of butter
  • 1 spoon of baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 2 spoons of honey
  • 100g of icing sugar
  • 200g of flour
  • walnuts
  • coffee with rum

Directions

  1. In double boiler warm 30g of butter, egg, honey and sugar. Stir and slowly add sifted flour and baking soda.
  2. Knead into a dough and let rest for a few minutes.
  3. Divide dough in 5 parts. Roll each part slim on floured rolling board and cut in the round shape of cake. From offcuts roll 6th slice.
  4. Put slices on parchment paper and bake in 180°C oven for 4-5 minutes.
  5. Cream is made with butter and condensed milk. Mix soft butter in blender and little by little add condensed milk. Try to boil the condensed milk in can for 2 hours the day before.
  6. When the slices cool off, brush them with mixture of coffee and rum.
  7. Cover first slice with cream and repeat with each layer. Cover sides with cream and sprinkle top and sides with chopped walnuts and crumbs from offcuts.
  8. Put in fridge for at least a night.



Traditional Easter Sweets – Boží milosti

Boží milosti (God’s mercy) are traditional Easter sweet pastry of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. It’s very fragile crispy delicacy known in the world as Angel wings and by many other names. They are excellent right after frying or even on second day, but hardly anyone can resist this temptation and they’ll disappear quickly.

Ingredients

  • 250 g of flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 50 g of butter
  • 50 g sugar
  • 2 yolks
  • 2 spoons of white wine
  • 5 spoons of sour cream
  • teaspoon of lemon peel
  • oil for frying
  • powdered sugar and vanilla sugar for coating

Directions

  1. Mix flour with all ingredients and soft butter. Knead a dough and put in fridge for 30 minutes
  2. Then roll out the dough flat and carve rectangle or any other shapes (circa 8 x 5 cm/3 x 2 inches). Cut twice in the middle of each piece.
  3. Fry shortly in adequate amount of oil. During frying the biscuits should puff up a bit. While still hot gently coat in mixed powdered and vanilla sugar.


Buchteln – Czech Sweet Buns

Buchteln or in Czech “Buchty” are traditional filled sweet buns made mainly by grandmas at countryside. Most popular fillings are plum jam, curd cheese and poppy seeds. Main character in almost every Czech fairytale packed these buns for his adventurous trip.

Ingredients

  • 20g of yeast
  • 250ml of milk
  • 60g of sugar
  • 250g of fine wheat flour
  • 250g of soft wheat flour
  • 2 yolks
  • 60g of butter
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 spoon of rum
  • pinch of salt
  • 80g of butter – use to oil the pan
  • icing sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions

  1. Heat up part of milk and blend in yeast, spoon of sugar and spoon of flour. Let rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Whip yolks  in remaining milk. Sift flour into bowl, add mixture from point 1, whiped yolks, sugar and butter. Add lemon peel, lemon juice, rum and salt and make into a dough. Cover dough with cloth and let rest for 1 hour in a warm place.
  3. Divide dough to small portions with a spoon. Make flat and add filling of your choice (poppy seed, curd cheese, plum jam).
  4. Join the corners together into the shape of bun and put it in the butter oiled pan (joined corners down). Butter every bun a bit. Before baking let rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Put in preheated oven 180°C (356°F) and bake for about 30 minutes until they have golden color.
  6. At last dust with icing sugar. Dobrou chuť!