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Polish Housewife

Polish recipes served up with tidbits of folklore, customs, and history

Filling

Cherry Berry Pie

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We have friends coming for dinner tonight, one of whom is originally from Bydgoszcz, PL. Our menu is mostly Polish: Barszcz with Krokiety, Żurek, Kotlet Schabowy, Silesian Dumplings,  cucumber salad, and a gołbaki casserole topped with mashed potatoes. For dessert, we’re going American. In planning our menu, I thought I would make two pies, one of them apple. But my pie baking was done the day before, on a Monday night, after a long day at work, and the thought of peeling and slicing apples after dinner didn’t sound appealing. So I decided to only do my other pie choice, a Cherry Berry Pie.

Cherry Berry Pie

I used three packages of frozen fruit, so this is something you can make any time of year. If you have a summertime abundance of inexpensive, fresh berries, even better.

It’s possible to make a pie crust in almost no time at all, but if you wanted to make this even faster, use two prepared circles of pastry. In that case, this could be assembled while you’re preheating the oven.

This was the first time I’ve used my Home Made cookie stamp. I saw a pie one of my blogging friends made using one. It seemed like such a nice touch that I wanted to add the stamp to my collection. I’ll have to work on my technique. It’s not easy to read.

The recipe is basically one that I’ve had for fifty years (a Pillsbury 3-ring binder cookbook) with an improvement from Rose Levy Berandaum, thicken fruit pies with corn starch, not flour, and lots of it. I love that after it’s cooled, I can slice this pie and the filling does not run all over the pie pan. After it’s set up, it stays put. It’s not too solid, it’s just right.

Smacznego!

Lois

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Cherry Berry Pie

Cherry Berry Pie

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American
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Description

Quick and easy to make, this fruit pie is amazing!

Ingredients

  • Your favorite double pie crust recipe or purchased
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 tablespoons corn starch
  • Juice and zest of one lemon
  • 12 ounces frozen cherries
  • 24 ounces frozen mixed berries
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425
  2. Line an 8 or 9 inch pie pan with crust
  3. Combine 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest
  4. Add frozen berries and gently stir until well mixed
  5. Add berry mixture to pie pan
  6. Top with second pie crust
  7. Seal edges and make slits in the top crust
  8. Bake 20 minutes
  9. Brush top pie crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar
  10. Bake another 35 minutes
  11. If your berries were thawed when they went in the pie, it may be done at this point, the juices should be bubbling up and through the slits in the top crust
  12. If your berries were frozen, as mine were, lay a sheet of aluminum foil over the top to keep it from getting too brown
  13. Bake until juices are bubbling, about another 30 minutes
  14. Allow to cool several hours or over night before slicing.

 

 

 

Rogale swietomarcinskie St. Martin’s Croissants

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November 3, 2017–You’ll find my original post below, which includes links to a lot of interesting info about Rogale swietomarcinskie St. Martin’s Croissants and St. Martin’s Day in Poznan. I’ve updated the recipe this year with a quick and easy way to make a smaller croissant and a smaller batch. I actually prefer my new version. The pastry is tender and light and just the right size!
Much like Champagne (it must come from France), the real rogale switomarchinskie can only be made in Poznan and only by certain bakers, and by law it must be at least 250 grams, or half a pound! This year I made a small batch of the filing, scaling it down for the 1.25 ounce jar of poppy seeds that I picked up at my American supermarket.
I’ve also include a quick video to help you through the piping and rolling process. You cut a little notch on the small part of your dough triangle. This serves two purposes, it helps to distribute the filing throughout the pastry, and it keeps the middle from being too thick, insuring more uniform baking.

Smacznego!
Lois
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Rogale swietomarcinskie St. Martin’s Croissants

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 12 mins
  • Total Time: 22 mins
  • Yield: 16
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Polish
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Description

A quick and easy version of a traditional Polish pastry!

Ingredients

  • small jar (1.25 ounces) poppy seeds
  • 3/8 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup chopped almonds
  • 1/4 cup shortbread cookie crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoons butter
  • pinch salt
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cans of crescent roll dough

for glaze and topping:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • milk, enough to make a spreadable consistency, it won’t take much
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts

Instructions

  1. Process the poppy seeds, walnuts, raisins, almonds, and cookie crumb in food processor until texture is uniform and fine
  2. Transfer to a small saucepan and add cream, powdered sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt
  3. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly
  4. Remove from heat, stir in almond extract
  5. Cool
  6. Open crescent roll dough and seperate into 16 triangles, make a 1 inch cut into the short part of the triangle (the side where you’ll begin rolling up the dough)
  7. Put the cooled filling into a pastry bag of plastic sandwich bag, snip off the tip or corner to give you an opening that’s about 1/2 inch across
  8. Pipe the filling in a Y shape along the dough
  9. Roll up the dough, giving a horseshoe shape to the roll
  10. Bake at 375 for about 12 minutes
  11. Cool
  12. Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk
  13. Spread with glaze and sprinkle with finely chopped peanuts
Rogale swietomarcinskie (St. Martin's Croissants)

November 9, 2011–I’ve been wanting to make Rogale swietomarcinskie St. Martin’s Croissants, a local specialty for a long time.  It’s traditionally made for November 11th, St. Martin’s Day.  The first year Ed was in Poland, he told me about them.  The second year, he put one in the freezer for me because I was coming for a visit just a week later.  I began reading recipes online back in August.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be invited to a  Rogale swietomarcinskie workshop hosted by the head of the bakers’ guild.  That was so much fun, and I picked up some good tips.  And now I know that if I make thousands, this pastry dough will become a simple matter for me, as it was for the professional bakers.  It wasn’t simple today.

The filing was easy to put together.   I can see myself using this in other ways – in thumb print cookies, in kolachi rather than a canned filling.  The dough was such a chore to prepare that it maybe be prepared less frequently.  The professionals have a giant rolling machine that I would love to have.  I think with that roller, I could be unstoppable – making fresh croissants every couple of days.  I would have to be riding my bike every waking moment that I wasn’t in the kitchen.

Source:  This recipe is adapted from  Regionalna Kuchnia Polska, a cookbook I picked up in the train station and have been translating with the help of google.  

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Rogale swietomarcinskie (St. Martin’s Croissants)

★★★★ 4 from 1 reviews
  • Author: Polish Housewife
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Description

A flaky crossiant with an almond poppy seed filling!

Ingredients

filling:

  • 2/3 cup poppy seeds, white poppy seeds prefereable
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 2/3 cup chopped almonds
  • 1/2 cup shortbread cookie crumbs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract

pastry:

  • 7/8 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 packet dry yeast
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter chilled,sliced

egg wash:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

glaze:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • milk or cream, to create spreadable consistency

Instructions

filling:

  1. With a steel blade, process poppy seeds, walnuts, raisins, almonds, and cookie crumbs in food processor until the texture is a coarse meal
  2. Dump the mixture into a sauce pan , add cream, sugar, butter, and salt
  3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, the mixture will still ooze a little
  4. As it cools it will become more firm
  5. Stir in almond extract, cool

pastry:

  1. Heat milk to 110 degrees.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons butter, yeast, and sugar.
  3. Let sit for 5 – 10 minutes, should be foamy.
  4. Add egg yolks.
  5. Stir in flour and salt.
  6. Place in a clean bowl, cover the top of the dough with plastic wrap.
  7. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
  8. Roll dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick.
  9. Top dough with butter slices.
  10. Fold dough into thirds, and roll it out to the original size
  11. Fold into thirds and roll 4 more times (you now have 243 layers of your original butter topped dough)
  12. Cut dough into long triangles
  13. Top with filling, I used my hands and rolled it into ropes 1 inch in diameter
  14. Roll up starting with the short side
  15. Place croissants on baking sheet , cover and let rise 30 minutes
  16. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  17. Combine egg, water, and oil. Lightly brush rolls with egg wash
  18. Bake until brown, about 15 – 20 minutes
  19. Remove from oven and frost with glaze made of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk
  20. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, or chopped peanuts

 

 

Blueberry White Chocolate Tart

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blueberry white chocolate tart 500x

My husband loves the white chocolate blueberry tart at a local wine bar, so when fellow blogger Eva in the Kitchen, celebrated her 100th post with a blackberry white chocolate tart, it was just the push I needed to put together this recipe (which is a little less sweet than Eva’s) while blueberries are in season.

Ed has become such a fan of blueberries, that I’ve been looking for varieties that would do well in Tucson with out mild winters and hot summers. There are a few out there, so when we get back to Arizona, I’m going to try planting a some bushes. It will be a challenge and could turn into a battle for territory and fruit with the ground squirrels that have been frequenting our backyard. I hope it works out. I’ve read that it will be the second year before you have anything to harvest, and that the crop will increase as years go by, so if the future brings an abundance of blueberry recipes, you’ll know that our patch took hold.

The recipe will give you one 9-inch tart or four 4-inch tarts. I used my usual pie crust recipe, adding a bit of sugar to the dough. After blind baking , I added white chocolate ganache, pastry cream and topped with berries. Besides the difference in taste, I love the look of little vanilla seeds in a custard. To me, it just says that luxury.

When our daughters were young, I would have been looking for a quick and easy way to be do this: purchased crust, melted white chocolate rather than ganache, instant vanilla pudding. Oh, who am I kidding, when our daughters were young, all of our desserts were chocolate! 🙂

So whatever path you choose in making this tart, 100% from scratch or with a few shortcuts, I hope it will make a wonderful summertime addition to your dessert lineup.

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Blueberry White Chocolate Tart

  • Yield: 6 - 8 (9 inch tart)
  • Category: Dessert
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Description

A cool, colorful summer dessert!

Ingredients

for crust

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, chilled & cut into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup cold water

for ganache

  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cream

for pastry cream

  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
  • 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • heaping teaspoon flour
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • pint blueberries

Instructions

for the crust

  1. Preheat oven to 425
  2. Add flour, sugar, salt, and butter to a bowl, cut butter into dry ingredients using two butter knives or pastry blender until it resembles a coarse meal (or pulse in a food processor)
  3. Add just enough water to combine dough
  4. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 30 minutes
  5. Roll out dough into a 10 – 11 inch circle, on lightly floured surface (also flouring the top of the dough)
  6. Place in tart pan, pressing into place, trim edges and poke in several places with a fork to release steam and reduce bumps and bubbles
  7. Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly brown

for the ganache

  1. Heat the cream until just about to boil
  2. Pour over the chocolate stirring until chocolate melts (if you need more heat, do so gently, over a pan of simmering water)
  3. Spread over the bottom of baked pastry
  4. Chill

for the pastry cream

  1. Add milk to a small sauce pan, reserving a couple of tablespoons
  2. Add the sugar and salt to the milk
  3. Split the vanilla bean pod and scrap out the seeds, adding them to the milk (if using extract, it will be added later)
  4. In a small bowl, whisk the corn starch and flour
  5. Whisk the eggs yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons of milk into the corn starch and flour
  6. Heat the milk to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar
  7. Whisk a small amount of the hot milk into the eggs yolks, this keeps them from “cooking” in the next step
  8. Pour the egg/milk mixture into the hot milk, stirring constantly, bring to a boil
  9. Continue stirring until mixture thickens, remove from heat
  10. Strain though a sieve to remove any egg lumps
  11. Stir in butter (and vanilla extract if using)
  12. Top with plastic wrap, pressing it on top of the hot mixture
  13. Cool and spread into ganache filled crust
  14. Top with blueberries and chill before serving

Lemon Curd

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How lucky am I, living in Arizona with sunshine and citrus trees?  Everyone is giving away citrus this time of year, especially lemons.  I made a huge batch of lemon curd last Saturday.  I have some in the freezer and gave some away to friends (all were very grateful, some a little curious about what they were supposed to “do” with it).  I expect there might also be grapefruit curd and some candied peel in my future.

If you’re wondering what to do with lemon curd, it makes a great filling for cakes or tarts, lemon trifle,  one of my friends mentioned having lemon curd with raisins (added while the curd is warm) on gingerbread as a child, or you could use it to make lemon ice cream (see the comments on this post for instructions).

Source: Ina Garten

Ingredients

3 lemons
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 c. lemon juice (3 – 4 lemons)
1/8 t. kosher salt

Directions

Remove the zest of 3 lemons with a vegetable peeler, taking as little white pith as possible. Process the zest and sugar in a food processor with a steel blade until the zest is very finely minced.  (This smells fantastic.  If I took lemon in my tea, I would keep this around all the time!)

Cream the butter and sugar-lemon mixture.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  (I misread this part of the recipe and used just the yolks, as some recipes suggest; maybe it’s a subconscious desire to make macarons!)  Add lemon juice and salt; mix until combined.

Pour into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low hear until thickened (about 10 minutes and at 170 degrees), stirring constantly.  (Don’t let the mixture boil, or even simmer.  You don’t want lemon flavored scrambled eggs.)  Cool or refrigerate.  Lemon curd freezes well and will keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 weeks.

On another note,  it’s Rodeo Week in Tucson! I should be rustling up more rustic grub for you. This photo is from a couple of years ago.  Our church entered the parade as one of many events related to their 50th anniversary celebration.   This is really a big deal here. The 2010  parade is tomorrow, the longest non-motorized parade in the US.  Every school in town (except the university) will be closed on Thursday and Friday.