I use to work with a Russian girl and she use to bring this cake all the time.

Russian Honey Spice Cake Recipe
Similar to the old Russian favorite, minus the eggs. Great flavor.
by morgainegeiser

55 min : 15 min prep

SERVES 8

* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 cup oat bran, uncooked
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 raisins
* 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
* 1/2 cup honey
* 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
* 1/2 cup orange juice
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
* salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly oil a 5 X 9 inch loaf pan or spray with a nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix well. Stir in raisins and walnuts.
4. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Beat with a fork or wire whisk until blended. Add to dry mixture, mixing just until all ingredients ae moistened. Place mixture in prepared pan.
5. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to finish cooling.
6. For best flavor, wrap cooled cake tightly and let it sit at room temperature overnight.

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Hope this helps...

Linda

That sounds good. We don't need to do any project but we might just go ahead to give this one a try. Thanks!

What else besides blini!
Skip the caviar and serve with sweetened sour cream and strawberries.
Linda c

What about blini served with sweetened sour cream and honey?

Great minds!

I thought that was funny!

Vodka? No, I thought not, LOL.

How about kulebiaka? Remember, Elery's oldest son adopted a little boy from Russia about a year ago, and brought a recipe for kulebiaka home with him because it was a favorite recipe.

I'm only assuming I'm spelling it right, and it was a pastry type thing filled with beef and onion, kind of like a pasty.

Annie

I'm trying to remember some of the desserts I had when I was there (it was a long time ago) - there were blinis with sour cherries and cheese (kind of a cross between our cottage cheese and sour cream), sweet buns topped with honey and hazelnuts or walnuts, a cake they called "Napoleon", which was a yellow cake with vanilla and honey flavored custard layers (I don't remember any icing on it), apple piroshky, a dish called kisel (or kissel?). That was like a fruit jello but it was tart (cranberries, maybe?) served with sweet cream. That was very good. And the street vendors had the BEST ice cream.

Jo, I'm not sure these can be taken to school & retain their integrity but they sure are good. They are from the German-Russian community in Portland, Oregon. The majority of German-Russians that settled in Portland were from the village of Norka, Russia (known as "Volga" German-Russians). These dumplings were not served as dessert. They were always served as a side dish to sausage. We had these at least once/week during strawberry season. I'm thinking about the Fruit/Veggie thread & realizing that I grew up eating many similar foods so it's probably no surprise I enjoy the sweet/savory meal combinations.

Strawberry Dumplings (Eben Kloese)

Makes 6 servings

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup hot water
4 pint baskets strawberries, stemmed & sliced
Granulated sugar to taste
Lightly salted boiling water
About 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick; see note)
About 1 cup whipping cream or half-and-half

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, eggs and hot water to form soft dough.

Remove from bowl to floured board and knead until most of flour is absorbed. Cover dough with cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into fourths. Working with one portion at a time, roll the dough slightly thinner than pie dough. The dough will be elastic and more like bread dough than pie pastry.

Cut 4-inch squares out of the rolled dough. (You will get 6 to 8 squares out of each portion of dough.) Place 3 to 4 tablespoons berries in the middle of each square. Sprinkle berries lightly with sugar. Bring 4 corners up over berries, pinching the edges securely together to hold in berries.

Carefully drop dumplings into boiling water (about 6 at a time fit in an 8- to 10-quart kettle). Cover and bring back to a boil. Boil gently about 10 minutes.

Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove cooked dumplings and place in warm, ovenproof serving bowl. Drizzle each batch of dumplings lightly with a few tablespoons melted butter, a few tablespoons cream and some chopped berries. Keep bowl in warm oven while boiling additional dumplings.

Note: Use real butter only. Do not substitute reduced-fat spreads; their higher water content often yields less-satisfactory results.

/tricia

Tricia also posted this a while back (when garden web still had caps in our usernames!) and I saved it... Given her original intro which I also saved (Tricia- I didn't think you'd mind if I re-posted it) it might not be appropriate for school, as she says it should only travel a short distance, but your daughter might find it interesting anyway...

Russian Chicken and Dumplings
Posted by TriciaE
this is gonna sound complicated but it isn't...just takes a while but it's worth the time investment. I make this in a LC Dutch Oven. This is best if you're only going a short distance like to the neighbor's house for din-din... I'm German/Russian...family from Norka, Saratov, Russia...and this is our family's recipe for CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS.
OK, first take a deep breathe, relax, and just read through the instructions...you'll see that it's not hard just a lot of process.
Here we go...

Roasted Chicken
1 (3-pound) whole chicken
Salt and fresly ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 Lemon, halved and juiced, halves reserved
1/4 Cup fresh MINCED herbs, such as thyme, parsley, sage, and rosemary
1 Spanish onion, halved but not "skinned"
1 Head of garlic, chopped in two pieces (no need to peel)
Fresh whole herbs, such as above...
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity of the chicken and discard or freeze for another use (like gravey anyone?). Rinse chicken under cold water, inside and out. Pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Season the body and cavity of the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Wash hand thoroughly.
In a small bowl, mash together the butter, lemon juice, and minced herbs. Rub the herbed butter all over the chicken, as well as under the skin. Put the lemon halves, onion, garlic, and whole herbs inside the chicken cavity. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a Dutch Oven. Roast for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones and shred, discarding the skin and set aside. Reserve the bones for chicken stock.
Next Step:
Chicken Stock
2 Tablespoons EVOO
2 Carrots, cut in large chunks
2 Celery Stalks, cut in large chunks
1 Onion halved, do not peel
1 Garlic bulb, halved, do not peel
Reserved chicken carcass
2 Quarts cold water
3 Sprigs fresh parsley
4 Sprigs fresh thyme
2 Bay leaves
To prepare the stock, first place the chicken bones and the vegetables in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with a little EVOO, salt, and pepper. Roast in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
Now, when the roasting is done...coat a large stockpot with EVOO and place over medium heat. Add the bones and veggies from the roasting pan, give a few good shakes of salt & pepper and saute everything for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the water and herbs. Simmer for another 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. Strain the stock to remove the solids and set aside.
ARE WE READY??? Next Step is...
Gravy
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon EVOO
1 Tablespoon AP Flour
1/2 Cup carrot, diced
1/2 Cup celery, diced
2 Cloves garlic, minced
2 Bay leaves
1/4 Cup Flour
6 Cups chicken stock (augment with canned if the above is slightly less but it should be enough)
1/4 Cup Heavy Cream
Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
In a Dutch Oven, melt butter and heat oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 more minutes to cook the flour and remove the starchy taste. SLOWLY, pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15-20 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.
WHEW, ok...don't give up yet...we're almost done and it's smelling good in here...
Dumplings
2 Cups AP Flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon salt
2 Eggs
3/4 to 1 Cup Buttermilk
To prepare dumplings, sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk together, pour the liquid in the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together, the batter should be thick and cake-like. Set aside.
The Chicken...remember the chicken??? Go get the shredded chicken and put it into the simmering sauce. If this cools down the sauce, allow a couple minutes to bring back to a simmer.
Finally, the Finishing step:
Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be crowded. Let the dumplings poach COVERED for 10 to 15 minutes (DO NOT LIFT LID TO PEEK). They will be firm and puffed up. Season the pot with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped parsley before serving.
Take the Dutch Oven directly to the table...remember to use a trivet. Congratulations, you've worked for hours and have burned enough calories to indulge yourself with homemade Chicken & Dumplings Russian Style...
Tradition, in my family, is to serve this with smashed tatters. Yes, it's a HEAVY meal, but what the hay...believe me, you won't make this that often! Oh, don't forget to make something green to go with it.

*****************

Well I called some close friends who are very Russian - as in born there, organize yearly trips there through Orthodox church, son is an Orthodox priest, etc... and interestingly they couldn't make any recommendations, saying that sweet desserts aren't really part of the traditional cuisine.

Feel free to disagree, I'm just passing on what I was told!

My research is coming up with basically the same. Lots of dough based meal things like pirozhki and blini, but desserts are often just a variation of that theme; ie, blini with chocolate or TriciaE's dumplings with strawberries. We might just make the Russian tea cakes and call it a day. As of right now, we've got nesting dolls and a military hat my sister brought back about 15 years ago.
Thanks foodonastump for asking for help.

Jo

Russians are big on lingonberries, but so are Scandanavians. At least that's what my friend who lived in Russia said. He lived in a part of Russia near Finland. I'd track down some lingonberry jam and make jam thumbprints or jam tarts.

I have a copy of one of those great old Time-Life cookbooks called Russian Cooking--two books, actually, one all about Russian culture and food, the other with the recipes in it. There's a recipe for an Easter dessert called Paschka that I've always wanted to try, made with pot cheese, cream, eggs, candied fruits, nuts. It's very beautiful-looking, molded into a pyramid shape, but they give instructions for doing it in a clay flowerpot if you don't have the traditional mold. It's a little complicated for a third-grader, but I assume you'll be doing the actual cooking?

If you're interested, give a shout and I'll type it out for you.