Recipes

Pancakes (Crêpes / Блины)

Fri, 29 May 2026 18:34:32 -0400

Soft, tasty pancakes.

These are European-style pancakes, so they will quite be thin and roughly the diameter of the pan that you’ll be using.

Ingredients

3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
Pinch of baking soda
300 mL milk
200 mL water
6 - 8 tablespoons of butter (~55g)
1 cup of flour (~230g)
1 tablespoon of yogurt (2%)

Equipment

Non-stick frying pan
Large bowl
Whisk
Spatula
Ladle
Small pot
Plate large enough for pancakes
Stove

Directions

Put the butter into the pot and begin melting it on low heat. While it is melting, you can continue with the rest of the recipe. Take care that it does not start boiling. If it does, reduce the heat or take it off.
Whisk eggs, salt, baking soda, and sugar until eggs are runny and don’t stick to the whisk.
Before proceeding to the next step, begin heating up your pan on slightly above medium heat. The best heat setting will depending on the size of pan you are using and your stovetop. Read on for more specifics.
Add the flour, milk, and water.
Whisk until combined. The resulting batter should be slightly viscous but still quite runny, and easy to pour from a ladle.
Add yogurt and whisk until combined.
Add melted butter and whisk until combined.
By this point, the pan should be quite hot and ready for the batter.
With a ladle, pour about 100mL of batter into the pan, and move it around in a circular motion to spread the batter into a circular shape. The exact amount of batter to use will depend on the size of your pan. As a rule, you want enough batter to cover the base of the pan, and perhaps just a little more. Experiment with the quantity of batter until you find what works for you.
Wait for the first side to cook. You will start to see the batter on the top side begin to turn yellow. Wait until the entire top side changes colour and the batter dries, then check if that side is complete. The colour of the bottom side should be a nice yellow / light brown with possibly some darker brown spots. Burnt areas are not a good sign, it means your pan is probably too hot, or you took too long to flip the pancake. If the batter is not ready, count about 10 to 15 seconds, and check again. Repeat until the bottom is cooked. Make a mental note of roughly how long it took to heat the first side.
Flip the pancake, and check after about 20 or 30 seconds. This time the colour on the bottom side should be a golden yellow with some light brown spots where the batter made most contact with the pan. You don’t want to undercook this side, so if you don’t see any light brown areas, keep it on the pan until they appear. Again, use the suggested time as a reference. The exact time for you will depend on your pan and stove temperature.
Once both sides are cooked, take off the pan and move to a plate
Repeat until all of the batter is used up.
Serve with some maple syrup, condensed milk, honey, or any other filling of your choice. They are also quite good as-is.

Notes

Cooking the first side of the pancake should take no more than 1 minute. If it’s taking longer, it means either the pan is not hot enough, in which case let it heat up a bit longer, or, you need to turn up the heat on the stovetop.
If you use a lot of batter, the top side may not dry completely before the bottom side is done. Use your judgement on whether the pancake is ready to flip. This will require some trial and error.
Don’t be afraid or discouraged if you burn a few pancakes, or if they don’t turn out exactly how you want them to the first few times. It’s all part of the learning experience. I certainly burned a few while learning this recipe. Just make a note of how long it takes to prepare each side, and try to keep it consistent.
These pancakes don’t need to be just for dessert. You can also used them to hold ground or minced meat.

Acknowledgements

Adapted from the following recipe:

Swedish Pancakes

Pastry Cream (Крем Пломбир)

Wed, 27 May 2026 20:55:22 -0400

This cream can be used for many different desserts, or as a spread on bread or crepes. Originally, it was part of a recipe I had found for Napoleon Cake.

Ingredients

400mL milk
1 egg
120g sugar
40g corn starch
200g or 200mL whipping cream (35%)
100g butter (cold or room temperature)

Equipment

Whisk
Mixer with whisk attachment
Two large metal or glass bowls
Medium-sized pot
Large container with airtight lid
Large spoon or spatula

Directions (Part 1)

Manually whisk egg, sugar, and corn starch in a mixing bowl until thoroughly mixed.
Heat milk until hot, but not boiling. When you see it start steaming, take it off of the heat.
Slowly introduce hot milk into the bowl, while stirring.
Pour mixture back into a pot and on low/medium heat, mix until the cream thickens. As soon as the mixture begins to condense, take the pot off the stove and finish mixing, using the residual heat from the pot.
Once cream thickens and is of an even consistency, add butter and mix thoroughly.
Transfer cream to an airtight container.
Refrigerate cream until cool. This will take 4 to 5 hours, depending on how cold your fridge is. I suggest leaving it to cool overnight if possible.

Directions (Part 2)

Pour whipping cream into bowl and mix on high speed until it thickens. You will know that it’s ready when you see crests / peaks form in the cream as you mix. You should be able to tilt the bowl 45-90° and have the cream stay more or less in-place.
Transfer refrigerated cream into a different bowl and mix on low for about 1 minute.
Combine refrigerated cream and whipping cream in a single bowl (whichever is most convenient), and mix manually with a spoon or similar utensil until uniform.
You are done! You can now use the cream for further baking, or store it in the fridge for future use. If storing, make sure it is kept in an airtight container.

Notes

I’ve reduced the sugar from 200g to 120g.

Acknowledgements

This was adapted from part of the following recipe for Napoleon Cake:

Торт НАПОЛЕОН | Семейный рецепт | Крем - пломбир by Yulia Small

Bread

Wed, 20 May 2026 09:52:21 -0400

Simple, homemade bread.

Ingredients

150 mL water
150 mL milk
450g all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of yeast
3/4 teaspoon of salt (~13g)
1 teaspoon of sugar

Equipment

Large (preferably not plastic) bowl for the dough
Bread pan. Can be (oven safe) glass or metal
Whisk
Wooden spoon
Oven

Proofing the dough

Heat the water in a pot or kettle. If the milk is cold and straight from the fridge, you can boil the water; the milk will cool it down. Otherwise, take care not to overheat the water, otherwise you will need to wait for it to cool down.
Add milk and water to the bowl. Make sure that the mixture is not too hot. It should be warm / hot to the touch, but not scalding hot to the point of causing pain. 40 °C is a good reference.
After letting the contents cool, add sugar, yeast and a tablespoon of flour to the bowl. Whisk until the flour is dissolved and no chunks remain.
Cover the top of the bowl with a towel, and let it stand for 15-20 minutes.

Making the dough

Add all of the flour to the bowl, as well as the salt and olive oil, and stir until the dough starts forming and it becomes difficult to keep going.
Prepare a working surface (countertop, or other flat surface) and lightly dust it with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Apply some flour to your hands as well. Keep some flour nearby in case more is needed.
Knead the dough. You will know that you’re done when the dough stops sticking to your hands, and is more-or-less of a uniform consistency.
Place the dough back in the bowl, cover the top of the bowl with a towel, and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.

Baking

Grease the bread pan with olive oil. Make sure that the base and sides are well greased to prevent the bread from sticking. Alternatively, you can use baking / parchment paper, but I prefer just using the oil.
Gently push the dough in the bowl down a little, but make sure not to press too hard.
Transfer the dough from the bowl to the bread pan, taking care not to deform it too much in the process.
Cover with a towel and let it rise for about 20 minutes.
While the bread is rising, preheat the oven to 180 °C
Place in the oven and bake for at least 50 minutes. The top should be a slightly dark golden brown.
Once baked, take the bread out of the oven and let it cool before slicing. This can take about 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Condensed Milk (Сгущёнка)

Wed, 20 May 2026 07:56:14 -0400

Store-bought condensed milk often contains far too much sugar. With this recipe, you will be able to make your own, and easily control the sugar content.

Prep time: 5 min.
Cook time: 40 min.
Yields just under 300mL of condensed milk.

Ingredients

1L milk
50g sugar

Equipment

Pot with a wide base (inside diameter of ~24 cm)
Wooden spoon or similar utensil to stir with
Sieve (preferably one with a metal mesh)
Container with a lid to store the resulting condensed milk

Preparation

At the end of the day, we’re just boiling milk with a bit of sugar. However, there is a little nuance here. The key to making this successfully is to have a pot with a wide base. For 1L of milk, a pot with an inside diameter of ~24 cm is sufficient. I have also used the same pot with 500mL of milk without issue.

The principle idea in this recipe is to let most of the water from the milk evaporate, until we are left with a slightly viscous, syrup-like consistency. This will take some time, so patience is a must.

Directions

Measure sugar and milk and pour them into the pot as-is.
Set the stove to use the highest heat and get the milk to a boil. At this stage, stir continuously until the milk reaches a boil.
As soon as the milk reaches a boil, it will begin to rise very quickly. Immediately take the pot off of the heat before the milk has a chance to escape, and lower the heat of the stove to medium. Keep stirring until the milk settles again.
Put the pot back on the hot stove, and get the milk to simmer. At this point, you should not need to stir the milk, and it should not rise from being too hot. If you find that the milk is still rising, continue to lower the heat until you are able to leave the milk simmering without it rising. No matter whether you are using a gas or electric stove, you should be able to find the right temperature.
Occasionally stir to clear the build up of foam. You can optionally remove it, but I have not tried this myself. This is the longest part of the process. At this point, you can relax a little and check back on the milk every few minutes, taking care to clear the foam as it builds up.
At some point close to the end of the cooking time (roughly 40 minutes for this quantity), the milk will begin to visibly thicken. You will know that you close to being done if, when stirring, you can leave a visible empty trail on the base of the pot with the spoon.
Cook for a few more minutes if desired, taking care not to burn the mixture, but otherwise, the milk is now ready. Take the pot off of the heat.
Sieve the milk into a bowl or container of your choice. The mixture may not pour smoothly through the sieve, use a teaspoon or tablespoon and stir within the sieve to let the contents through, until you are left with liquid in the container, and a chunky sort of residue in the sieve. The residue is a result of the foam.
Transfer the contents from the bowl into your final container for storage. While hot, the mixture will be still be quite liquid, but worry not, it will condense as it cools.
Serve on some bread, crêpes, or other food of your choosing, and enjoy!

Notes

Larger quantities of milk will probably require a larger diameter pot and longer boiling times. Adjust accordingly.
Yields just under 300mL of condensed milk following the above method. Of course, if you let more water evaporate, the quantity will be reduced.

Acknowledgements

This recipe was adapted from the following video:

КАК ПРИГОТОВИТЬ ДОМАШНЮЮ СГУЩЁНКУ?Домашнее СГУЩЁННОЕ МОЛОКО. Идеальный рецепт.

Shortbread Cookies

Tue, 19 May 2026 02:24:01 -0400

Ingredients

680g flour
360g butter
180g sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Two pinches of salt

Equipment

Baking tray(s)
Baking / parchment paper
Large mixing bowl
Mixer
Oven
Rolling pin (optional)

Preparation

Leave the butter out for a few hours so that it warms up prior to making the dough.

Leave the eggs out so that they get to room temperature. Alternatively, to save time, you can fill a bowl with warm water, and take the eggs directly from the fridge and leave them in the bowl for 5-10 minutes. This is usually sufficient to warm them up. If you choose to warm up the eggs in water, it can be done while preparing the dough (part 1), before adding the eggs.

Dough (Part 1)

Butter and eggs should be at room temperature.
Mix butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder with a mixer at medium / high speed for 5 to 10 minutes. Use a dough-hook mixer attachment at this step, or the batter will stick to the attachment. The attachment should look like a metal stick formed into a spiral. If you do not have such an attachment, a whisk attachment can be sufficient, but you will need to take care and separate the batter from the whisk occasionally.
Add all of the eggs to the mixing bowl, and change the mixer attachment to a whisk, if you have one. Mix at medium / high speed for one more minute.

Dough (Part 2)

Sift all of the flour into the mixing bowl.
Mix by hand until the dough forms into a uniform mass. This should take about 5 minutes, but may depend on the quantity of ingredients used.

Line the baking tray(s) with parchment paper.
Line a portion of your countertop with a medium-sized piece parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

Making the Cookies

Take a clump of cookie dough, and measure about 35g from this mass. Roll it into a ball, place it onto a flat surface such as a countertop, and press it into the shape of a cookie by hand.
- In reality, the amount of dough can be any amount from 35g to 75g. You will just have to adjust the baking time.
Place onto the baking tray, and repeat until out of dough or there is no more room in the tray. Continue until all of the dough is used up.
After all of the cookies are placed, sprinkle a very light coating of sugar on top of the cookies. This step is optional.
Place the tray(s) into the oven, and bake for 45 minutes.
The outside colour should be a golden brown.
To check for readiness, take a cookie out and cut it in half. Do take care, the tray and cookies will be hot! The inside should be a uniform colour, without any soft, darker coloured dough. If you see this, it indicates that the dough is still somewhat raw / underbaked. Place the cookies back for another 5 to 10 minutes, and repeat this step until the colour inside is uniform. Take care not too leave the cookies in for too long, or they will begin to burn.
The cookies are now done, enjoy!

Tips

Feel free to add or decrease the amount of sugar used. These days, I tend to prefer less sugar for my recipes.
Forming the cookies can be done in many ways. You can even use a cookie mould with a pattern, though I have not tried this myself. Baking times will vary based on the thickness of the dough, so adjust accordingly.
The amount of ingredients used can be increased or decreased based on how many portions you want to serve. Just make sure to keep everything proportional. i.e. if you want to double the serving size, increase all measurements by 2. 680g of flour will become 1360g, 360g of butter will become 720g, and so on.

Notes

I have modified the recipe somewhat from the original source. The original ingredient amount was half of what is listed here. I have increased it because I found the serving size too small for the effort needed, and because the cookies would run out far too quickly!

Acknowledgements

This recipe was adapted from the following video:

Песочные КОЛЕЧКИ с арахисом | Рассыпчатые и ОЧЕНЬ НЕЖНЫЕ by Yulia Small

Apple Pie

Mon, 18 May 2026 22:13:06 -0400

A tasty apple-crumble-style pie. The benefit of this recipe is that absolutely no other tools are required. Everything is prepared by hand.

Ingredients

585g flour
150g butter
180g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
A pinch of salt
3 eggs
5-6 apples

Equipment

Pie dish
Oven

Preparation

Cut the butter into small cubes or rectangles for easier dough preparation later on. Leave the butter out for a few hours so that warms up prior to making the dough. Also, leave a small amount of butter for later to grease the pie dish with.
Leave 3 eggs out so that they are at room temperature. Alternatively, to save time, you can fill a bowl with warm water, and take the eggs directly from the fridge and leave them in the bowl for 5-10 minutes. This is usually sufficient to warm them up.

Apples

Peel all of the apples.
Grate the apples into thin strips.
Set them aside in a pot, making sure to cover the lid to slow down oxidation.
(Optional). Add a small amount of butter and water to the pot, and simmer the apples for 5-10 minutes until they are soft. I usually do not do this to save time, and as a personal preference, but feel free to experiment. You can optionally add cinnamon in this step.

Dough

Sift all of the flour into a mixing bowl (optional). You can also just use the flour as-is.
Add all of the sugar, butter, baking powder, and salt into the mixing bowl with the flour.
Mix by hand until no more clumps of butter remain and the dough is more-or-less of an even consistency. Don’t take too long!
After mixing, add the eggs, and mix by and again until the dough is once again of an even consistency. It should clump up a little, but be loose and a little like sand in that it should not form a solid mass, but be easy to separate.
The dough is now ready.

Pie

Begin preheating the oven to 180 °C.
Grease the pie dish with butter on the base and on the sides.
By hand, form the base of the pie by adding a layer of dough to the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle some dough, and press down by hand until the base is formed.
Once the base is formed, add more dough to the sides to form the borders of the pie. You can make them as high or low as you prefer, making sure to leave enough dough for the top.
Once the borders are done, spread the grated apples on the base of the pie with a spoon or other utensil. You need not use all of the apples in this step, it depends how much filling you want.
Once the filling is placed, sprinkle the rest of the dough over the top, making sure to cover the apples completely. You do not need to press the down in this step, leave the top layer loose.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. The top should be a golden brown. The time will of course depend on your oven. For my oven, I usually bake for 35 minutes.
After baking, use a wooden skewer to test the dough for preparedness. Poke near middle of the pie all the way to the base. There should be little to no dough stuck to the skewer. If you see some dough, bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the dough is no longer raw.
Enjoy!

Tips

Experiment with the amount of sugar. If the cake it too sweet, or not sweet enough for your tastes, feel free to reduce or add sugar.

Acknowledgements

This recipe was adapted from the following video:

ЯБЛОЧНЫЙ ПИРОГ | Много начинки и очень вкусное тесто by Ольга Матвей

Recipes

Pancakes (Crêpes / Блины)

Ingredients

Equipment

Directions

Notes

Acknowledgements

Pastry Cream (Крем Пломбир)

Ingredients

Equipment

Directions (Part 1)

Directions (Part 2)

Notes

Acknowledgements

Bread

Ingredients

Equipment

Proofing the dough

Making the dough

Baking

Condensed Milk (Сгущёнка)

Ingredients

Equipment

Preparation

Directions

Notes

Acknowledgements

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

Equipment

Preparation

Dough (Part 1)

Dough (Part 2)

Cookie Prep

Making the Cookies

Tips

Notes

Acknowledgements

Apple Pie

Ingredients

Equipment

Preparation

Apples

Dough

Pie

Tips

Acknowledgements

Archive