My Mom's "Hefeküchle" (little yeast cakes)


While I was a little kid, my Mom used to make these little yeast cakes in the evenings for dinner, as a special treat for my brother and me. They are very simple, you just dust them with sugar. So tasty!

This is a recipe that my Mom actually grew up with. Her mother called them something like "Kliemes". I tried to google this name and recipe to find its origin, but wasn't successful. Maybe the name was just a made-up name from my grandmother. However, I did find a similar recipe of so-called "Welsh yeast cakes". Maybe this was originally an English recipe? Or maybe It could also be something from my mother's father's side. My grandfather was from Latvia, and maybe the orginal recipe came from there?

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour (and a little extra)
  • 1/8 l milk (and a little more)
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  • 20 g fresh yeast
  • a pinch of salt
  • 4 tablespoon oil
  • 1-2 tablespoon sugar (as topping)
  • Serve with dry fruit compote

Preparation:

  1. Prepare the dry fruit compote: Use a package of dried mixed fruit, including for example plums, pineapple, apricots, peaches and dates. Put in a small pot, cover with water, add 1 teaspoon sugar. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 10-15 minutes till soft.
  2. Prepare the dough: Add the flour to a bowl and create a little well in the middle. Warm up the milk. Be careful, it must not be hot, only lukewarm. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast. Pour the milk into the well of the flour. Add sugar to the milk. Crumble the yeast into the luke warm milk. Stir the milk-yeast mix a little bit till the yeast is dissolved. Add a little bit of the flour from the sides and stir till the milk-yeast-flour mix is thick but still runny. There should still be some of the flour around the thick batter. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towl and let sit in a warm place for about 30-60 minutes. The yeast will now work (it will create bubbles, if not, the milk may have been too hot) and the batter will rise a little bit. Then, uncover the batter, mix in the remaining flour from the sides and add a pinch of salt. If the batter is too thick, add a bit more lukewarm milk. If it is too thin, add a little bit more flour.
  3. Fry the cakes: Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan. Pour several small (about one laddle spoon full of the mix) round cakes in the hot oil. The top side will have a lot of little wholes from the working yeast mix. Let fry from one side till the sides get dry, then flip. Fry the other side for another minute till golden brown. Place on a plate with a paper towl to assorb excess oil. Immediately (while they are still warm) dust with sugar. Keep them warm in the oven at very low heat till you have baked all the cakes.
  4. Serve about 5 cakes with a side of dry fruit compote per person.










      Print this recipe:


      Print Friendly and PDF


      Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

      Restorani Tbilisi - a Georgian culinary feast (Berlin, Germany)


      Last december, we had a nice Christmas dinner at this Georgian restaurant - the Tbilisi. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, I have never had Georgian food before. Well, actually, long long ago, a former student dorm roommate cooked us a delicious roasted chicken and potato dish...

      I do like to try new food places and also new flavors, so I was quite excited. As I am very particular about meat, I just hoped the meat and vegetarian options would be balanced. I did not need to worry, they had delicious vegetarian appetizer and stews, but also very tender grilled meat options.

      The food was delicious! I actually have to say that the appetizer plate was my highlight, the amazing flavors of the Phkalis just stood out here.

      Georgian Cuisine

      The Georgian cuisine counts to one of the healthiest in the world. Some of their most common spices include coriander greens, walnuts, pomegranate, and fenugreek. Some of the most famous dishes include the Mzwadi (marinated shish kebabs cooked on fire), the Chatschapuri (the Georgian alternative to a pizza, a quark sourdough bread filled with cheese and baked in a stone oven), the Phkalis (Georgian tapas, better described as patés with walnut paste, herbs and diverse vegetables), and the dishes baked in so-called kvevris (ancient clay pots) including some tasty vegetarian stews.

      It is custom in Georgia to not just dine, but to have a feast (supra) together on a large table with family and friends. Here, a huge variety of appetizer and entrées are served that will cover the entire table. Dinner is a social event :)

      Our Christmas Feast:

      Appetizer plate:

      • Phkali spinach - paté made of steemed and pureed spinach, walnut paste, coariander and pomegranate
      • Phkali red beets - paté made of smashed red beets, walnut paste, coriander and pomegranate
      • Lobios salad - paste of green beans, walnut paste, coriander and herbs 
      • Badrijani nigvsit - baked eggplant stuffed with walnut paste, fresh coriander and pomegranate
      • Gebjalia - cheese roll stuffed with Georgian mozzarella and fresh ricotta-mint filling, topped with a mint-milk sauce
      • Quartuli - salad with cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions, coriander, parsely and a walnut dressing
      • Imeruli Chatschapuri - round bread disk made of quark dough, filled with cheese, and baked in a stone oven, similar to a pizza

      Main Entrées:

      • Mzwadi - marinated shish kebabs (also called "shashlik") with chicken and lamb meat, served with baby potatoes, grilled vegetables and two sauces (a sweet plum sauce and a spicy tomato paprika sauce)
      • Tabaka - marinated young chicken, baked in the traditional clay pot (kvevris), served with vegetables and potatoes
      • Adjapsandali - vegetable stew with eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes, stewed and served in the traditional clay pot (kvevris)
      • Lobio kotanshi - bean stew with red beans, fried onions and herbs, stewed and served in the traditional clay pot (kvevris) with pickled vegetables

       Dessert plate

      • Khada - pastry with walnut paste filling
      • Thathara - pudding cream made of grape juice and walnut pieces
      • Mskali gvinoshi - in redwine poached pear with vanilla ice cream

      Appetizer plate (Phkali spinach, Phkali red beat, Lobios salad, Badrijani nigvsit, Gebjalia)

      Appetizer plate with Quartuli salad and Imeruli Chatschapuri (cheese bread) in the back

      Mzwadi (shashlik) with sauces
      Tabaka (baked chicken)
      Adjapsandali (tomato-potato-eggplant stew)
      Lobio kotanshi (red bean stew)
      Dessert plate

      Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...