The Royal Bakery & Cafe is just two years young and we’ve recently discovered it. We were impressed. I guess I’ve never been to a classy Russian restaurant or cafe before.  The food is authentic and the owner, Galina, can sure cook! Her cakes and pastries are quite popular (get ready to drool!). Galina was kind enough to allow us to photograph her shop top to bottom and even sponsored a generous giveaway. Thank you Galina for your hospitality and for bringing your cafe to Idaho. I love it when Idaho becomes more culturally diverse!

(Pardon the glare:)My hubby and son waiting for their orders.
I ordered the Pelmeni. Mmmm. I could have easily eaten three bowls.

Park yourself on a cozy couch while choosing a cake for your next occasion.

Location, Hours, Directions

The Royal Bakery and Cafe is located in Nampa, Idaho, across from Macy’s. Because I’m no good with giving directions (i.e. “turn left at the tree and hang a right after the big grey building…”) I’ve provided a map, so you can’t blame me if you get lost.
Hours: Mon 10-7, Tues 10-3, Wed 10-7, Thu 10-6, Fri 10-7, Sat 11-7, Sun Closed.

THE GIVEAWAY:

Here’s the fun part. We are giving away free lunch for two at the Royal Bakery & Cafe! Pick any two lunch entrees on the menu FREE!!! Woot woot! Please enter only if you can actually use the gift certificates (i.e. locals or if you plan to visit). Bummer I can’t enter myself because I would happily get two more bowls of pelmeni.

How to Enter:

Leave a comment below telling me all about your favorite dessert. It could be Russian or any dessert that you wish you had in front of you. No recipes required but if you do care to share, I will throw lots and lots of kudos and thank you’s your way. One entry per person. If you have a large family, you just got lucky, because you can all enter. This is one of the perks of being in a giant Russian/Ukrainian family. One blessed winner will be drawn on Saturday, January 28th, 2012.

P.S. We now have a (reliable) subscription service. Our old one failed. Turns out I was the only one receiving email updates. Unfortunately, I can’t just transfer all my subscribers over, so if you were one of the 500 wonderful people who received updates in the past, please plug in your email here, or to the right (just below my picture).

You can also subscribe to an RSS feed. Truth be told, I’m not sure what an RSS feed really is. But I saw them utha blogs doin it, so I dun it too.

-Natasha

This punch is easy peasy. It requires very little effort. All you do is stir! I can’t really call it a recipe; more like a great idea. The punch may lose a little fizzle but will taste great for the life of your party. Make this for your next event and your punch bowl will stay busy.

Cost to Make: $7
Servings: 20-22

Ingredients:
2 (2-liter) Bottles of Sprite, refrigerated
1 (2-liter) bottle of Club Soda, refrigerated
24 oz tub sliced strawberries in sugar, thawed

Instructions:
1. Combine 2 bottles sprite and 1 bottle club soda in a large punch bowl.
2. Mix in strawberries and Stir.
3. Add ice cubes if desired.

It felt like that scene in ratatouille when the food critic took a bite and remembered his childhood, except I was remembering all the Russian weddings I’ve been to. Russian wedding food typically includes marinated mushrooms. These were just right; my Mama-in-laws recipe. My Dad was especially fond of them. He wasn’t very happy when he found out I took home the leftovers, but I assured him I’d whip up another batch. If you are making marinated mushrooms for a party, double everything. Two pounds of mushrooms may seem like a lot raw, but remember they shrink.

Cost to Make: $8-$10
Servings: 8-10 (Makes 6 cups of marinated mushrooms)

Ingredients:
2 lbs fresh mushrooms, quartered, halved or even whole if they are small.
16 cups water + 3 tbsp vinegar

Marinade Ingredients:
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 Garlic cloves, chopped
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 Red pepper, chopped
1 and 1/2 tbsp dill weed (fresh, frozen or dry)
2 cups water
1/2  cup oil

How to Make Mushroom Marinade:
1. Make the marinade first (before rinsing mushrooms):
In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, salt, sugar, garlic, bay leaves, ground black pepper, red pepper and dill. Simmer marinade for 5 minutes.
2. Add 2 cups water, bring to a boil and simmer another 5 minutes.
3. Lastly, add oil and turn off the heat.




Prepping the Mushrooms and Assembly:
1. Boil 16 cups (4 quarts) Water with 3 tbsp vinegar (or juice from 1 lemon) – to prevent browning of mushrooms.
2. Rinse mushrooms (immediately after rinsing mushrooms, cut mushrooms into quarters, halves or even whole if they are small) and place in boiling water. Stir, cover and cook 3 minutes.


Drain mushrooms and pour marinade over them.


Boil another 2-3 minutes in the marinade.

Cool to room temp and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!!!

Throw these skewers on the grill and you will see your neighbors noses peeking over the fence. They smell and taste phenomenal! My cousin Alla shared this shish kabob recipe with me. Apparently it’s quite popular in Washington state. Alla, I’m so glad you introduced me to this healthy and delicious marinade. The first time I made these skewers I thought they were pretty good except I forgot the salt! Salt is a wonderful and necessary thing you know. Ofcourse, I knew I had to make them again. And now, I will make them again,… and again, and again!

Servings: Makes 11 (12-inch skewers) or 15 (10-inch) skewers
Cost to Make: $18-$25

Ingredients for Marinade:
2/3 cup olive oil
3 medium lemons, juiced
2 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1 and 1/2 tbsp salt (There. I made it bold, so you won’t forget )
1 tsp pepper
5 garlic cloves
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of dill (I used frozen dill and it worked well too)

Ingredients for Shiskabobs:
2.5 to 3 lbs chicken breast or chicken tenders, diced into 1-inch squares
2-3 large red or yellow bell peppers or 3 medium Zucchini, 1/2-inch thick slices
2 medium red onions, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1.5 lbs button mushrooms, whole (pick the smaller ones if you can)
15 wooden skewers
Note: you may also use Mexican squash or any other squash you like.

How to Make Alla’s wonderful chicken and vegetable marinade:
1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine all marinade ingredients and pulse about 15-30 seconds until well blended/chopped. You don’t even have to chop the garlic or parsley by hand. Don’t forget the salt. Done!
2. Mix Veggies, chicken and marinade well. Refrigerate for at least 4-8 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally. You don’t have to get up at night to stir unless you are having trouble sleeping (I hope that’s not the case!).
3. Preheat your BBQ (dust it off if it’s been neglected all winter).
4. Soak wooden skewers in a water bath for 1 to 2 hours before putting them on the grill. This keeps the skewers from burning.
5. Thread meat and veggies on the skewer and grill over medium heat with the lid closed, turning every 2 minutes until chicken is fully cooked.
Enjoy this super flavorful kebab recipe!

Notes: I used bell pepper the first time around and they add a nice pop of flavor and color so, yes, I would recommend them.

Merry Christmas!! Europeans celebrate Christmas January 7th; oh my the party continues! You don’t have to wait for a party to make these puff pastry cream horns. They are easy and super impressive. Mom has a large stash of these molds and we made trubochki together (i.e. she did most of the work while I took pictures). I purchased 12 of my own Cream Horn Molds from Amazon (I picked the Fox Run brand, but they are all very similar). They don’t take long to bake so 12 would be enough but it’s more efficient with more. 30 would be ideal; make them in 2 batches and be done with ‘em.

Cost to Make: $6-$7
Servings: Makes 60 cream horns (trubochki)

Ingredients for Cream Horns (trubochki):
1 package (2 sheets)  Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed
Powdered Sugar

Ingredients for the Cream:
8 oz tub of cool whip
4 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, optional - cream becomes sweeter with it and is more lemony (is that a word?) without it.

How to Make Cream Horns (trubochki):
Preheat the Oven to 400 degrees F
1. Unfold one thawed puff pastry sheet. Keep the second sheet refrigerated. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 30 even strips.
2. Roll each strip out until it is about 2.5 times in length.

3. Wrap the dough around the mold, pushing the dough down to seal it as you go.
4. Place the rolled mold on a baking sheet, with the end side down so it doesn’t unwrap or puff up.
5. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 min until golden brown. 6. Remove Trubochki from the molds and start the second batch.
7. Once your trubochki (cream horns) are cooled to room temperature,you can pipe in the cream.
Puff pastry cream horns can be made even 3 days ahead; covered and stored in a cool, dry place.

Making the Filling and finishing touches:
1. Beat together cream cheese and sugar until well blended (1 minute on medium speed).
2. Mix in the lemon juice until well blended.
3. Fold in cool whip until smooth and fluffy.
4. Place filling in a ziploc bag (or pastry bag) and pipe it into each cream horn, making sure to fill the cone. Hold the bag with an oven mitt so the cream won’t warm up in your hand.
5. Generously dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

You could make the filling a hundred different ways. What’s your favorite?

Lena, thank you so much for this amazing recipe. We loved it and so did the guys at our church construction site (see more about that below). They were easy and tasted amazing! I ended up grinding my own pork and beef but you may use pre-ground. I prefer ground chuck or ground sirloin (“beef” sounds like mystery meat to me!). This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Ingredients for Chebureki:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
½ medium bunch of cilantro, chopped
½ medium bunch of parsley, chopped
1 large bunch of green onion (1 cup chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp milk

15 raw tortillas

How to Make the Meat Mix:
1. I ground my own meat with the KitchenAid attachment. I used boneless pork top loin and boneless beef country store ribs, Fresh is best and there’s no mystery about what’s in it. Mix ground pork and ground beef together (I use my KitchenAid with my paddle attachment to spare my fingers from freezing).

2.Stir in the cilantro, parsley and green onion. Add salt, ground pepper and milk.

Assembling Lena’s Amazing Cherubeki:
1. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add enough canola to cover bottom of pan. Use two skillets to speed up the process.
2. Place a heaping tablespoon over 1/2 of the tortilla.
Spread the meat over 1/2 of the tortilla, leaving about a 1-inch border.
3. Brush water on the entire border of the tortilla; enough so you can see that it’s wet, otherwise it won’t seal. 
4. Press the sides together and seal with a fork. Flip the tortilla over and seal the other side with the fork as well to make sure they don’t open while frying.This is the result of little fingers that really, really wanted to help (and mom turning away for a split second).
5. Saute 3 minutes on each side over medium heat. You may need to adjust your heat settings (not all ranges are created equal), but they do need about 3 minutes per side to cook through. Place them between paper towels when done.
They can get a little juicy inside so be careful that you don’t get a lap-full of juice when taking a bite.

I took a double batch of these to our construction site (we are building a church you know) and the guys loved ‘em! They gobbled them up so fast, with ooh’s and ahh’s galore. I only wish I had made more! I love this picture; it looks like my Dad is running to get some chebureky. That’s our church in the background. I’m so proud of the guys from church who put so much time into building our new church. They sacrifice so much! God bless you all for your hard work and perseverance. And, I’ll have you know that our church is definitely accepting financial contributions to help us build. You may contact me directly if you are interested in partnering with us (even a little bit is definitely appreciated). If you are interested (and what kind of Chlen/member would I be if I didn’t ask??) – please email me and I’ll get you in touch with the right people: Natashaskitchen(at)yahoo.com. Thank you to all my gracious readers! God bless you and I appreciate you all!
-Natasha

I Hope you had a wonderful new year’s eve. My hubby and I stayed in tonight and made a massive batch of guacamole which we devoured between the two of us. We partied it up at our youth pre-new years eve banquet and I’m feeling a little guilty about asking Grandma to babysit two days in-a-row. And Vadim has the flu (he was babied most of the day).

But boy was the banquet fun!! The photo above was taken by Vlad, a photographer from our church who volunteers to taken banquet photos of our youth.

I sang a solo (knees shaking, hands trembling… but I did it!). I don’t know why I get so nervous. I lead worship nearly every Sunday and trust me, I look people in the eye! But the tables turn when I’m alone up there. The first time I sang a solo in church, people thought I was dancing I was so terrified that my body was swaying. And we don’t dance. Nope, no dancing. So, imagine my embarrassment. But I think I’m getting better and braver. I still have to pull the stabilize your mic with two hands maneuver, but all-in-all, it was pretty ok. .

My contribution was the best beef in the world (I made 4x the recipe). I also made 35 of these beauties to raise money for our church (will post a how-to later).

My favorite part was hosting the “deal or no deal” game show! There’s me keeping my game face on, taking a call from the “banker” who happened to be my hilarious sister Svetlana. She kept making offers like “$6 plus a kitten,” for which (shockingly) our contestant said “no deal!” It would have been funny if he took the deal though, since I’m pretty sure there was no kitten.

Happy New Years! God bless, prosper and protect you and those you love!

-Natasha

P.S. How did you celebrate the new year (in prayer, smooching your spouse, fireworks?) I’d love to hear about it; well, not so much about the smooching

This cake is pure awesomeness! Really! You can make the cake layers up to a week early. I love that; especially when you are cooking up a storm for an event. Wouldn’t it be pure awesomeness (I already said that) if your dessert was already done and it gets better with age, just like a good cheese; except it should sit closer to 10 hours, not 10 months or it may grow a mowhawk.

This recipe is brought to you by my Mama; the woman whose taste in food I inherited. Mom uses 3 springform pans so she is working on a layer while the other two are baking; efficiency! Theoretically, you could use a dinner plate to cut-out a circle of the dough and then place it on a non-stick floured cookie sheet to bake. Please don’t panic over the pictures; my mom doubles all of the ingredients and turns out 3 cakes in one evening (superwoman).

This recipe can make 2 shorter cakes, or 1 tall cake. You end up with about 10 layers if they are 9 inches in diameter. If making 2 cakes, each would have 4-5 layers (5 if you use graham crackers for crumbs), or one tall cake with 8-9 layers (with one layer for crumbs mixed with graham crackers). Mom always likes to add at least a couple crushed graham crackers to the crumb mix. It makes the whole cake tastier and pahuchye (fragrant).  Enjoy it!

Servings: 12-15
Cost to Make: $10-$12

What you will need: preferably 2 springform pans and a cookie cutter

Ingredients for Spartak Cake:
1 egg
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened at room temp
6 tbsp (1/3 cup) milk, warmed to room temp
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
2-3 graham crackers (optional)

Ingredients for Spartak Cream:
2 sticks (16 tbsp) butter, softened at room temp
1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 oz package cream cheese, softened at room temp
8 oz tub cool whip, fully thawed (or make your own by beating 1 cup of whipping cream with 1.5 tbsp powdered sugar)

How to Make Spartak Cake Layers:
1. Beat together 1 egg and 1 cup sugar (whisk attachment, medium speed, 6 minutes).
2. Add softened butter, warm milk, and baking soda. Mix on medium speed 1 minute, until smooth.
2. Bring a medium/large pot of water to a boil. Place mixture in a glass bowl or medium sauce pan over boiling water for 10 minutes, stirring constantly (if making a double portion, do 20 minutes since it takes longer to heat up)
3. Remove from heat and immediately mix in 2 cups flour and mix well. (Don’t wait to add flour or you will single-handedly destroy the cake).
Preheat the Oven to 350 degrees F.
Let stand 20 minutes until it is just warm; it thickens as it cools:  Note: It’s easier to roll out the dough while it’s still warm.
4. Dust flour over your non-stick surface (I wish I had my mom’s countertops!) Sprinkle flour over the dough as well so it wont’ stick to your rolling pin.
5. Roll out a heaping tablespoon of dough on a nonstick surface into about a 10-inch round. It should not be sticking to the surface.
6. Generously dust the base of the springform pan with flour.
7. Place the rolled out dough over the base of the springform pan, run a pizza cutter around it. It’s ready to bake.
8. Mix the scraps of dough with some fresh dough and roll it out again. Don’t waste those scraps!
9. Bake at 350 degrees F. until it turns golden (4-5 minutes). Don’t touch the top of the cake layer while its still hot, or you will indent it like I did – whoops!
Note: If one of your layers, is exceptionally oogly, don’t fret. Remember, you will take a rolling pin to one of them and make crumbs.
Notes: do not try to trim your cake layers after they are baked; they will crack.

How to Make the cream/frosting:
1. Using whisk attachment, beat together 2 packages butter and 1 can sweetened condensed milk on medium speed for 7 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
2. Mix in the softened cream cheese 1 chunk at a time until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary (2-3 minutes)
3. On low speed, mix in the cool whip (or whipped cream) until well blended.

Assembling the Cake:
1. Set one cake layer aside for crumbs (or use graham crackers) – or you can mix like we did.
Spread a thin layer of frosting over the first layer (enough to cover the surface) and go all the way to the edges.
2. Place the next layer on top. Frost and repeat this until you finish all the layers. Frost the sides and even out the frosting everywhere. Push down the layers in between so you don’t have gaps of air between your layers.
3. Crush the cake layer you set aside as well as the optional graham cracker.
4. Generously sprinkle the crumbs over the top.
5. Cup handfuls of crumbs and pat them onto the sides of the cake.
6. Transfer to a pretty serving dish and refrigerate overnight (it should sit at least 10 hours for the layers to soften).

Thank you Mama for being patient with me while I took a million pictures. I love you Mom!!

I love that Christmas lasts a full month and even longer for the Russian/Ukrainian community. We also celebrate Christmas on January 7th, which is great because the fun doesn’t end December 25th.

This Christmas will be spent like most; in the warmth and great company of my family. My sisters and I gather at my parents home with our families and open presents early Christmas morning. The best is watching kids tear into their Gifts (and I thought Christmas was fun before babies came into the picture).

Then we are off to church where we enjoy lots of singing and praising God for sending His Son to us (remembering that Jesus is the reason for Christmas). Then the feasting; Christmas dinner. There is always something extra special on the menu for Christmas; this year it’s spartak cake and troobochki (both of which I will post).

I appreciate every one of you and it’s been a wonderful year; sharing recipes with you. Thank you for generously sharing your recipes and ideas as well as all your encouraging comments (they really helped me get through the bumpy transition of our website). I appreciate every time you take a moment to stop by and comment and I hope the recipes are blessing your families. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a truly blessed New Year. May God richly bless and prosper y’all!

In Christ’s Love,
Natasha