Mum’s Polish apple pie

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I’m back!!!

2014 was rather crazy.It was a great year, full of amazing opportunities and I truly appreciate every single one of them,but there was also very little time to be ‘me’,to read books, to walk for hours, to watch movies,to get bored…and I really missed that.So I made a pact with myself.January was going to be my month, filled with lazy breakfasts in bed, quality time with my family, and everything I love but didn’t have time to do.It felt right.

I enjoyed that little break, I feel it balanced my life and helped all my priorities fell into place and I’m so happy to be back! And here I am with a very special recipe that always reminds me of home and brings back sweet memories!Welcome Mum’s ‘Jabล‚ecznik’ aka best Polish apple pie ๐Ÿ™‚

You’ll find this recipe at Life and Thyme, where you can also read my little personal story and I really hope you’ll enjoy it!

I also have some GREAT NEWS!I’m very excited to announce that Bea’s cookbook is a finalist in
UK Blog Awards!!!I still don’t know who nominated me(husband promised it wasn’t him!) but whoever you are-Thank you!

See you guys very soon!

Bea xxx

MOUTHWATERING BLUEBERRY AND LEMON CAKE

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Hi!It’s just a quickie! I really wanted to share with you this lovely recipe that I made for In Clover magazine.

You should know me well enough to realized that I get excited about exciting recipes and I just cannot keep them to myself so I’m spreading the news!This cake is my “dream come true”. A cake that I want to make special memories with…bake it for our anniversary,my mum’s birthday,picnic party with friends and a lazy Sunday afternoon…It’s perfect.

MOUTHWATERING
BLUEBERRY AND LEMON CAKE
with almonds and maple syrup

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
100g unrefined caster cane sugar
200g self-rising flour, sifted
120g ground almonds, sifted
60g unsalted butter, melted
juice and finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
40g almond flakes
60ml maple syrup
150g blueberries

+butter and ground almonds for greasing a tin

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180C.Grease a 19cm springform cake tin with butter and sprinkle with ground almonds. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer for around 10 minutes until pale and tripled in volume. Add the flour, ground almonds, melted butter, lemon juice and grated lemon zest and gently mix to combine the ingredients. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter and transfer the mixture to the tin and spread it evenly. Sprinkle with the almond flakes, drizzle with 1/3 of maple syrup and bake for 50-55 minutes or until cooked and tested with a skewer.
Leave to cool for 15 minutes then carefully unclasp the tin and move the cake to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Brush the remaining maple syrup over the top and enjoy!

TIP: Halfway through baking, you can place a layer of baking paper or kitchen foil over the top of the cake to prevent over-browning.

HAPPY BAKING!

Mum’s best PIEROGI + trip to POLAND

The last few weeks were bonkers.I mean, TOTALLY!I gathered together everything I know about food photography and styling, blew up my comfort zone and travelled to Nothern Irleand to share my knowledge during a live(!!!) online course in front of the camera(!!!!!). It was CRAZY!And I LOVED it!
The thing about sharing is that you can give away everything you have and everything you know, and more always come back to you…And after what I’ve recently experienced I feel like the richest person in the world.

I thought I know myself well,but I learnt more….It turned out that I store more energy in my body than Three Gorges Dam Power Plant,that my voice doesn’t sound like my own when it’s recorded and that I say ”you know” way too often!

I also learn that a pink lipstick is a woman’s best friend!That the currency in N.I. is pound sterling and that I didn’t need to buy and bring with me any Euros (You should see my face when I was paying for a taxi!I dye my hair blond for a reason ;))That there are no shops open after 6 p.m.,only pubs, which is not a bad thing I suppose…..ohhh and that the Guinness only tastes so good in IRELAND!

I found out that staying in the apartment situated opposite the night club during a Freshers’s week is not the best idea and that there is no chance I can fall asleep with 100 students singing outside my windows even if I try meditation, relaxing music or piling 4 pillows over my head.(HUGE THANKS to the team for moving me to a different hotel the next day!!!But of course their could never predict that my new room would have a broken key system and a humming radiator!All turned out well though.Ufff!After my polite explanation that I needed a quiet room, they put me in the beautiful apartment with the best view of the city you can imagine and a massive bed!!!I was doing my happy dance in a hallway!)

I fell in love with Ireland and with people I met, their kindness, hospitality and sense of humour.Oh and I fell head over hills with Irish accent too!

I realized too that I have a pretty good relationship with that girl I see in the mirror every morning and that it’s good to be friends with yourself ๐Ÿ™‚ And most important…that I have amazing people by my side, who always support me,love me for who I am and who make me a better ‘me’.I would never do it without you and I love you more that you can imagine! ;*

If you watched the class or are going to watch it….I hope I showed the real me….imperfect, a little crazy and totally in love with food and photography!I also hope that you enjoyed those three days with me and that somehow I infected you with my passion and inspired you to learn more!If you are interested,find more information on engage.co or Engage facebook page where you can find an interview with me and some behind the scenes ๐Ÿ™‚

I wanted to say HUGE THANK YOU to ENGAGELIVE for giving me this opportunity and for making me feel like home.HUGE THANK YOU to Rachel Jane Cam and Eva Kosmas Flores for contributing to my class.You are the best!

 

Right,so let’s talk about today’s post.I promised you I would share more pictures from our last visit to Poland, remember?It was a long time ago but I really couldn’t wait to show you the place so close to my heart and share mum’s best pierogi recipe ๐Ÿ™‚

So let me take you for a trip….

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I find Poland easy to love…Its flavours,sounds,scents,colours and surroundings fill every corner of my childhood memories….and my rebellious teenage years too ๐Ÿ™‚ Its breathtaking views always melt my heart….and the food….what can I say…..it makes me soooo HUNGRY!

Did you know that pierogi is the tastiest food ever invented on this planet?Now you know ๐Ÿ™‚

And what is better than a mum’s recipe? Two mums best recipes combine into one,of course!
So this pierogiย  is a combination of the tips given by my mum and my mum-in-law.And I’m giving you all the secrets away!Believe me,it can’t get any better ๐Ÿ™‚ SMACZNEGO!

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RECIPE:

makes 50

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough:
300g plain flour + for dusting
1 egg
20g butter,melted
120ml warm water
pinch of salt

For the filling:
500g potatoes,cooked
500g polish curd cheese(you can get it from a polish shop or if you are UK based,they sell it in ASDA :))
4 medium onions,chopped
1 tablespoon of oil
fresh dill, chopped
freshly ground salt and pepper
optional: 200g bacon, chopped and fried

Serve with fresh dill and chopped and fried onions.
You can also add some chopped and fried bacon :0

PREPARATION:

Heat the oil on a frying pan, add onions and fry until gold.Mash the potatoes with the cheese, add the fried onions and mix together.Form 50 equal balls.Leave on the side.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Prepare the dough,sift the flour onto a clean surface(or in a bowl), make a well,crack the egg in the middle and add add butter,salt, and pour the water slowly combining all the ingredients with a wooden spoon and then with your hands.Knead for 5 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.
If itโ€™s still sticky add some more flour.Not too much because the dough will get too hard.

Divide the dough into four parts.Cover them with a cotton towel so they don’t dry out.Roll out the first one onto a lightly floured surface(quite thin โ€“ around 3mm),cut out circles very close together using (7cm/2,75โ€ณ) glass, cutter or jar. Put shaped into a ball filling on each circle,holding it in your hand, fold into a half-moon and pinch edges, forming a well-sealed crescent.Transfer each one onto a lightly floured surface.

Do the same with the other parts.

Working in batches, transfer pierogi to the boiling water. They will sink to the bottom(stir them carefully so they donโ€™t stick to the bottom, but be careful not to brake the dough) and then rise. Once they have risen, cook through, about 2 more minutes. Transfer pierogi into a bowl using a slotted spoon and drizzle with melted butter.

Serve with fried onions and fresh dill.

Mum’s secret:

1.Roll out the dough quite thin.When it’s too thick it will be hard when cooked.

2.More filling, the better ๐Ÿ™‚ That’s why ”filling balls” come handy ๐Ÿ™‚

3.Cook potatoes the day before if you can.When you do this the potatoes will ‘dry’, which makes the filling much better!Watery filling is something you want to avoid ๐Ÿ™‚

4.Use good quality curd cheese.

5.To avoid pierogi sticking together(if you don’t eat them all straight away :)), take them out of the water and scatter them around on a big baking tray so they don’t touch one another.When they cool down, place them in one dish.To warm them up, cook them on a frying pan with a little butter or place them in the preheated oven.