Lake Bled Cream Cake

I mentioned in several of my previous blog posts about the Lake Bled Cream Cake (Kremsnita) we ate in Slovenia.  Recently I decided to see if I could find a recipe to make this great dessert.  I searched the internet and decided to try the recipe that sounded the most authentic.

As we prepared to spend the weekend at our friends in Bend, I made sure that I gathered all the necessary items to make the cake.  The hardest thing to find was the pyloh dough used for the top and bottom crust.  I looked at three stores until I found Organic Fillo Dough at a New Season market.

The recipe has three components: crust, vanilla cream filling, and whipped cream filling.  The bottom crust is a single section that fits into the bottom of the serving dish (in this case a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex glass cooking pan) and the top crust is pre-cut into individual serving sizes to prevent it from shattering when cutting for serving.

I started by setting the oven to 375 degrees and then finding a cookie sheet, in this case an air bake pan.  I gave the cookie sheet a light coating of cooking spray.  Next, I calculated the size of the serving dish (one-half a sheet of pyloh dough) and then stacked eight sheets of pyloh dough, brushing each sheet with melted butter before laying on the next sheet.  Once I had built the stack, I trimmed the excess so it would fit into the bottom of the serving pan.  I cooked the crust for ten minutes until it was a light golden brown.  Once the bottom crust was cool, I placed it into the serving dish.

Next, I started working on the cooked vanilla cream filling:

• 1-cup sugar
• 4-tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4-teaspoon salt
• 4-cups of milk
• 4-egg yolks, beaten
• 4-tablespoons butter
• 4-teaspoons vanilla

I had the sugar, cornstarch, and salt already measured and stored in a plastic Ziploc bag, so I added the contents into a large saucepan and then added the four cups of milk and four egg yolks.  I cooked over medium heat while constantly stirring until the mixture thickened and boiled for one minute.  Once it has boiled for the minute, I removed the saucepan from the heat, added the butter and vanilla, and stirred until they were fully integrated into the mixture.

I had prepared a large bowl filled with ice water and I placed the saucepan into the bowl of water to cool the vanilla filling.

While the oven was still hot, I prepared the top crust.  It is constructed almost the same as the bottom crust, except I stacked ten sheets of the pyloh dough (brushed with the melted butter between each layer), then cut the final stack into individual rectangles (2 x 2.5 inches) that will be the final serving sizes.  I separated the pieces on the cookie sheet so they didn’t touch each other, and then baked for ten minutes.

The vanilla filling was now cool, so I spread it evenly over the bottom crust in the serving pan and covered the pan with foil and placed it in the refrigerator for an hour to chill.

When everything was cool, I started on the whipped cream filling:

• 1-quart whipping cream
• 1/2-cup sugar
• 1-teaspoon vanilla

I placed it all in a large bowl and started mixing with a hand mixer.  The directions say to mix until it is thick, fluffy and stands in firm peaks.  This is what we did, but we later realized it needed to be whipped until it is very firm!

I spread the whipped cream over the layer of vanilla cream until it was level with the top of the serving pan (this left about one and a half cups of leftover whipped cream).  I placed the individual squares of crust on top of the whipped cream layer; it looks great!  I covered the dessert with the aluminum foil and placed it back in the refrigerator to chill until after dinner.  I should have dusted the top crust with powdered sugar, but we didn’t have any that I could find, so we went on with out the “snow” dusting.

When I served the pieces by cutting around the individual crust rectangles, I was disappointed that the whipped cream oozed out the sides of the pieces because it was too soft.  I next time I will whip it longer or I might even try adding some gelatin to make sure the whipped cream filling is firm and will not spread.

The dessert tasted delicious, and everyone really enjoyed it.  The whipped cream nicely balances the full flavor of the vanilla cream and the crust adds a nice crunch.  Next time I will make sure that the depth of the whipped cream matches the depth of the vanilla cream for visually aesthetics.

This is an easy dessert to make, and it works best if it is prepared ahead of time.  I do recommend only making this dessert when there are plenty of people to eat it to reduce the risk of eating too much.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Products of Lake Bled, Slovenia

Traveling – Lake Bled, Slovenia

We arrived late in the afternoon in Lake Bled, Slovenia, and we were very tired from a full day of driving and sightseeing.  We are nine days into our Fall 2007 Europe trip and we have been on active and on the move everyday.  We were instantly revived when we saw the lake and the beauty of the surrounding area.

Our first task was to find a place to stay.  We were using travel materials from Rick Steves that included a listing of budget accommodations.  The first Bed and Breakfast we checked out was about 10 miles from the lake and no one was home.  We couldn’t find the second place, so we chose a wonderful hotel: Villa Anna that is situated at the top of the hill on the main road leading to the lake.  It was a great spot as we had a suite complete with kitchen, sitting room, and a sun room where we had our breakfasts and dried our cloths after washing.  The native language in Slovenia is English, so it is very easy to communicate with people when looking for lodging and restaurants.

It’s a five-minute walk from our hotel to the lake.  We walked down and looked out over the pristine lake and noted the church situated on top of a small island in the lake.  We found a small restaurant right on the lake and had a nice dinner.  We both had a pork chop cooked with mushroom sauce, salad, vegetables, and the famous Lake Bled Cream Cake!

We enjoyed the Bled Cream Cake after every dinner while we stayed at the lake.  It has a crunchy top and bottom, and two layers in the middle; yellow vanilla custard and whipped cream.  It ranks as one of our top desserts of all time!

The day after arriving, we went for a drive over the Julian Alps.  The road makes 50 switchbacks during the mountain crossing and was quite a beautiful drive.  Once we reached the other side, there are three options to get back to the hotel; drive back over the mountain (4 hours), drive around the mountains (5 hours), or take the train back through the mountains.  We chose the third options of taking the train.

We thought that we would load our car on the train and get in a passenger rail car for the ride.  We were in a passenger car all right – our car!  I drove our car onto the flatbed train car and remained in our car for the hour long ride through the mountains.  We got out some cheese, crackers and fruit and ate a snack while watching the scenery go by.

When we returned to Lake Bled, we visited our favorite restaurant on the lake, but it was too late for patio service so we dined inside.  I had deer medallions and my wife had marinated chicken kabobs, and yes, we finished with Bled Cream Cake.

We really enjoyed our visit to the church on the island.  We had a gondolier that rowed us to the island where we had 30 minutes to look around.  We climbed the stairs from the lake to the church courtyard and then we flew through the church and small museum as the clock was ticking.  The best part about the visit to the island was the slow boat ride where we could lazily watch the scenery.

On the same day we visited the island, we visited the castle on the hill that overlooks the town and lake.

Our favorite memories (other than dessert), was from our visit to the Vintgar George.  This is a small canyon with a beautiful turquoise river that runs down between the narrow canyon walls.  There are walkways built out over the river so you can walk the length of the valley (about 2 miles down and back).  We were visiting in October, so the colors of the trees were very vibrant and contrasted wonderfully with the color of the river.

Lake Bled is a warm friendly place to relax or enjoy the outdoors.  We relaxed, explored, and really enjoyed our adventures experiencing the local foods.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell

Potatoes Kugel Bend

Visiting our friends Dinah and Steve in Bend this weekend, we adapted a recipe for a shredded potato dish to have as a side dish for the main course of shrimp. Our friend Dinah adapted this recipe from a magazine for Potato Kugel.
She started by preheating the oven to 400 degrees and sprayed a 9 by 13 inch glass Pyrex pan with cooking spray. Next, she chopped three small yellow onions and the bulb from a fennel plant. She sautéed the onion and fennel in a large frying pan with olive oil on medium heat until browned.

In a large bowl, we combined three eggs, the white from one egg, one package Knorrs Spring Recipe Mix, one-teaspoon salt, 1 /4-teaspoon black pepper. The original recipe called for 1 /4-cup of fresh chopped parsley and one-teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves. We didn’t have either one, so we had a group consensus to use the Knorrs mix.

After I peeled the potatoes; my wife shredded them with a box grater and then added the potatoes to the egg mixture. We cooled the onion/fennel mixture for a bit and then added it to the egg/potato mixture and stirred it all together.

The resulting mixture was transferred to the prepared dish and spread evenly across the pan then cooked for about one hour at the 400 degrees until brown on top.

We thought it tasted good and fairly low in calories, we all had second helpings. We all decided that it seemed a little bland and could have used a little more salt and pepper in the recipe. We also though that it could be improved by adding one cup of grated cheddar cheese on top about 10 minutes before it finishes cooking (so much for low fat).

We served this dish warm to accompany the shrimp in garlic butter and a green salad. We were all full from our dinner, but we all had a little more room for Traditional Bled Cream Cake (more on this to come).

Adventure In Food: Author: Kerry Howell