Helen RandellGorka 'little hill' cake
August 17th 2011 11:24
Our Russian dinner has been and gone and it was certainly a feast to remember. There were no Russian fur hats and no Russian dancing, but we all did our fair share of bad accents to make the event feel more authentic
.We began with blini with crème fraiche, smoked salmon and caviar. Next was mains for which we had stroganoff (made with tomato paste… there is much online debate about whether this is authentic or not) and Georgian stuffed chicken. As sides we had an egg and potato salad with smoked salmon as well as a pumpkin rice side and two different types of Russian bread. The Russian drink we had was Kvass – a non-alcoholic malt drink that smelled like beef stock and tasted a little bit like stout. We all tried some, but I don’t think anybody finished their glass...
I was in charge of dessert and decided to make a ‘gorka’ or little hill cake. Similar to a Danish in that it combines fruit with pastry and a ‘custard’, the dessert was very tasty and is probably something I will do again – though in a slightly modern, less Russian presentation.
I consulted two different recipes to make this dessert, one of which insisted everything be put together last minute, and the other of which said it was best to leave everything for at least 24 hours so it kind of sets together. It was more convenient for me to make this in advance, so that is what I did, however, the taste test we did with one log of pastry, drizzling the custard over the top was probably how I would prefer to eat it next time. This keeps the pastry crunchy rather than softening it.
If you are serving this for 12, you will need a lot of sour cream. Just remember this when you head to the supermarket so you can put on your large hat and sunglasses so no one knows who you are
Gorka (little hill) cake - inspired by a post on www.russianbites.com
- serves 12
Sour cream cream
600ml sour cream
3 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
Mix all ingredients together. Preferably, let sit over night so that sugar melts into the cream.
Pastry dough
400g cold butter, cubed
4 cups plain flour
400ml sour cream
Work butter into the flour until you have a mixture like large breadcrumbs. Add sour cream and continue to mix until you have a soft dough. Divide into five discs and refrigerate over night.
2 x 630ml jars sour cherries, drained
Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
Working one dough disc at a time, roll out on a floured surface into a thin rectangle. Line up cherries, single file, then wrap dough over the cherries, tucking in at the seam, and cutting off excess dough. Pinch the ends together to encase the cherries completely. Repeat with remaining dough and cherries - you want to make about 10 cherry 'rolls'.
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown then let cool.
Cut the end of your cherry rolls so that they are all the same length. Layer four on the bottom of a serving plate, then cover with cream. Repeat with three rolls covered in cream, then two rolls covered in cream, then one roll. Cover the whole 'hill' with remaining cream.
To serve, cut into slices.
** Russian Bites has a lovely set of photos which show exactly how to make this should you be so interested.
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