In episode one of the Cookery Show Brodsky makes a dish of cherry
and chocolate Polish pierogi from the disassembled ingredients
of a German Black Forest cake, a symbolic translation of a German
into a Polish dessert, which she originally invented to take
on a time travelling trip to try and rescue her Polish Jewish
grandparents from the Holocaust.
SCRIPT:
Rosalind
Brodsky:
Greetings,
and welcome to the latest episode of my time travelling cookery
show.
Today's
recipe is a traditional dish of Polish pierogi with a chocolate
and cherry filling. I have to admit I've eaten a lot of these
pierogi on my time travelling trips to Poland throughout the
twentieth century but I don't suppose the Poles have ever used
the recipe I'm going to give you today.
All
you will need for this delicious dessert is one Black Forest
Cake, shop bought if you like, and a modicum of cultural and
historical transgression, or call it what you will.
The
first thing we need to do is disassemble the cake. We'll start
by taking the cherries from the top of the cake and placing
them on a plate.
Then
remove the dollops of cream that the cherries are on.
And
now we'll remove and place into a bowl the grated chocolate
from around of the cake and push them backwards through the
grater until they form a bar of unsweetened baking chocolate.
Then
we'll remove the cream from the top and sides of the cake.
Now
carefully remove the top layer of the cake, take off the cherries,
scrape off the buttercream, placing each in a separate bowl.
You
have to repeat this process for every layer of the cake until
it is completely disassembled.
And
now to separate the filling.
First
we have to extract the kirsch from the buttercream. Now beat
the mixture backwards to extract the egg yolk and reduce its
volume, about 3-5 minutes.
Beat
the sugar out of the butter and put them to one side.
Now
for the syrup.
First
take all three cake layers and slip the syrup from them back
into a small hot pan.
Remove
the kirsch from the syrup back into the bottle and cool down
the mixture until the water and sugar separate, stirring all
the time.
Then
place the sugar back into a cup and the water into a glass.
So
now, to separate the sponge mixture place the cake layers on
racks until they heat up, then place them in 8 inch cake pans
until they reach 350ûF.
Now
we're ready to put them in an oven at the same temperature.
After about 10-15 minutes remove the cake pans from the oven
and pour the batter back into a bowl.
Alternately
unfold the chocolate and flour from the batter until only the
egg mixture is left. And then beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla
for about 5-10 minutes until they separate.
Stage
2
You
should now have in front of you all the necessary ingredients
for the Pierogi.
First
we have to mix together the four cups of flour, two of the eggs,
a half a cup of sour cream and two thirds of a cup of warm water,
a little at a time. The knead dough until it's firm and elastic.
I
originally invented this recipe for a time travelling journey
to try and rescue my Polish grandparents from the Holocaust.
Had
I found them dragging their possessions along a country road,
or starving to death in a camp, I would have been able, whilst
transporting them back with me to the 21st century, to feed
them this dish, a symbolic translation of a German into a Polish
dessert.
Unfortunately
so far I've been unable to locate them, but I'm still looking.
Now
we'll cover the dough up with a cloth and let it rest for ten
minutes.
While
we're waiting let's make the chocolate and cherry filling.
First
melt the large lumps of unsweetened baking chocolate in a double
boiler and prod around until it melts and then add the two ounces
of butter and four ounces of sugar, stirring constantly.
Now
we can remove it from the heat and beat in the two egg yolks
until it's light and fluffy, mmmm.
Now
let's take the plate of sour cherries and add it to the mixture.
Don't
forget to save the cherry juice for later on.
Oh
great, the dough should be ready by now.
Just
divide it up into three parts and on a floured surface roll
dough to about four millimetres thick and cut it into eight
centimetre rounds with a glass.
Now
we can place a small spoonful of the filling in the centre of
each round, just add a little water on one side of the dough
and fold and press the edges together firmly to seal them up.
Don't they look lovely?
Now
let's get the cherry juice and bring it up to a simmer in a
pan with some extra water.
Now
simply drop in the pierogi and keep them simmering for 15 minutes,
stirring
gently all the while to prevent them from sticking together.
Ok
they should be ready by now so I'll just remove them with a
slotted spoon.
All
we have to do is put a few on each plate and serve them up with
a good dollop of sour cream.
Mmmm,
I can't wait to get started on these. I hope you enjoy them
as much as I do.
See
you next time.
