Bangladesh

I completed with the cakes from countries whose name begins with letter A. The first country with letter B is Bangladesh. A relatively young country – only since 1972. Previously, it was part of the British Empire. The proclaimed Independent India is divided into two countries: India with Hindu majority and Pakistan with Muslim. Between East and West Pakistan spreads a 1700-kilometer of Indian territory, united by Islam, but with different languages ​​and traditions. The Bengalis from Eastern Pakistan began a revolt against West Pakistan in 1971. This triggered a bloody civil war. India helps the victory of East Pakistan, which gains the status of an independent state of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is an agrarian country with low living standards. Rice, wheat, sugar cane, betel, bananas, mango, tea, jute, tobacco are grown. The livestock breeding is underdeveloped – grown cattle, goats, poultry, fishing is also developed.The country has natural gas reserves. The light industry has developed.

Almost 90% of the population professes Islam. Almost as many percent live in the villages. Migration to larger cities is rather weak. Young people remain living in their native villages and have a great respect for their elderly relatives. This is largely dictated by their religion. The oldest is the head in a family. He cares for all, he can offer his son or grandson for which girl to marry, but if the young man does not want this marriage can refuse. But the oldest, if he does not approve of the choice of the younger wife, such a marriage cannot be realized. Giving a dowry at marriage is one of the causes of poverty in the country. When a girl is born in a family is not a cause for joy at all. When this girl marries, she goes to her husband’s family and has to obey him. The eldest distributes both the work responsibilities of the field for men and the obligations of the women in the household. Rarely married women are unhappy in marriage because they have not seen relationships other than subordinates.

The business card of the Bangladeshi cuisine is the rice. The ways of making it are not different from those in India and Thailand. They cook it steamed, rarely boil it, and rarely fry it. Because of the use of a variety of spices, variations of rice dishes are many – from the simplest dish with meat and curry to much more sophisticated “dum-biryani” and “kachchi-biryani”, variants with shrimps, dahlias, cooked eggs, all kinds of vegetables (aubergines are especially popular) or salad. Rice replaces bread and meat at the table, and for most of the population it is the only food.

Another element without which we can not imagine the local cuisine is curry. This spice is basically made of a shredded turmeric root with numerous other additives. This spice is widely known throughout Asia, but cooks in Bangladesh use it on such a scale and with such ingenuity that it is rightly the basis of the kitchen in this country. Curry is served in meat and bird dishes, always with rice and vegetable dishes.

Spices in Bangladeshi cuisine occupy a central place, not as a supplement, but as a player in the center of the field. There are no concepts like “just meat” or “boiled rice”. There are a set of obligatory spices – mustard, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, chili peppers, dill, cumin and much more.

The next, after rice, popular dish is “dal” – all kinds of lentils, which are served as a garnish to different meats. Another often present at the table is the chutney – it is similar to our lutenica, but its ingredients are fruits like mango, tomato, pineapple or papaya in combination with vinegar and hot spices. Another important ingredient in Bangladesh’s cuisine is beef, which distinguishes it from neighboring India. This meat is expensive and in most cases replaces it with goat or poultry meat or boiled eggs. But no festive table can go without it. No matter how expensive it is.

The sweets in the Bangladeshi cuisine have their place. One of the most popular desserts is made from sweetened, pressed cottage cheese (something like cheese). At the bangladesh table are includes rice pudding, sweet rice with walnuts, halva, sweet small flat cake from wheat or rice flour in combination with palm sugar and coconut.

The cake I have prepared for you is very much like the German Schwarzwald, but here they make it with a different cream. In addition, in this cake cherries are used only for decoration, not inside the swamps. Because both recipes are delicious, I will offer them here, and I have prepared this one with the stuffing that is traditional for Bangladesh.

For cake:

2 tea cups of flour

1 ¾ tea cups of sugar

3/4 tea cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon of salt

4 eggs (about 60 grams each)

1 tea cup of milk

½ tea cup of butter

vanilla

2 teaspoons of soluble coffee

For stuffing

(Schwarzwald cake):

500 ml of cream

1 and ½ tea cups  of powdered sugar or to taste

vanilla

syrup of 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water

preserved cherries

100 grams of black chocolate for decoration or for filling

(Bangladesh variant):

1 tea cup of butter

4 tea cups of sugar

3-4 tablespoons of milk

syrup of 1 cup of sugar with 1 cup of water

vanilla

preserved cherries

100 grams of black chocolate for decoration or for filling

Step of preparation:

1.Warm the milk and mix with the soluble coffee. Let it cool down.

2. Heat the oven to 175 ° C. Smear three trays with a diameter of 15 cm with oil.

3. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, bread soda, baking powder and salt.

4.Add the eggs and sugar together until it becomes a fluffy mixture.

5. Add the butter and mix. Add the milk mixture with coffee, vanilla and stir again.

6. Add the flour mixture on three parts and mix.

7.Bake the cake in the prepared trays in the oven for 40 minutes or until a wooden stick comes out clean. Start checking from the 35th minute onwards.

8. Allow the marshes to cool for 30 minutes. If the cake has a dome shape, use a serrated knife and cut the dome and straighten the cake until it becomes flat.

9. For whipped cream cream: While the cake cools, whisk cream and sugar together. Beat with the electric mixer at high speed until hard peaks are formed, 6-8 minutes. After 4 minutes add vanilla essence. Put the cream into the refrigerator until you start assembling the cake. Or for butter cream: Sift sugar. Stir the butter for 5 minutes until it becomes pale and fluffy; gradually add a portion of sugar and 1 teaspoon of milk. Continue to add sugar and milk in a row. Beat well after each addition. The glaze will become very fluffy. Sweetness and texture are personal preferences, so adjust as desired.

Assembling:

Open the can of cherries and drain the liquid (cherry syrup). Measure 1 cup of syrup and add ¼ cup sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. If you do not use canned cherries, make a syrup of a cup of sugar and a glass of water as I did. Put the first cake. Moisten itwith 2 tablespoons of syrup. Spread a piece of cream or butter cream with a spatula. If you make “Black Forest” put a few cherries. Proceed with the other two cakes. Finally, decorate with cherries and grated chocolate. Put the cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

It was the cake from Bangladesh. It was strange to me that this cake was eating in these latitudes. I thought I would make the Schwarzwald variant for Germany. Both countries have nothing to do with either culture or history. But … obviously this taste is liked everywhere in the world. I’ve tried the Schwarzwald version before, and I find it difficult to judge which of the two creams I like more. The cake is juicy and rich in chocolate flavor. And its preparation is not difficult. So try it too.

Next destination – Barbados.