Sarkelj

My country has quite a few dishes that are considered typical, and quite a few of them are desserts. Some of them can be made quickly, and some of them take more than a day to prepare. One of the typical desserts from my country that can be prepared in about an hour (and that does not mean it is not delicious), is called sarkelj. It is extremely popular at weddings, so if you know someone who is getting married, you can make them this dessert - I guarantee you they will love it. And this is my grandma’s recipe for it, so you know it is good!

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This is how a typical loaf of sarkelj looks like.

Ingredients

• 300 grams of all purpose flour
• 125 millilitres of skim milk
• Three large eggs
• 100 millilitres of canola oil (alternatively, you can use sunflower oil)
• 200 grams of sugar (you can use brown sugar if desired)
• Two tablespoons of cocoa powder
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• One teaspoon of baking powder
• One tablespoon of rum

You will also need a round baking model in order to be able to make sarkelj - such as the one on this photo.

Preparation

First step in making sarkelj is preheating the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Then, take a medium sized bowl and mix eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. You can use an electric mixer - it is much faster, and, of course, easier. Mix until the batter is smooth.

Add milk, canola (or sunflower) oil and rum. Again, mix well and add all purpose flour. And do not forget to add the baking powder - happened to me once and of course I had to throw sarkelj away because it was hard as a rock and not edible.

P. S. Try the sarkelj batter - it is delicious! But do not eat too much because it will make your stomach hurt. Speaking from a personal experience.

Your next step is covering the baking model with canola oil and then flour. This will prevent sarkelj from sticking to the baking model. Please please please make sure you cover every single little part of the baking model with canola oil and flour. If you do not, it will be impossible to get the sarkelj out of the baking model once it is ready.

Take another bowl and pour about a third of the sarkelj batter in it. Pour the remaining two thirds of the sarkelj batter into the baking model. Add cocoa powder and two tablespoons of milk in the batter you poured in the bowl and mix. This will make the batter less dense and it will allow it to ‘float’ in the middle of the regular batter, making this typical black line through the middle, which is visible once you cut the sarkelj up.

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The cool thing about baking sarkelj is that the pattern through the middle will be different every single time you make it.

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This sarkelj has a different pattern than the previous one. The more often you bake it, the easier it will become to figure out how much milk and cocoa powder to use to make the black line through the middle look different every time.

Put the baking model with sarkelj batter in the oven and bake for approximately fifty minutes. If you are unsure whether sarkelj is fully baked or not, stick a toothpick in the middle. If there is no batter sticking to the toothpick once you pull it out, the sarkelj is ready.

Turn the baking model upside down on a large plate and let it cool down for approximately half an hour. Then, lift the baking model up. The sarkelj should, if you are lucky, slide out of the baking model easily. If not, use a knife and stick it to the sides of the baking model - this will peel the sticking part off the baking model and allow the sarkelj to slide out.

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This picture makes getting sarkelj out of the baking model look so easy!

Storage and serving tips

The hardest part of making sarkelj is definitely getting it out of the baking model. It happened to me more than once when I did not spread canola oil and flour across the baking model well enough and the sarkelj split in two parts while I was trying to get it out. Of course it still tasted good, but it looked incredibly ugly.

For an even better taste, you can sprinkle some powdered sugar on the top of baked sarkelj before cutting it up. I usually find sarkelj sweet enough without powdered sugar, but I do agree that it looks much better with that white powder on top.

As for storage, sarkelj is one of these desserts that need to be eaten in a few days after making, because they dry out really quickly. For the best (and freshest) result, wrap sarkelj in an aluminium foil - this will keep it relatively fresh for up to a week. And if you feel like the sarkelj is too dry after a few days, put it on a microwaveable plate along with a cup of water, and microwave for thirty seconds - this will restore the moistness.

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