In my family, apple pie (“Placinta cu mere”) was a grandma’s dessert specialty. I don’t even remember eating the traditional apple pie on another occasion other than when my grandmother (mamaie) would bake it on a fall day after she returned home from the market with bags full of apples and other seasonal fruits and vegetables. My mother also had her own apple pie recipe, but that one was something else, and the pastry was often bought from the store. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mother’s cooking, but it was like I was told a story every time I ate something cooked by grandma. Her apple pies ..read more

Romanian Sweet Cheese Pie was the first type of pie I was introduced to when I was little. Both my grandmother and my mother used to bake this sweet cheese pie, and I loved it every single time, especially when it was a weekend treat. Growing up, I started also to buy sweet cheese pie from bakeries on my way to school in one of Bucharest’s neighborhoods. It was my sweet delight and sometimes made for a delicious lunch. The funny thing is that I started to like these bought ones more, to my mother and grandmother’s disagreement. But that happened only because I found the cheese pie better with ..read more

My grandmother used to make plum dumplings in the late summer and fall when she would find juicy and sweet plums everywhere on the outside markets in Bucharest. This recipe has Hungarian, German, and Romanian origins, and it’s filling enough to be served as a separate dish or as a dessert after a light lunch or dinner. For the best plum dumplings, use ripe small or medium plums (but not over-ripe) and floury potatoes. READ MORE: Easy Romanian Fruit Cake (Pandispan cu fructe) Ingredients: For the filling: 10 – 20 small/medium plums Sugar cubes or just sugar Cinnamon For the dough: 1 ½ cups flou ..read more

The Roasted Eggplant Salad is one of the best appetizers in Balkan cuisine and a beloved Romanian recipe, prepared in every household, especially as a summer and fall dish. I remember walking the streets of Bucharest on a late summer morning, and the smell of roasted eggplants and peppers would embrace my senses and make me so hungry. Some certain smells and textures are deeply embedded in a country’s cuisine, and the smell of roasted eggplant salad is undoubtedly one of them! The recipe itself is not difficult, but it might be time-consuming because of the roasting process. Also, there are di ..read more

This Fruit Cake was always present on the menu during summer in our house in Bucharest. My mother and grandmother used to make this fluffy and easy cake, and I think it was a must-do recipe for every family in Romania. Because the main ingredients are the fresh fruits, it’s a summer cake recipe, even though we used to make it with preserved fruits as well during the winter months. (Fruit preserving was a big deal in Romania during the communist period, and I think it still is!) Depending on what fruits my mother would find at the market, the cake was made with sour cherries (my favorite), apri ..read more