Latvian Piparkukas Recipe. Bread Soup (Latvian National Dessert ) Debessmanna (Whipped cranberry dessert with milk) Layered Rye Bread Dessert Latvian manna (*Buberts*) Cottage Cheese Cake

Latvian Piparkukas Recipe. Ingredients: 100g golden syrup 100g dark brown soft sugar 100g butter (or if you want to be authentic, 50g butter and 50g lard) 2 egg yolks 350g plain flour 1tsp ground cinnamon 1tsp ground cloves 1 tsp ground cardamom 1 tsp ground coriander 1tsp ginger 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp cream of tartar Zest of one lemon Directions: Melt the syrup and butter and stir in the spices. Put this into a large bowl and mix in the remaining ingredients until you have a fairly stiff dough. Lightly flour your work surface, take a workable amount of dough, and roll it out to about 3mm. Cut out your preferred shapes using a cutter. Lift the shapes on to a baking sheet using your fingers or a palette knife. If you want a luxurious finish you can glaze them at this point using egg white whisked with a teaspoon of sugar. Cook these for about 4 - 5 minutes in 180 degree centigrade oven.

Bread Soup (Latvian National Dessert ) Ingredients: 600 g Black Rye Bread 8 glasses of water 130 g Sugar 100-150 g Dried fruits (raisins, apples, apricot, plums etc) Sour cream or Ice Directions: Sliced bread put in preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes (180o C). Boil the water. Place bread in warm water, lid and leave it for about half an hour. Take a sieve and rub the bread, so all the liquid would go through it.  Add the sugar and all fruits mix it and boil it for a few minutes more. Put it the refrigerator to cool it. Serve with sour cream, ice or jam.

Debessmanna (Whipped cranberry dessert with milk) Ingredients: 75g (2.65oz) cranberries (or other berries), 200g (7oz) water, 50g (1.75oz) sugar, 30g (1.05oz) semolina. Rinse cranberries. Crush and squeeze out juice. Place cranberry solids in a saucepan, cover with water, boil for five minutes and strain. Add sugar. Gradually add semolina, stirring constantly. Heat until semolina thickens, then add cranberry juice. Pour mixture into a bowl and cool rapidly. Whip mixture until it becomes light and airy and has doubled or tripled in volume. Serve in deep dessert dishes with cold milk.

Layered Rye Bread Dessert Version 1: 75g (2.625oz) dry rye bread, 50g (1.75oz) loganberry jam, 20g (0.7oz) sugar, 60g (2.1oz) cream, cinnamon, vanilla essence. Finely grate rye bread, mix with cinnamon and half of the sugar. Beat cream, adding sugar and vanilla essence gradually, until mixture forms stiff peaks. On a shallow dish arrange layers of bread, jam and whipped cream, finishing with a layer of bread which is decorated with whipped cream. Serve with a drink of milk. Version 2: 80-100g (2.8-3.5oz) dry rye bread, 20g (0.7oz) sugar, 15g (5.25oz) butter, 50g (1.75oz) loganberry jam, 60g (2.1oz) cream, vanilla essence. Finely grate rye bread, add half of the sugar and fry in melted butter on the pan, stirring frequently. Allow mixture to cool. Beat cream with remaining sugar and vanilla essence. Layer rye bread, jam and whipped cream in serving dishes, sprinkle rye bread on top and decorate with whipped cream. Serve with a drink of milk.

Latvian manna (*Buberts*) Buberts is a cold, creamy Latvian dessert. Ingredients: 1)3 cups of Milk 2)1/2 cup of Cream of Wheat 3)2 eggs, separated 4)4 Tbsp. Sugar 5)1 tsp. Vanilla Directions 1)Heat milk. 2)Slowly stir in cream of Wheat. 3)Boil at a low heat for 5 minutes. 4)Remove from heat. 5)Whip egg yolks with 3 Tbsp of Sugar and vanilla 6)Add to cream of wheat. 7)Whip egg whites and remaining Tbsp. of sugar until firm. 8)Fold into cream of wheat mixture and chill. 9)Serve with cranberry jelly.

Cottage Cheese Cake Ingredients: 4 packets of biscuits «Selga» 1 kilo of cottage cheese 200g of butter 0,5 kilo of fruit jelly 1 liter of 35% cream 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar Directions: 1)Rub butter with powdered sugar + cottage cheese +fruit jelly 2) Put a layer of biscuits 3) Put a layer of cottage cheese mixture with fruit jelly 4) Put a layer of biscuits 5) Put a layer of whipped cream with sugar 6) Decorate with grated chocolate, nuts, fruit jelly 7) Put the cake into the fridge for several hours