As a little girl, I constantly was in the kitchen with my beloved grandma, or as I call her, my Baba. Baba was always making yummy Croatian pastries and cakes that our family could not get enough of. Though I was too short to reach the counter, I made it my mission to help Baba out in the kitchen any possible way that I could. With our family being from Croatia, she was obviously making tasty Croatian treats! These include palacinke, breskvice, fritule, oblande, orahnjaca and many more that would take forever to name (please google them and see how AMAZING they look). With that being said, in order to create these desserts, there are certainly key ingredients you need in the kitchen. I sat down with Baba and asked her what her baking essentials are in her Croatian kitchen. This is what she said:
1. Secer vanilin
Vanilin Secer translates to vanilla sugar, and all it is made up of is vanilla extract and sugar. It smells and tastes like vanilla and is essential for sweet Croatian treats. Baba stocked up on these little packets and always had them in her kitchen. What is a dessert without sugar?
2. Prasak za pecivo
This is baking powder, another essential in the kitchen! These packets came in multipacks and you obviously can't bake without it, so Baba buys them in bulk. There's nothing else to say about baking powder....it's as simple as that.
3.Marmelada
Marmelada is jam. There are so many different flavors to choose from. Marmelada is used to fill cookies, cakes, and Croatia's top dessert, palacinke. Palacinke are crepes and filled with marmelada, they taste great.
4. Slag
Slag is my favorite!! The packet contains a powder that you combine with milk and whisk by hand or with an electric mixer, and you magically get whipped cream! This is great for topping all of our desserts. You can even put it in coffee or on ice cream and it adds a great touch of sweetness. Definitely a staple in the Croatian kitchen.
5. Nutella
I had to save the best for last...Nutella! This is probably a staple in all European kitchen. Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread, for those of you who may be living under a rock. This is another spread that makes a great filling for palacinke. Nutella tastes great in cookies, cakes, on bread...and pretty much on anything. Even eating it with a spoon is addicting. I can't imagine Baba's kitchen without Nutella.
