Apple in a Scarf

Over the years my mother collected a bunch of recipes from her friends and colleagues. In my notes, this one is attributed to someone called Danute. Though I can't recall who that person was, I still make these - lets call it cookies - sometimes. It is a variation of what the Dutch know as Appelflap, Frenchies as Chausson aux Pommes; and there probably are similar things in other cultures as well, apple in a pastry wrap. It is also doable with other fruits, as long as they are reasonably dry, the wrapping itself also can be more creative than this basic version.

Need:
4 eggs
250 g margarine (can also be butter)
200g sour cream
2 tea spoons of baking powder
4 cups of flour
4 apples
2 spoons of sugar
1 tea spoon of cinnamon

Short version would be "knead the pastry, let it cool off in the fridge for half an hour, roll it out". A bit longer version depends on a state of butter/margarine you use and how much you want to fuss with it. In a quicker version you melt the butter, knead it with the rest (except apples, obviously), but then it needs to cool off a bit longer for rolling, and sometimes butter can somewhat stiffen in chunks, making a rolling bit annoying. The more fussy way is to warm up butter/margarine in room temperature until it is soft, mix it with the rest, knead it well and put it to cool off in a fridge.
Either way, once it is cooling off in the fridge, prepare the apples. Cut it in 4 pieces, get the seed pods out. If the apples are huge, cut them somewhat more. Mix the apples with half of the sugar and cinnamon for some extra flavor (you can skip on cinnamon if you do not like it.
After pastry spent a good half an hour in the fridge, you can roll it out, cut it into stripes and wrap around the apple pieces. Sprinkle tops with the other half of the sugar and cinnamon.
Bake, for about 30 min on 180C (depending on how big your apples were it can take +/- 10 min extra).

Lil' Taters

At home these cookies are called Little Potatoes, for the obvious resemblance. I called them "cookies" for a lack of a better word for it, as it is something in between a cookie and a cake. Its that kind of sweet you can make when you think there is nothing tasty at home, or when you have some crumbs from the previous project. Or just... when you feel like eating something earthly.


Need:
500g crumbs (plain bread ones normally used for roasts, or cookie/spondge crumbs... as long as it crumbles)
200 g of sugar
100 ml milk
200g butter
1 table spoon cacao powder

Heat milk up, melt butter and sugar in it. Mix cacao with crumbs, then gradually add milk mix and knead it through. Let it cool of in a fridge for 30 min, then make small balls and put back to the fridge to stiffen. Taste can be enhanced by adding nuts to it, or a wisp of cream on top.