Tsvibak: what it is and where in Ukraine it is baked for Christmas

Tsvibak is a once-popular dish of Ukrainian cuisine that has unfortunately become a bit forgotten. At its core, tsvibak is a sponge cake with dried fruit that is cut into slices and dried after baking. This dish was usually served at Christmas.

The palyanytsyabread blog shared on Instagram how to make tsvibak so that its taste would definitely impress everyone. Having cooked it only once, this dish will definitely regain its popularity.

Ingredients

• Eggs - 4 pcs
• Sugar - 200 gr
• Flour - 200 g (or 65 g of starch +135 g of flour)
• Nuts - 200 gr
• Dried fruits - 200 g
• Salt - a pinch
• Soda - ½ tsp
• Vanilla extract

Method of preparation

1. Toast the nuts in the oven, hazelnuts and walnuts, peel and cool.

2. Heat the oven to 200.

3. Whisk the whites with salt into a stiff foam, start gradually adding sugar, beat each time until it dissolves. You should get a cool, stiff meringue.

4. Roll the dried fruits in flour and add them together with the nuts.

5. Add vanilla extract to the yolks and mix with a fork.

6. Sift the flour with the baking soda into the whites, then the yolks, and mix on low speed.

7. Put in a baking dish covered with parchment.

8. Bake for 15 minutes at 200, then another 40-45 minutes at 180-170, make sure it does not burn.

9. Cool on a wire rack, cut, bake for half an hour at 160.