Chec is Romanian for cake

Tonight we finally had the previously cancelled dinner party with Kristina, Jonas and Charlotte. The one that was cancelled at the last moment following Sharon’s unfortunate fall at Stendorren. Nicoline was invited too but, sadly, was unable to come. It meant we had a prime number at dinner. Not that that was a problem.

I decided to keep with the original menu I’d planned back then, only I changed the dessert. I found an amazingly light and unusual cake in Irina Georgescu’s Carpathia, a recipe book I often turn to for good, hearty meals.

The cake is called chec, which Irina says means ‘cake’. And while that maybe just super plain and simple, the cake is definitely not. It also meant that Mirinda got to lick two bowls rather than the usual one.

I spent the entire day in the kitchen, having gone shopping first thing. I banished the various women-folk from the house. They were going for a walk but the weather decided that would be a bad idea. They went and had a long lunch at Tre Små Rum.

The empty house gave me a golden opportunity to catch up on The Archers and the increasingly desperate Rob Tichener has a brain tumor story line. And, of course, there was a moussaka to make. And roast carrot soup.

It was a long day on my feet but, I think, well worth it.

Our guests arrived and sat with a drink while I started plating up…or bowling up given we started with soup. Obviously, before we ate, I had to give a welcoming toast, however, when I started to raise my glass to down my aquavit, Charlotte said we had to sing the obligatory Helan går, a song the twins first experienced during the pug crawl two days ago. It made it all seem very authentic.

And I think our guests enjoyed themselves as much as we did, given they didn’t leave until after 1am.

And a big thank you to Fi and Lauren who washed everything up afterwards. It was very much appreciated.