Basya Tsybukmakher
Don't ask me why this cake is called that. That's its name, and that's that. Just as the round baking pan with a big hole in the middle was, for some reason, called a “miracle” in our family. It happens.
As a rule, we used the “miracle” to toast nuts—or bake that very “Gypsy Mazurka.” Another of Grandma's recipes—but a different grandma. The one who died young, before I was born.
She brought the cake recipe from Georgia, where she spent half of her short life. Because it was simple and always a success, we often baked it between other tasks. And we ate it just as casually, in one sitting. That's Gypsy Mazurka...
You'll need:
2 eggs 2/3 cup of sugar 100 g of softened butter or margarine 1 cup of chopped walnuts 1 cup of raisins salt on the tip of a knife flour 1 tsp of baking powder (leavening agent)
If you like, candied fruit or the zest of one (untreated) lemon
Method:
Beat the eggs with the sugar, then add the butter (or margarine). Mix thoroughly until smooth. Add the nuts and raisins, and, if you like, candied fruit or lemon zest. Add just a tiny bit of salt. Now add the flour a little at a time until you have a very, very thick batter that is still pourable. Mix in the baking powder last.
Pour the batter into a baking pan (with or without a hole in the middle, though it looks prettier with one). Bake for about half an hour in an oven preheated to 170°C.