March 30, 2013

Easter Manners: Enjoy the table.


Suburban Chicago, Easter Sunday, 1961. My paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, again enjoys hosting another party. She's seated at the dining room table with the mother of my Mom's Rockford friend and my Godmother's father. The decanter holds Tatjana's brew of citrus-flavored, milk liqueur. Ach! The tablecloth has creases.

Tatjana made a yeast Babka every Easter. The recipe used five egg yolks. On the table, you can see what Tatjana made with the leftover egg whites: a "Bizet Torte." A Bizet Torte consists of five or six layers of baked meringue disks, held together with coffee buttercream, and decorated with toasted almond slices. Although the Bizet Torte isn't as popular in Lithuania as a Napoleonas, it is a lot less labor intensive.

Latvians make Bizet Torte, too.

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