Finding free museums these days is not an easy task. It is not surprising that last year almost the entire population of Yekaterinburg gathered to look at a three-meter heart weighing 50 kilograms. This exposition was available during the day, after which the goodies from European and domestic manufacturers were sold to citizens.
And would you like to know what sweets the people in Russia indulged in on holidays? What were Russian gingerbread cookies made of? What were the traditions of tea drinking among the Slavic tribes? Answers to these and other questions can be found in the city of Zvenigorod. It is in this town near Moscow that the most delicious, cozy and fascinating museum is located.
He appeared only 2 years ago thanks to the artist Tatyana Feina and her talented team. The author’s handwriting is visible in every millimeter: from paintings with mouth-watering scenes to original lamps and ancient kitchen utensils.
Museum of Russian dessert in Zvenigorod
It is located in a mansion built at the end of the 19th century, which is included in the list of cultural heritage sites. Once the building belonged to the merchant merchant Fokina, who sold goods for small shops: tea, flour, sugar. Maybe that's why the tea and dessert exposition looks very organic in the museum.
First hall
To date, the museum collection is in two rooms. Along the walls are antique buffets. Decorated shelves are filled with antique pots, models of desserts, sweets, dried herbs, cooking recipes and explanations for them.
In total, the Museum of the Russian dessert has three dozen buffets, so the walls here are almost invisible. The ceilings are decorated with cozy and colorful lampshades. And on the walls, free of cupboards, are pictures painted by the founder of the museum.
In the same room, amazing and unique devices are located, the appearance of which is difficult to guess their real purpose. For example, there is a wooden guillotine in front of you, but in fact it is a copy of the juicer of those times.
Second hall
Here, most of the space is occupied by the Russian stove. In fact, she has 2 destinations: heating the room and cooking baking at master classes.
Of furniture, only painted chairs with tables. Special attention should be paid to the cheerful slogans of the museum. For example: "The best bees work for us."
Future plans
According to the founder, 3 more interesting compositions will open soon:
- "About the Russian stove."
- "About how to organize the trade in sweets."
- "About treats."
The construction of a two-tier oven is already coming to an end, in which desserts and sweets will be baked for sale in a museum shop. Now there is trade in products from friendly manufacturers.
The authenticity of the recipes
There is no doubt about this topic: once a week, employees, according to the schedule, spend the whole day in the Lenin Library, where they study culinary archives. But for the preparation of old Russian sweets, it is not necessary to have a stove. Many free dessert museums, including Zvenigorodsky, not only offer recipes, but also adapt them to modern conditions, that is, using a gas stove.
As it turned out, the leadership’s approach is scientific, but the presentation is democratic. For comparison: excursions are more like a theatrical performance at the Museum of Kolomenskaya Pastila, and in Zvenigorod you will not find anyone in crinolines.
Local features
Despite such a young age, the Museum of Russian Dessert is quite popular. Therefore, ordering master classes and excursions is advisable in advance.
In the store at the museum, anyone can buy herbal tea, coffee and, of course, sweets prepared according to traditional recipes and without the addition of artificial colors and preservatives. For example, Russian gingerbread delivers production from the Tula region. Here you can also find sweets from the Smolensk region and a small Moscow food company.
Each tour ends with a fragrant cup of tea and gingerbread.
As for the master classes, they are suitable for both adults and children. Here you will learn how to make dough for sourdough pies, bake bagels, reveal the secrets of making desserts without sugar, and also explain the meaning and history of the appearance of many old Russian expressions, for example, "get to the handle".
You can buy brochures with recipes as a souvenir for friends or as a souvenir. Is it not interesting to cook historical sweets and desserts on your own in your own kitchen?
Visit cost and opening hours
Admission is free, but a tour of the museum is for a fee. On weekdays, the cost of an adult ticket is 300 rubles, for a child (up to 12 years) - 200 rubles. On weekends, you will have to buy a ticket 100 rubles more.
The Museum of Russian Dessert is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. without days off and holidays.
Reviving traditions: old Russian desserts recipes
As you know, Russian merchants had close ties with Arab countries. It is no coincidence that the pastry's first-most-popular sweet is still compared to oriental Turkish delight. True, the main ingredients of the Russian dessert were apples and honey. In the 15th century, to add sweetness to the white shade, protein was added. The secret of Kolomna pastille (by the way, the most delicious) was kept a secret until a certain time, until the French confectioners thought of adding applesauce to it. As a result, a well-known and beloved delicacy turned out to be - marshmallow.
In the same period, Russian confectioners decided to replace honey with sugar, and it is precisely this recipe that is adhered to in the production of pastille to this day.
For cooking you will need:
- 0.5 kg of applesauce;
- 170 gr granulated sugar;
- 1 protein;
- powdered sugar.
Cooking Technology:
- Mix the prepared puree with sugar.
- Add protein and start whipping. To obtain the required volume and white tint, it will take 5-7 minutes.
- Spread the resulting mass 3 cm thick on a baking sheet pre-covered with parchment.
- Turn on the oven and set the mode to 70 o C.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven and dry the sweetness for at least 5 hours. Sometimes it takes about 8.
Separate the finished pastille from paper, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve in tea in sliced form.
Russian gingerbread cookies. They were prepared from a mixture of flour and honey with the addition of berry juice. But they got the name "gingerbread" a little later. After the spices appeared in the recipe from India. The most famous gingerbread is Tula. It looks like a rectangular tile with a filling.
"Bird's milk" is perhaps the best Russian delicacy and the first cake to receive a patent in the days of socialism. Several confectioners came up with it under the guidance of the talented head of one of the Moscow restaurants - Vladimir Gulnik.
Baked apple. Russia is a northern country, so the number of fruits grown here is minimal. Therefore, apples often became the basis for desserts. Originally sour varieties were considered Russian, but talented chefs found a way to turn them into a sweet treat. First, the apples were soaked in syrups and berry decoctions. Then the core was cut out of the fruits, they were filled with sweet filling and baked. The result was not only a sweet, but also a healthy dish. Baked apples have a lot of potassium and iron, so they were advised to use them for weight loss and with various diets.
Few people know, but the famous Prague cake can also be attributed to the category of Russian sweets. According to the recipe, it resembles Sacher. The dessert was authored by Russian pastry chef Vladimir Guralnik, who studied at the beginning of his career with his Czechoslovak colleagues. To make his cake, he used 4 types of cream, which included cognac and liquors, and soaked cakes with rum. By the way, the Austrian prototype has no cream at all. But unfortunately, the Prague cake was not patented at the time, and now any factory has the right to prepare it.
Another representative of the original Russian sweets is a cheesecake. Perhaps this is the most primitive dessert that appeared back in the days of the ancient Slavic tribes. To prepare the cheesecake, yeast dough was required, from which small-sized cakes were formed. The center of the product was slightly pressed down and filled with cottage cheese, jam or jam.
