Belarussian helva cake

Polish: chałwa
Maltese: ħelwa
Greek: Χαλβάς
Arabic: حلاوة
Burmese: ဟလဝာ
Urdu: حلوا
Malay: അലുവ
Hindi: हल्वा
Armenian: հալվա
Bosnian: halva
Macedonian: алва

In Russia and former soviet republics (at least the western ones) you can try sunflower and peanuts helva. The sunflower helva is the taste of my childhood. Grandfather was always bringing it when visiting us and the taste was so specific that I loved it and hated it same time. Grandmother gave my mum a Belorussian cookbook. I sometimes browse the old cookbooks of my mum, looking for a new inspiration. Belarussian fake gingerbread (Пернічек) was a successful experiment. Beware, this cake needs no butter or oil, you just add helva! Tastes and looks like a real gingerbread but is mild and not spicy at all!

200 gr helva (I only had classical sesame helva, that is why I added the next and the last ingredient)
1/3 cup peanut butter
170 gr plum conserve (plum jam, plum butter, povidl, Pflaumenmus...)



1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 egg
1 spoon cinnamon
1 spoon baking soda
1 spoon vanilla sugar
1 handful peanuts

1. Disintegrate helva with your hands or with a fork

2. Blend helva with povidl, add baking soda and cinnamon

3. Whisk egg with sugar and vanilla sugar until sugar melts; add to helva and mix all the ingredients until creamy



4. Add flour and knead

5. Put in buttered tray, sprinkle with peanuts and bakeabout 45 minutes in 180C oven (make a test using a toothpic to be sure your Пернічек is ready)



6. Sprinkle with sugar water: combine 4 spoons sugar and 8 spoons water, cook and sprinkle the cake. After that, sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon