As I mentioned in my last Winter Holiday post, changes are coming! In these pages I will soon leave the Balkans behind (for now) and travel to a new part of the post-communist world. If you enjoyed my recipes and stories over the past couple of years, you should consider buying my cookbook – although it’s only available in French, the pictures are beautiful. Before moving on, I wanted to share one last recipe from the region (a recipe also featured in the book!), a dessert that might give you a hint of things to come: ledene kocke, Serbian chocolate ice cubes.

While ledene kocke does indeed mean “ice cubes” in Serbian, don’t expect translucent pieces of ice fresh out of the freezer. The “ice cubes” in question are actually cubes made of one or more layers of cream (pastry cream or buttercream, for instance), built on a chocolate sponge cake base, and coated with a chocolate glaze. In fact, “cube” is the literal meaning of the word kocka (singular) in Serbian. The term harkens back to Austro-Hungarian desserts, which, in their original language, are often referred to as “slices” or “cubes” depending on their shape. What does it have to do with ice cubes, then, besides the shape? The color of the cream, the refreshing sensation it provides, but who really knows…

All I can say is that I’ve come across many recipes stacking different sponge cakes and creams, and in the end it’s quite difficult to define the ledene kocke with absolute precision. As far as I’m concerned, rather than a basic vanilla cream—which is often too dense or too rich—I suggest a chestnut mousse. Firstly, because I absolutely love chestnut spread; secondly, because I’ve encountered it more than once in dessert bowls in the Balkans; and finally, because a mousse is much lighter than any of the creams I’ve found in Serbian cookbooks.

Ledene kocke 

Yields 9 servings
Total preparation: 14 hours 30 minutes
Active preparation: 1 hour 15 minutes

Chocolate cake base

70 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
20 g heavy cream
50 g (about 3) egg yolks
20 g AP flour, sifted
1.5 g baking powder
100 g (about 3) egg whites
115 g sugar
canola oil spray
85 g water
15 g plum rakija or brandy

• Microwave the chocolate with the heavy cream in a small bowl for 1-2 minutes, until just melted, then let cool for a minute. Whisk in the egg yolks, and reserve.
• Combine the flour and baking powder in a container.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add ⅓ of the sugar until stiff peaks form. Stir ⅓ of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then gently fold that into the rest of the egg whites. Finally, fold in the flour and baking powder, as well, forming a smooth batter.
• Place a 20 cm × 20 cm square ring mold on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray the inner sides of the mold and the parchment with canola oil, spread the batter into the mold, and bake in a 175 C / 350 F oven for 14-15 minutes, to an internal temp of 95 C / 205 F. Let cool for a minute.
• Microwave the remaining sugar with the water until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 1 ½ minutes. Stir in the plum rakija. Poke some holes in the chocolate cake with a fork, and pour the sugar syrup all over it. Let sit at room temperature until the liquid is completely absorbed.
• Transfer the chocolate cake base to a cake plate or stand. Remove the parchment paper, but keep the ring mold. Store in the refrigerator while working on the next layer.

Chestnut filling

6 g powdered gelatin
480 g milk
180 g sugar
15 g pure vanilla extract
40 g AP flour
200 g ricotta
275 g chestnut cream (made with 50% chestnuts and 60 g of sugar for 100 g of cream)
25 g plum rakija or brandy
300 g heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

• Stir the powdered gelatin in ⅛ of the milk, and let bloom for 5 minutes.
• In a saucepan over high heat, bring the remaining milk and ¾ of the sugar to a simmer, then mix in the vanilla extract and the bloomed gelatin.
• Place the flour in a bowl, and mix just enough sweetened milk into it to create a thick slurry. Pour back into the saucepan with the remaining milk, and whisk over medium heat until it thickens further and reaches a temperature of 95 C / 200 F. Be sure to whisk well so that lumps do not form. 
• Add the ricotta, remove from the heat, and mix vigorously until smooth. Next, whisk in the chestnut cream and the plum rakija. You can also use a hand blender for all the mixing. 
• Let cool completely, and refrigerate until just starting to set, about 1 hour.
• In the bowl an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream to soft peaks. Without stopping the mixer, add the remaining sugar and continue whipping until you get stiff peaks. 
• Gently fold the whipped cream into the chestnut mixture, then proceed with assembly immediately.

Assembly

chocolate cake base
chestnut filling
90 g 70% dark chocolate, chopped
50 g milk
10 g butter
20 g corn syrup
3 candied chestnuts (optional)

• Top the chocolate cake base with the chestnut filling, using an offset spatula to spread it evenly. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until the filling has set. 
• Melt the chocolate and milk together in the microwave, about 1 minute. Stir in the butter and corn syrup, and set aside to cool for a couple minutes until lukewarm.
• Pour the chocolate sauce all over the cake; use an offset spatula to smooth it out.
• Precut 3×3 squares by running a knife carefully through only the chocolate top layer. Optionally, decorate each square with ¼ of a candied chestnut. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
• To serve, slice the cake into 3×3 squares along the precut lines, transferring each slice to a dessert plate.