Cake Recipe from a 1989 Soviet Russian Cookbook

In my effort to learn the fascinating-but-infuriating (for me, anyway) Russian language, I bought an old cookbook that was published back in the days of the Soviet Union.

It’s interesting how small the book is, despite it having several-dozen recipes. I can easily fit the book in my coat pocket. Other than the woman wearing a babushka on the cover, there is no artwork inside. The type is very tight, and is little white space.

It is, ultimately, much like the place it came from. Utilitarian, minimalist, and a bit cold.

The book’s title is хозяюшка, which means “Hostess.” The two words below that (выпуск второй) mean “second edition.” The word at the very bottom (сладкоежка) means “sweet tooth.”

(As a side note, the Russian alphabet is wildly different from English, except for five letters: A, K, M, O, T. As I’ve been studying the language, I use those recognizable letters as reference points to help guide me through the rest of the word.)

The book is dated at 1989, which was only a couple years before the official dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

I have not made any of the recipes in the book. I’m not a baker. If anyone decides to give it a go, though, I would love to hear about it and maybe even see a picture. I’ll post it here!