If you like pretty edges on your varenyky, there is a short video here:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1395890540634949/permalink/1549563591934309/
(wish I could repost it here...)

The video is on a Facebook group called "Ukrainian recipes". This group is very interesting and useful, with a growing collection of posted recipes:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1395890540634949/

Vushka (or ushka) are mushroom-filled dumplings that look like ravioli or tortellini. They are served in a bowl of borshch, especially on holidays like Christmas Eve (Sviat Vechir) or Epiphany (Schedryi Vechir). They are a great favorite among many kids, as well as adults!

The 11/4/13 blog entry shows how to make the dough and put the vushka together. In this blog, we'll focus on the filling.

This is my own recipe - you can tweak as needed, depending on what you have available, and how much you want to spend (it can get pricey, especially with the dried mushrooms!) It is "pisne" (vegan) for Sviat Vechir, so it uses olive oil, but you can use butter if you prefer.

1/2 oz dried mushrooms
2 x 4-6-oz containers fresh mushrooms
1 exotic mushroom blend container
3-4 oz chopped onions
1 packet McCormick Mushroom Sauce mix
salt and pepper
olive oil for sauteeing


This makes enough for about 75 good-sized vushka, or about 100 smaller vushka.

For printable recipe, click here.

Let's start with the dried mushrooms, since you will need to leave time to reconstitute them. You can skip the dried mushrooms altogether, but they add a deeper, richer flavor, as well as a wonderful fragrance, to your filling. I like to choose more European mushroom types, as the Asian dried mushrooms can have a touch of bitterness (although they can be much less expensive!).

Here, I'm going to use half Chanterelles and half Morels; I'll save the rest for next time. I like to use a mixture of mushroom types, to make the flavor more complex.

Usually, you would use boiling water to reconstitute dried mushrooms - pour it over them and let them soak for a while.

But this brand of dried mushrooms has instructions to use lukewarm water, so I am following those directions. In the picture on the left, above, you see the mushrooms as they started out, in their dried form. Over the course of half an hour, soaking in the lukewarm water, the mushrooms are increasing in size as they reconstitute. The fragrance is wonderful - I wish I could add a scratch-and-sniff feature!

In the picture above right, you might be able to see that the soaking water has turned dark. It has absorbed a lot of mushroom flavor and fragrance too, so I like to save it and freeze it for my holiday borshch.

At left, I have a small strainer on top of a soup container. I line the strainer with cheesecloth, because dried mushrooms can have some grit and dirt that I don't want to hang onto.

Pour the mushrooms and the soaking water into the cheesecloth-lined strainer. 

Then pour some fresh water over the mushrooms to rinse, and let the rinse water go into the soup container too - you don't want to let any of that wonderful dried mushroom flavor go to waste!

And there are the reconstituted mushrooms - aren't they beautiful?

Mmm... I love that smell!

At right is the dark, mushroom-flavored soaking and rinsing liquid which I am saving for borshch. It freezes very well - just be sure to label it so that you don't forget what it is.

Now the rest of the ingredients: I'm using button mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms this time, as well as a 'gourmet blend'. You can use just a single kind of mushroom if you like; I like to use a mix for complexity of flavor

You also need chopped onions. Like many people, I am not fond of chopping onions, so I just buy a container of pre-chopped onion at the grocery store, in the produce section - it's a great step-saver. You can also buy frozen chopped onion - I've never tried that. About 3 to 4 oz. is good, but you can use more or less as you like. You could also use onion powder instead.

Because some of my family members are not overly fond of onions, and don't like visible chunks of onion in their food, I am running the chopped onions through the food processor to make the pieces smaller (this is still much easier than starting from a whole onion, in my opinion).

Use a large frying or saute pan. Heat up about 2 Tbsp. of olive oil (you can use butter if you're not concerned about strictly "pisne" filling). Saute until the onion is starting to get translucent.

Chop up the mushrooms in the food processor, in batches (the button mushrooms are being processed in the photo above; I find it easiest to just do one mushroom type at a time, container by container). 

I like to leave some larger bits, so you can see them in the filling as you're eating the vushka.

Add the chopped mushrooms to the onions in the saute pan, in batches, letting each batch brown a bit and decrease in volume before you add the next batch (this will let you actually fit all those mushrooms into one pan!)

Some people saute the mushrooms first, and then run them through the food processor. I prefer to chop then saute, as I think the fresh mushrooms can be chopped more easily when they're firm.

In the pictures above, I'm chopping up the exotic mushroom blend, and adding it to the mixture in the pan. Keep doing that until all of your fresh mushrooms are chopped and cooking.

For seasoning, I like to use a packet of McCormick's Mushroom Gravy mix. Of course you can use your own seasoning - whatever herbs and spices you like. You could also chop a couple of gloves of garlic and add them in; much as I like garlic, though, I don't like my vushka to be garlicky.

I like to add the mushroom gravy mix right after I put in the button mushrooms, as they have the weakest mushroom flavor. But you can add seasonings at any point in the cooking process. Taste and adjust as you go along too - I usually add more salt and pepper.

I wait until the end to add the reconstituted dried mushrooms. Chop them up in the food processor just like the fresh mushrooms, add them to the pan, and keep cooking.

Your finished filling shouldn't be liquidy, and the mushroom mixture should be a medium brown, and well-sauteed. And fragrant! It'll get your tummy rumbling. 

Let it cool in the pan.

Once cool, you can transfer the mushroom mixture to a bowl, and immediately start filling your dough.

You can also refrigerate it, until you're ready to start making vushka.

Or bring it to a varenyk- and vushka-making party!

Taste for seasoning again and adjust as needed before you start making your vushka.

The dough recipe is in the previous blog here - it's the same as the dough for varenyky, but you cut it in squares instead of circles. 

About 1 1/2 inches square is good, but you can go smaller or bigger if you like.

Put a spoonful of filling in the center of your dough square, fold diagonally in half to make a triangle, and pinch the edges shut as you would with varenyky, to seal the filling inside.

Then pinch two of the corners together - you want the corners by the folded side of the triangle, not the "top" corner. Now your vushko will look like a ravioli or tortellini.

To make a "shchastia" (good luck), take one finished vushko and one whose corners have not yet been pinched. Push one corner of the second vushko through the loop of the first (finished) one - you may need to elongate the dough at that corner slightly to make this easier. Then pinch the two corners of the second vushko closed, so that the two vushka are intertwined. The person who finds this "shchastia" in their bowl of borshch on Sviat Vechir will have good fortune in the coming year!

Cook the finished vushka in boiling water until they float. You can serve them right away with borshch. Or cool them, oil or spray them so they don't stick, put them into freezer bags, and freeze until holiday time. Then thaw in boiling water as you would varenyky, and serve in borshch.

Smachnoho!

It's November - time for varenyk-making parties! Some parents who live near our school location volunteer their homes for us to gather in during school hours, so that we can make varenyky and vushka for sale at our holiday bazaar.

Some of our Ukrainian school's varenyk party hostesses use the dough recipe from UkraiVin (see below). We like this recipe because it turns out soft, tender dough. It also has the advantage of being vegan, or "pisne", for Sviat Vechir (for those who adhere to the no-dairy, no-egg definition of "pisne" - some families are more liberal in defining that word). 

This recipe is made in a food processor, rather than a mixer.  I took photos at one of our parties, for those who would like to try it at home.

Our hostess has the dough ingredients ready to go, above. She has already made a couple of batches that are resting and will be ready for us to start rolling out soon.

Note the King Arthur flour bag - many people are big fans of this brand, for varenyk dough as well as for other cooking and baking.

Here, 3 cups of flour are measured into the food processor bowl.

1/2 tsp. of salt is added to the flour.

Next, add the 3 Tbsp. of vegetable oil.

Close the lid of the food processor.

Measure out 1 cup of cold tap water. 


Turn on the processor, and pour the water through the feed tube, with the processor running, as in the photo below.

The dough will start off lumpy and uneven, and after a few minutes will eventually come together into a ball.

Put the dough into a bowl, and cover with something to keep it from drying out - plastic wrap or a dishcloth works just fine.

Let it rest for 20 minutes - this gives the gluten time to develop.

You can use a smooth tabletop for rolling out the dough, or a board with a lip that won't slide around on the table. A large cutting board with a dishcloth underneath (to keep it from sliding) will work well too.

A marble rolling pin is nice, because you can use the weight of it to do some of the work for you.

In this picture above, you can also see some of the yummy brunch that our hostess provided us :)

You DEFINITELY want a bowl of flour nearby - you will need to flour your rolling surface liberally, so that the dough doesn't stick and tear. 

Also flour your rolling pin.

In this picture is a nifty little gadget called a flour wand. You'll be just fine without it - just use your hand to strew the flour where you need it to go. But the flour wand is handy because it distributes the flour more precisely and evenly. I got mine at the King Arthur Flour website: 
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/flour-wand

Roll about half of the dough batch at a time - leave the other half covered in the bowl.

Don't be afraid of flouring a LOT - the dough is fresh and tender and will stick to the board and the rolling pin, given half a chance! Put flour on your rolling surface, and on your rolling pin. Start rolling, flip the dough, and flour your rolling surface again.

It's best to roll from the center out, away from you, moving your dough around as needed. Moving the dough around also allows you to make sure that the dough isn't sticking to the board.

Roll until the dough is about 1/8 inch thick (or about the thickness of two credit cards :) - you want the varenyky to be delicate and tender, not too thick. The dough in the photo above is almost there.

For varenyky, you want to cut the dough in a round shape. A glass from your kitchen works just fine - pick one that has the size you want (we're using a glass that's about 3 inches in diameter), and an edge that isn't too rounded, so that it cuts well. An empty can works well too, and has sharper edges to cut more smoothly.

Put your filling (we're using potato here) in the center of the dough circle. Don't put in too much - you don't want it leaking out during cooking. We're using about 1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoons.

Fold the dough in half over the filling, and pinch the dough closed around the edges, so that the filling is sealed well inside.

If the dough has gotten dried out, you can dip your fingers in water and then pinch. Alternatively, flip the dough circle so that the underside is up, and then fill and pinch closed - the surface that was face-down on the plate will probably be more moist. Make sure the edges are securely sealed.

Put the finished varenyky on something they won't stick to - we're using cookie sheets covered with dish cloths.

You may want to cover them with another dish cloth, or plastic wrap, so that they don't dry out too much before you're ready to cook them.

Don't stack them on top of each other, as they will tend to stick.

Making vushka? These are mushroom-filled dumplings that look like ravioli, and they are put into borshch on Sviat Vechir (Christmas Eve) and Shchedryi Vechir (Epiphany). This is a great favorite in many families, especially among the kids. The name "vushka" or "ushka" means little ears (presumably because they look vaguely like ears).

Use the same dough you use for varenyky, and roll it out the same way. But instead of circles, cut it into squares (about 1 1/2 inches square is good). 
(Some people use smaller circles for vushka, but to me that just looks like small varenyky instead of vushka).

Vushka use a mushroom filling - and that filling will be the subject of the next blog entry.

Put the mushroom filling in the center of your dough square.

Fold the square in half diagonally, so that you make a triangle, as in the right-most photo above. Pinch the edges shut, just as you would for a varenyk. You may want to keep a napkin or paper towel ready to wipe your fingertips, so that you don't get too many specks of the filling on the exterior of your dough (but it's no big deal if you do - it will just wash away when you cook it).

Bring two corners of your vushko together and pinch them together, so that it looks like a ravioli. (You want the two corners adjacent to the folded edge, by the way).

See the joined pair of vushka in the picture at right? That's called a "shchastia" - good fortune. If you find that in your bowl of borshch on Christmas Eve, you will have good luck in the coming year.

Want to make a "shchastia"? Take one completed vushko, and one whose corners have not yet been pinched together. Thread one corner of the second vushko (you may want to elongate it a little to make this easier) through the "loop" of the first vushko. Now bring together the corners of the second vushko and pinch together. That's all there is to it.

Ready to cook the varenyky or vushka?
Boil a large pot of water, with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of oil. Put in the varenyky or vushka, and simmer for 5 minutes or so, until they float. Lift out with a strainer or slotted spoon, and let them rest and cool down a bit. Spray or oil them so that they don't stick together (to oil them, put some oil in the glass pan or whatever you're using, put in the varenyky, then flip them to coat the other side).

You can now eat them fresh - yum!

Or you can freeze them for later. This is what we are doing, since we want to sell them at our bazaar so that people can put them in their home freezers and have them ready for the holidays. Our varenyk-party volunteers usually buy most of what they make and take them home for their own holiday table (a good reason to volunteer!)

If you're freezing the varenyky or vushka, make sure they're completely cooled. Then place about 2 dozen in a large freezer bag (arrange neatly in rows), label, and put in your freezer. We put 25 in each bag, and sell them for $15.

To thaw, you can either put them in boiling water until they float, or use a vegetable steamer for about 3 minutes (as they're already cooked). Serve varenyky with sour cream, or if you're serving them for Christmas Eve dinner and want to keep it vegan ("pisne"), serve with mushroom sauce. To serve vushka, thaw them and then place into a bowl of borshch.

Some people ask why we bother cooking the varenyky or vushka before freezing them. If you're doing this at home, you can get away with freezing them raw. But make sure they don't start thawing before you get them into the cooking water, or they will stick like crazy, and then tear open as you try to separate them - you'll end up with kasha instead of varenyky!
Since we are selling these varenyky and vushka at a bazaar, that means they have to be transported to the bazaar site and then to the buyer's home before they make it into the freezer. So cooking them before freezing helps make sure that they will make it onto the dinner table in good shape.

Smachnoho!

I've had friends ask if they could come and bake a torte with me, to see step by step how to do it. But distances are long in our Ukrainian community, schedules are tight, and we've never been able to make it happen. So I thought I would do a blog entry on one of the tortes I've often made for pre-order for our Ukrainian School Bake Sale, with step-by-step photos.

I chose this Walnut Torte with Chocolate-Praline filling because it is based on an old recipe I received from my Teta Lesia Khraplyva (the childrens' book author). Teta Lesia's mother, my Teta Baba, was named Evhenia Petryk Khraplyva. As an immigrant living in New York City in the 1950s, Evhenia put together a collection of baked-goods recipes as a name-day gift for her own mother, Maria Hankevych Petryk (my great-grandmother). She collected recipes from numerous friends and acquaintances and typed them up, in the brief recipe style of the time. When I received the collection in 2002, the carbon-copied pages were already falling apart, with pieces missing. I retyped everything into a computer file, filled in missing text where I could, and translated into English. I've tried only a fraction of the recipes in the collection so far, but this one is my favorite.

Above is a photograph of the original page. The recipe is attributed to "Ika", and Teta Lesia identifies Ika as Sofia Fedak-Melnyk, wife of Andriy Melnyk.

Here is the recipe in Ukrainian (translation is further down):

Торт Оріховий (Іка)
4 жовтки втерти з 12 дкг цукру, додати піну з 5 білок (......) оріхів, 1/4 шкл. тертої булки. Виложити на дві тортівниці ви(мащені маслом і?) папером і печи в недуже гарячій рурі 1/2 години.
Маса: Втерти 12 дкг цукру, 12 дкг мелених оріхів, ван(ілію?...) шклянки сметани. Полюкрувати.

Some key quantities are missing. I've assumed that the quantity of nuts should equal that of the sugar, as that is a frequent pattern in recipes from this era. I've also made my best guess for the sour cream in the filling.

Other notes: "оріхи", "оріховий" would today be written as "горіхи", "горіховий". "Дкг" is the abbreviation for dekagrams, which of course are 10 grams. Many recipes from this time use dekagrams, or simply "deka", as the unit of measurement.

Here's the recipe translated into English, with my best guesses about missing quantities, and in the formatting used in the US these days:

Walnut Torte (Ika)
4 eggs, separated
120 gr sugar (4.2 oz, or about 1/2 c)
120 gr ground walnuts (4.2 oz, or about 1 c)
1/4 c breadcrumbs
(I like to add 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract too)

filling:
120 gr sugar (4.2 oz, or about 1/2 c)
120 gr ground walnuts (4.2 oz, or about 1 c)
dash of vanilla
1/2 c sour cream

Preheat oven to 285 F (can probably go up to 300 F). 
Line two 9-inch springform pans with parchment; butter or spray the parchment and the sides of the pans.
Separate eggs. Beat yolks lightly with a fork and set aside.

Beat whites until stiff, adding sugar when the whites are starting to foam. 
Fold in yolks. Fold in the ground walnuts, breadcrumbs, and vanilla.

Pour batter into the two prepared pans, and bake for 30 min.

Filling: mix all ingredients and spread between the torte layers and over the top layer.

My modifications: I like to make two batches of the torte, for a total of 4 layers. Instead of doubling the recipe, I make it in two actual batches, so that the layers bake evenly (while I've done my best to make sure my oven is level, the rack inside appears to slope a bit at the periphery). I add the sugar at a different point in the recipe (as explained further down).

I've also developed my own Chocolate-Praline filling and topping to use with this torte; I like the multiple nut flavors that play together in this combination.

Chocolate-Praline  Filling:
11 oz. praline paste (one can of the Love-n-Bake brand)
8 1/4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3 c. heavy cream, divided

Place praline paste in a large glass bowl, along with the chopped chocolate. Microwave in 30 sec. increments, stirring until smooth. Let cool while making the whipped cream.
Beat 2 cups of the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into praline paste-chocolate mixture.
Divide into quarters. Spread appr. 1/4 between each of the 4 torte layers. Set aside remaining 1/4.
Beat remaining 1 cup of heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold into remaining 1/4 of the filling mixture. Spread over top and sides of torte. Chill.

For printable recipe, click here.

I'm going to walk you through the recipe (using my filling) with photos now. 
Note that I usually spread out the process of making this torte over 2 or 3 days - it breaks up the work, allows everything to cool and set, and the torte tastes better if it's allowed to sit for a day in the refrigerator before serving. But it'll still be good if you have only a day to make it.


Preheat the oven to 285 F.

Spray the bottom of two 9" springform pans (I use regular Pam spray; you can use special baking sprays too). Put a 9" parchment circle on the bottom of each (or cut parchment to fit), and then spray the parchment and the sides of the pan.
(Buying parchment rounds is a step-saver. I buy mine at the King Arthur Flour website:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/round-parchment-paper#8550#85509INCH
Don't skip the parchment - it keeps baked goods from burning on the bottom, makes it easier to remove the baked good without tearing, and gives you a better end result (I always use it for baking cookies too).

Separate your 4 eggs into whites and yolks. 
Since we'll be whipping the whites into a meringue, it's important that not a speck of yolk gets into the whites (and no, cleaning out the yolk really well just won't do the trick - your whites won't whip up well). So I use three bowls. Let the white drip into the first bowl, drop the intact yolk into the second bowl, then pour the white into the third bowl; then start again with the first bowl. This way, if your yolk breaks on your third egg, you've only ruined one egg instead of three - just save that egg for an omelet or something, get a clean bowl and another egg, and start again.

It's a good idea to get your other ingredients measured out at this point, so that you have them ready to go later on.

You'll notice that the original recipe here provides measurements by weight, instead of by volume - this is the norm in many parts of the world, and it is widely considered to be more precise. I've provided rough equivalencies by volume, for those who do not have a kitchen scale, but purchasing a kitchen scale is not a bad investment if you're going to be cooking and baking a lot, even if it's just at holiday time. My own scale is a Salter, purchased at King Arthur Flour (my favorite online resource, both for shopping and for recipes and baking advice). They no longer carry that particular brand, but they have others: http://search.kingarthurflour.com/search?p=Q&asug=&af=type%3Aproducts&w=scale

To use a kitchen scale, you need to "zero it out" first. Put the empty bowl onto the scale and then turn the scale on - that way you're not including the bowl's weight with the sugar's weight.

My scale switches easily from ounces to grams. The original recipe says 12 dekagrams, which is 120 grams (if your scale only measures ounces, it's about 4.2 oz here). Add sugar to the bowl until the display reads 120 grams. 

Set the bowl aside.

Grind up your walnuts in a food processor, and then measure them on your scale the same way - 120 grams.
(Remember to repeat the zeroing out process!)

Set that bowl aside too.

Measure out your breadcrumbs now - 1/4 cup. Use plain, unseasoned breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Breadcrumbs frequently appear as an ingredient in Eastern European tortes. I'm not sure if this is because of lack of access to flour in wartime, or for another reason.

You can get your vanilla ready to measure out too now - 1 Tbsp. - but I wouldn't actually pour it yet.

Good quality vanilla extract is a worthwhile investment - it really adds depth of flavor to anything you're baking.

 I like Nielsen-Massey's Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, and I purchase it (of course!) at King Arthur Flour:
 http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/madagascar-bourbon-vanilla-extract#1258#1258

Now we'll get back to those egg whites!
Transfer the egg whites to a mixing bowl. Put a whisk attachment on your mixer. Beat the whites at medium-high speed for about 1 1/2 minutes - the whites will be frothy, getting whiter, thicker, and increased in volume.

Add the sugar now.
Cook's Illustrated explains that this is the optimal point in the process to add sugar to egg whites, to avoid graininess. This is why I no longer add the sugar to the yolks, as in our original recipe.
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/
recipes/article.asp?docid=12432

Pour the sugar in a steady stream, continuing to beat. Keep whipping. You'll see the egg whites getting whiter, glossier, and thicker. In the third photo above, you see that they're still a bit drippy. But in the fourth picture, you can see that the egg whites can stand up a bit on their own, before flopping over - this is called "soft peak stage". We don't need to go all the way to "stiff peak stage" because we're not making meringue cookies - we'll be folding in the other ingredients for the torte, and that actually works better at soft peak than at stiff peak. I got to soft peak at about 3 1/2 minutes.

Now you can add those bowls of egg yolks, ground walnuts, and breadcrumbs, as well as the vanilla extract. 
Either fold in by hand, or just use the very lowest speed on your mixer. You don't want to mix too much, so that you don't lose too much volume from the air that you just whipped into the egg whites - that's why we say "fold" instead of "mix".

Because we folded instead of mixed, we still have a good amount of volume left in the batter, from the air whipped into the egg whites. This will help the completed torte from tasting too heavy and dense.

Now you can go ahead and pour the batter into your two prepared pans. You'll need to tilt the pans a bit to get the batter evenly distributed.
Try to get even amounts of batter in the two pans. No biggie if they're not exactly even, but you want the layers to come out fairly similar.

Bake at 285 F (you can go as high as 300 F if you like) for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven to cool on racks.

Here are my two baked layers - I've removed the collars of the springform pans. You can remove the bases too - the parchment rounds will keep the torte layers intact.

Did you want a 4-layer torte? Repeat the process for 2 more layers now!

FILLING
Ready to move on to the filling? I usually wait until the next day, just to break up the work. But you'll be able to fill the torte as soon as the layers are cool. If you're waiting until the next day, cover the layers with plastic wrap so that they don't dry out. The parchment rounds on the bottom will protect the undersides of the layers too.


For the Chocolate Praline filling, you need some praline paste. I really like this Love'n Bake brand, which comes in an 11 oz. size (and I've modified my recipe so that I use up the whole can). 

I buy this online at - you guessed it! - King Arthur Flour:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/all-natural-hazelnut-praline-paste-11-oz


Chop up your bittersweet chocolate, or use chocolate disks or wafers (King Arthur has a good selection). I'm using a combination of two different brands/shapes in the pictures below - I think it adds a bit of complexity of flavor.

Put the chocolate and the praline paste in a microwaveable glass bowl (I should have used a larger one here). Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring each time.

The chocolate will melt much more quickly than the praline paste - see picture 3 above. You'll need to use your spoon to press chunks of the praline paste against the side of the bowl to get to a smooth state, as in picture 4 above. Keep stirring without microwaving any more - you don't want to burn the chocolate.


You can let the mixture cool while you whip the heavy cream.

Measure out about 2 cups of the heavy cream (not all 3 cups). It should be cold - temperature is important when you're whipping cream.

Put it in the bowl of your mixer, with a whisk attachment.
(If it's a hot and humid day, you may want to chill your bowl and whisk before starting.)


Start whipping at a medium-high speed (if you're using a KitchenAid mixer, you may want to put on the pouring shield for the beginning so that you don't get splashed).


Knowing how long it takes to get to soft-peak and stiff-peak stage with whipping cream takes practice, so I've put some photos below. Photo 4 is soft-peak, but we want stiff peak here, which we have in Photo 6. It took about 1 min 45 sec in this case, but a lot depends on your mixer speed, temperature, etc.

So now you have some lovely whipped cream, and you need to blend it with the chocolate-praline mixture that you made earlier. You don't want to lose the air that you just beat into the cream, so be sure to fold, not mix.
(Cook's Illustrated has nice drawings explaining the technique of folding: http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/detail.asp?docid=19803)

Now you're ready to start assembling the torte!

I recommend using a little cake decorating turntable here - it makes things easier. If you don't have one, don't worry about it - you'll manage. The one I'm using is an old model, but Wilton.com has a newer model here (you can probably find it in your local Michael's, JoAnn's, or other craft store):
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=93495B56-423B-522D-FDFBD34DCAFFB07C&killnav=1

Put your cake plate or cake board on the turntable. I'm using a cardboard cake board here because this is a pre-ordered torte and I don't want to have to make arrangements to retrieve a cake plate from the customer.
I bought this cake board at my local cake supply store, but Wilton now sells a number of different kinds too.

Choose your sturdiest torte layer to be the bottom layer. Flip it upside down onto the cake board (this isn't as scary as it may seem - put the cake board upside down on top of the torte layer, keep one hand on top, slip the other hand under the cooling rack and torte layer, and flip). 
Try to center the torte on the board as you do this; you can adjust the centering a little after flipping, if needed. 


(If you tear the torte layer a bit in the process, just try to patch it together as best you can - it'll all be covered by filling and topping by the end of the process anyway!)

The parchment round is still attached to the base of the torte layer - it helps keep the torte layer intact, in this case. Once you have the torte layer where you want it on the board, gently peel back the parchment round and discard.

Now you can start putting in the filling.

Put about 1/4 of your filling mixture onto the torte layer. Try to spread the filling as level as you can (you can correct any slight slope in the torte layer this way; this torte can't easily be cut to level it, the way cake layers can be).

I'm using a long, straight icing spatula in the first picture above, and that tool makes things easier: 
http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E31009B-475A-BAC0-5893DEA7B09E2C5D&killnav=1


Take the next torte layer and flip it onto the filling. 
(You can't use the cake base this time, so either flip it just using your hands - it's sturdy enough! - or you can use a small cake round, thin cutting board, giant spatula, or something else large and flat and thin to do the flipping, and then gently ease the torte layer from whatever you're using onto the filling).

Adjust your centering as needed. Peel off the parchment round.

Put another 1/4 filling onto the second torte layer, spread evenly, repeat with the third torte layer and another 1/4 of the filling. Put the fourth torte layer on top, and stop. 

You can clean up any filling spilling over the sides now. If you like, you can put the torte into the refrigerator to chill while you make the topping (if it's hot and the torte layers are slip-sliding around, insert some toothpicks from the top to hold the layers in place, and chill to set the filling).

Now you can move on to putting together the topping.

You should have about a quarter of your filling left (first photo above).

Take the remaining 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, and whip it to stiff peak stage. Gently mix in the remaining filling (you can use your mixer at the very lowest speed). The final result is lighter in color and texture than the filling, but still has that chocolate-praline flavor.

The next step is covering, or "icing" your torte. You can apply the topping simply, maybe swirl it with the back of a spoon, and then decorate.

I like a smooth and even effect, and I'm including the photos of the process below. You may also want to look at Wilton's video on icing a cake: http://www.wilton.com/decorating/icing/using-a-spatula.cfm

Apply topping to the torte top first, spread and smooth it out. Then use a short icing spatula to apply topping to the sides, and smooth. Go back to the top, add topping where needed to make it level (usually it slopes down along the periphery), smooth again. 
Icing a cake is a bit like spackling - apply more than you need, and take away excess with your spatula to achieve that straight and level effect. 
Smooth the sides again. Keep going until you're satisfied. 

Then use a paper towel to clean up the cake board surface. 
Finally, you have a smooth canvas to decorate as you like.

I like to use borders around the top and bottom edges of my tortes. Here I'm using chocolate buttercream in a rope border (you can make this border using stabilized whipped cream too). 
You can look at the Wilton website for the rope technique: 
http://www.wilton.com/technique/Rope
but it really helps to take a Wilton cake decorating class (at a craft shop like Michael's or JoAnn's; also, Wilton just started introducing Craftsy classes, which you can take online for a fee).

The decoration I made for this customer is a "Luk i Strila"  (bow and arrow) insignia of the Plast group Pershi Stezhi. I used buttercream here, but another possibility would have been coloring and cutting out marzipan (or fondant, but I don't like the taste).

Good luck with your own torte! It's worth the effort!

But if it's too overwhelming, you can pre-order a torte from us! Don't wait too long, though - our tortes sell out quickly!

Everyone loves eating varenyky, but making them requires a special effort! Our Ukrainian School varenyk- and vushka- making parties are a fun way to do the work together, exchanging tips and tricks, or learning how to do this for the first time. We ask our volunteers to bring a batch of dough or a batch of filling, if they can. Here is one recipe - I'll provide more in future blog entries. See our slideshow on the Varenyky i Vushka page!