A Little Taste of Home
by Marina Viscun

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Cușma lui Guguțǎ [Kushmah luy Gougoutseh] – Guguțǎ’s Hat

One of the most famous characters in children’s literature in Moldova (Eastern Europe) is Guguțǎ, a boy who lives with his family in a small village and whose adventures are full of engaging lessons, courageous experiences, and wholesome fun.

We are introduced to him through his hat that grows, just like his heart, to accommodate the needs of his classmates and villagers. Guguțǎ and his ever-expanding conical sheepskin hat are inseparable as a character, and he is always portrayed wearing one (because that’s what everyone in Moldova did throughout the seasons).

The conical shape of the hat and the curlicues of the sheepskin are the inspiration for the cake called Cușma lui Guguțä (Guguțä’s Hat), where sour cherry-filled shortbread cylinders are stacked to form a triangular prism covered by sour cream or mascarpone-based cream and topped with shaved chocolate to resemble the hat’s structure and texture.

Other versions of this cake replace the shortbread with crepes or cherries and blueberries; add crushed walnuts to the cream for an additional “bumpy” look; and rename the cake as Woodpile or Anthill Cake. Regardless of what ingredients come together or what this dessert is called, the key lies in the pyramidal form of the cake, which allows us to see the interior fruit-filled circles when served.

Cușma lui Guguțä is one of my favorite cakes. It’s not sweet because the cherries make it tart; the cream has as much or as little sugar as one wants to add; and the dough can be any shortbread cookie dough. It’s simple to make and very dramatic to cut into. Plus, when sharing the dessert with others, it allows you to share the story of Guguțǎ.

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‍Cușma lui Guguțǎ – RECIPE

Any favorite shortbread dough recipe can work for this – feel free to substitute. Also, some recipes substitute shortbread dough with 15 crepes, which changes the texture of the cake.


INGREDIENTS

Dough:

400g flour

200g butter

200g sour cream

50g sugar

Cream & Decoration:

700g sour cream

150g powdered sugar

300g crushed walnuts (not required, but provides texture)

100g dark chocolate shavings for decoration

Filling:

Two 24 oz jars pitted cherries in light syrup (not compote!), drained

Substitutes for fillings:

o  2.5lbs pitted sour (better) or sweet cherries, fresh or frozen

o  2.5lbs blueberries, fresh or frozen

o  Feel free to experiment with any fruit


ASSEMBLY

MIX dough ingredients, knead as quickly as possible as not to overwork and/or melt the butter, and rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

MIX cream ingredients in the mixer then work in crushed walnuts manually so as not to pulverize them. Do not include chocolate! Refrigerate until needed.

PREHEAT the oven at 360°F.

REMOVE dough from the fridge and split into 15 sections. Return 11 sections back to the fridge. Roll four remaining sections into long strips approximately 13” long, 2.5” wide, and 0.1” thick.

ADD cherries to each strip in a neat line, leaving no space between them. Pinch the strips closed over the filling.

REPEAT the steps until all 15 sections of the dough are filled cylinders.

PLACE all cylinders on the baking sheet(s) over parchment paper. Bake until golden brown.

LET the baked cylinders cool to the touch and remove cream from the fridge to warm up.

LAY five cylinders next to each other on the serving tray (at least 15” long and 6” wide to accommodate the cream), cover them using approximately 1/5 of the cream (if the layer is covered but you can still see the shape of the tubes and the dough itself, that’s the right amount).

ADD the next layer of cylinders by placing four cylinders on top of the first layer’s tubes, starting to build a triangular prism base. Cover them with cream as before.

CREATE the next layer of three cylinders covered with cream, then two cylinders covered with cream, then one cylinder covered with cream. The cake should now resemble a triangular prism.

USE leftover cream to fill in any gaps in covering on the cake.

SHAVE dark chocolate over the cake, covering as much or as little of the cake as you want.

PLACE the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve. It is recommended to cover the cake in the fridge, so it doesn’t dry out.

CUT the cake vertically when serving, in approximately 1” slices. Each piece should look like a triangle with 15 circles filled with cherries.

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Marina Viscun is a Moldovan American writer who mines her varied background and experiences as a female immigrant, college instructor, filmmaker, activist, traveler, and US Navy veteran for her storytelling. She likes good company, mostly all animals, single-origin dark chocolate, reading, mindful walking, and culinary explorations, and is trilingual (English, Russian, and Romanian).