Unique and Homely special sweets from Moldova inspired by folklore to daily waking life

Moldova's cuisine has influences from Romanian, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian cuisines that the locals have adapted and incorporated into their cultural fabric. The desserts might seem somewhat unusual from cheese dumplings to honeycomb pies that are cake-like but somehow elastic and porous. Some pancakes and cakes look like a pile of wooden logs. So, interesting is an understatement when it comes to Moldova and its special sweets.

1. Baba Neagra

A porous chocolate cake with a honeycomb-like structure the Babab Negra cake is treated as a pie with a pudding-like feel. Interestingly, the color of the cake isn't due to the chocolate or cocoa powder used, but because of the baking time and the reaction of the buttermilk, baking soda and oil in the dessert. It takes four hours to bake this cake which results in a dark brown color. Baba Neagra is a soft and elastic dessert that comes from Northern Moldova and is said to be baked in wood ovens alongside savory dishes. It's commonly eaten alongside another dessert called Baba Alba, which is a noodle pudding.

2. Plăcintă

A flat cake that is made with flour, eggs, milk, yeast and a little salt, it's deep-fried with either a sweet or savory filling. The sweet fillings range from sweet cheeses, branza cheese, apples, fruit jams, and sour cherries and the pancake-like dessert might be light and fluffy to thicker, crispier and spongy. It tastes best fresh and hot and is also popular in Romania.

3. Cușma lui Guguță

Guguță is a famous folklore character in Moldovan literature and the course section of the cake is said to resemble his hat. The cake is made with rolled crepes with a stuffing of cherries and it perfectly balances sweetness from the cake and the sourness from the cherries used. The crepes are held together with sweet cream used with the cherries inside as well as outside. Because of its unique pyramid-like shape it's also called a monastery hut woodpile cake.

4. Sfințișori

A kind of sweet bread coated with honey with chopped nuts on the sticky and crisp exterior, Sfințișori is also known as Moldovian Martyrs. The insides are soft and pillowy as is with any kind of fried dough. It is made to look like number 8 referring to March 8th, the eve of the feasting day of the Forty Martyrs. The eight represents the human body as well.

5. Smetannik

You might associate this cake with Russia, because it is, but it's also popular in Moldova. It's a delicate layered cake made with a glutinous batter that make up the cake sponges and in between is a vanilla and sour cream mixture and the whole cake has a topping of white icing. You will find this cake at every local supermarket, cafes and bakeries and also at local celebrations like birthdays and weddings. The sugar content is very low in this cake and most of the sweetness comes from the cake’s cream.

6. Plachia

A local rice pudding that is so thick that it tends to resemble a rice cake, Plachia is a beloved dessert among the Moldovan kids. The denseness of the pudding comes from being baked and not cooked using rice, milk, eggs, butter and vanilla essence. It can be cooked too for that comforting homely feel, but the crunchiness of the edges comes only from baking this pudding for a generous amount of time.

7. Prune Uscate cu Nuci

Prunes stuffed with walnuts are one of the healthier alternatives to sugary and calorific desserts that are typically eaten with a topping of chocolate cream, whipped cream or sour cream. Most East European countries like Romania and Moldova. It might seem like a modern invention but it has been being made for several hundred years in the country. The prunes need a smoky aroma and should be a little sweet which are soaked in water to hydrate and plump up and then stuffed with toasted walnuts and the topping of choice, usually whipped cream.

8. Colțunași cu Brânză

Sweet cheese is a staple in Moldova and these sweet dumplings are a local favorite. But cheese isn't always used, it might be filled with jams as well which are served during local celebrations. These dumplings have two versions named after the effort and time that goes into making both of them – “colțunași harnici”, meaning “hard-working dumplings”, and “colțunași lenoși”, meaning “lazy dumplings”.