20 Apr Walnut bear paw cakes

A Slavic Kitchen staple

I discovered the recipe for these walnut “bear paw” cakes when writing my latest book, Slavic Kitchen Alchemy, and they have become a staple in our family. I feel like I have eaten them in my childhood, but I can’t remember when exactly. They are eaten at every celebration in Bosnia and I totally get why. Bear paws are easy to make, in my opinion, they are tastier than madeleines and even have some nutty goodness in them too. In our house, they disappear in an afternoon. We don’t usually eat many walnuts, as they are slightly too bitter for the girls. In this recipe, the walnut flavour works beautifully and isn’t too overpowering. We always have plenty of walnuts, as my mum has a walnut tree in her garden in Poland that fruits abundantly. At this time of year, we are thinking about how to use them all up before the next lot arrive.

The benefits of walnuts

I will never forget Pani Ania, who lived in a little cottage near Rye. She was a chemist by profession, but I knew her only when she was very old. She kept bees and always gave us her homemade propolis goodies. While she studied chemistry at Oxford with Margaret Thatcher, she approached nature in a folkloric way. She told me that nature gives us clues as to what a food is good for. The example she gave was that of a walnut. “What does it look like to you?” she asked. Of course, it’s clear that a walnut looks like a brain. And yes, walnuts are eaten for brain health. They also reduce inflammation and help the gut by acting as a prebiotic. Of course, we do need to take this method with a pinch of salt. By this logic, cashews would be brilliant for the kidneys, when in fact if you eat too many they can cause problems in that department…

Recipe for walnut bear paw cakes