Modla 180°C shares her recipes for the sweetest Christmas treats

Have you already written down Modla’s recipe for Christmas bundt cake? During the holiday season, we return to flavors that evoke warmth, love, and togetherness, inspired by the most beautiful childhood memories. We allow ourselves indulgence, we do not count bites, surrendering to airy, soft, and delicate shapes and textures loved by the whole family. Jelena Perović, better known as Modla 180°C, enchanted us with her small workshop of homemade cookies, cakes, breads, and savory bites in Dorćol, so we decided to follow in her footsteps and uncover the little secrets of great enchantresses. In my desserts, I wrap memories, joy, and a sense of security. But if I had to choose one emotion, it would be love that smells like my childhood home, filled with powdered sugar and freshly ground walnuts for šapice, Jelena tells me. The secret ingredient of my desserts is not really a secret at all, quite the opposite. Familiar feelings and nostalgia awakened by a well known taste remind us of happiness. My recipes recall all the women because of whom we are here, grandmothers, mothers, and in my case, aunts. From their notebooks of recipes, I copied everything that takes us back to carefree days and the warmth of home.

Ako vam ove godine nedostaje inspiracije da napravite nešto drugačije, u nastavku otkrijte njene neodoljive recepte za najslađe praznične poslastice.

Šapice (traditional cookies shaped in metal molds)

• 1 cup melted lard
• scant 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk in which you dissolve 1 level teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 cups ground walnuts
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• flour as needed, so the dough does not stick to your hands

Knead all the ingredients into a smooth dough and fill metal molds, but not to the top, as the dough will rise during baking. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C until golden. Once they cool slightly, roll them in powdered sugar. P.S. they are sweetest when kept in a shoebox, of course lined with baking paper 🙃.

Breskvice (peach-shaped cookies)

• 1 cup lard
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 small glass of rakija diluted with water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• flour as needed, so the dough does not stick to your hands (that’s what my aunt says 🙃)

After kneading the dough from all the ingredients, shape equal sized balls and bake until golden, about 15 minutes. While still warm, pierce each half with the tip of a sharp knife. Fill them with a mixture of homemade apricot jam and the crumbs from the hollowed out dough. Dip the filled breskvice in milk and strawberry or raspberry extract. Finally, roll them in granulated sugar. P.S. “Bake until golden” is a phrase from my aunt’s old notebook, and there are no precise instructions there, everything is done by feel.