Bistro Kod Damira
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The Logic of Food: Best Croatian Desserts


The word "dessert" actually comes from the meaning to desert the dining room and move to the drawing or entertainment room for some sweets and drinks.




I've tried frutele on the streets, berry strudels from bakeries, and to our amazement, these three places offered desserts that brought wonders to our eyes and tantalizing bewilderments. The cakes are ranked based on execution, look and finally taste. Being a baker myself, it is always interesting to dissect and analyze how the different ingredients string to harmony.

Here are our top recommendations:

[------Creme de la Creme-------] Split
Honestly, I've only been back to this store twice, and basically ransacked through its latest season of cake collection from Cake Opera to Tiramisu to its Charlotte. You name it.

1. Tarte od Jakube (Apple Crumble Tart) 
I've had apple strudels and tarts in Austria, the city of dessert, but I have never had an apple tart as good as this. The tart shell is crusty, easily broken by fork (unlike some thick, harden shells that I could almost break the plate just to eat it). The bottom layer is coated with caramel, which balances off perfectly with the acidity of the cinnamon apples, cooked to tenderly perfection. It is then topped with almond and crumbles, giving it an additional kick of pizzazz.



 2. Splitska Torta (Dried Fig cake)
I've been told that Pet Bunara has the best dried fig cake, but I want to highlight that the ones served at Creme de la Creme has set high bar of standard. It tastes almost like carrot cake with in-between layers of sponge cake of raisin, walnuts, dried fig, nutmeg and honey as well as buttercream. Such a festive cake, and perfectly suitable for Christmas celebration in my opinion.








[--------Pet Bunara---------]  Zadar

 3. Pistachio Cheesecake
I've never been a big fan of cheesecake, but this was a homerun because it broke all conventions that the crust of a cheesecake needs to be thin. In fact, the crust of this cheese cake is about 1.5cm and it did not bother me a single bit. The crust is dense and creamy at the same time, which somehow melts into your mouth instantly with its light and airy pistachio cream cheese mousse. The pistachio dressing on top is rich, but not overpowering, in fact, it accentuates the cream and marks the high tone of this dessert!




[--------Kod Damira ---------] Stari Grad

4. Marmalade Crepe 
This is a commoner's food, but it is delightful nonetheless. The crepe is crispy around the edges, and soft on the inside with marmalade oozing out from the crispy edges. Egg, milk, butter and marmalade. Simple ingredients, big pleasure.














Other worth mentioning and trying:

- Forum Bakery's Marmalade roll 



 - Samobor Kremsnita (Custard vanilla cream cake)
- Makovnjaca Poppy seed cake 
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[STARI GRAD, CROATIA] Day 2: Tvrdalj Castle, Bistro Kod Damira

Day 2: Tvrdalj Castle, Bistro Kod Damira 

Poet and nobel Petar Hektorovic has a special bond with the fishermen. 

He is the son of a nobility that when the Turks attacked, he jumped into the Aegean Sea to escape and was rescued by fishermen. In his later years, he wrote poems and travelogues in 1556 , known as "Fishermen and their bantering", which meticulously recorded the fishermen folk songs and their conversations, that shed light to the lifestyle and the integrity of these so called "commoners". In one way or another, Petar fought for a more equal right for commoners, allowing them to seek shelter at his Tvrdalj Castle during Turkish invasions. The Castle has a garden and a mullet pond at the center with fish, and there are various inscriptions around the castle, giving light to the poet's philosophy of life. For example, on the sound side of the fish pond it says " Remember neither riches nor fame, beauty nor age can save you from death, death takes it all." 

In fact, the castle is rustic and yet austere in its own way. It almost reminds me of an aquaponic microcosm, where nobles and commoners are equal, and that the relationship between men and nature are equal and interdependent. 

The garden is full of pomegranade, rosemary, thymes, lemon trees, Persimon tree, roses and various other kind of herbs and fruits. It is no wonder why the poet finds inspiration from this romantique garden. 

Doesn't this look like the door to a secret garden? 

It is such a soothing experience to walk around in this castle, not to mention the playful cat that lives here. 

At night we decided to have dinner at Bistro Kod Damira, and while we are waiting for our food, two round, almond eyes looked at us attentively, twirling and tapping next to our table. I think I have a lot of baby luck, that often led to new conversation with other travellers (While we were taking the ferry from Split to Stari Grad, we also started chatting with a couple from the States when their baby started smiling and reaching our her fingers to me) . So the couple with their 3 year old daughter comes from Hamburg and have already spent 8 days at Hvar Island. They said, " This is by far the best restaurant we've had on the island, where the food is very fresh and not expensive at all!" We are amazed by our luck that we struck upon this pot of gold on our first day on the island! Yoohoo! 




We don't not know what "Paprenjak" is, as the English translation just says "traditional cake", the waiter has no clue, and says "Oh it's a family secret, I don't know what it is!" , so we took a shot to give it a try. 

[-----Our Order -----] 
- Meatloaf 
-Beef tongue with sauce 
-Tomato soup 
- Lavender chocolate Cake 
-Paprenjak (Pepper Cake) 

I ordered the Beef tongue, and I must say this is rivaling its 1st place for Best Beef Tongue with the restaurant that I've had in Czech Republic. It melts in your month instantly and the lightness and smoothness of the horseradish sauce adds such a delicate touch to the taste. 


The Lavender chocolate cake is moist with lavender honey and yet it relatively light and airy. 

The Paprenjak, since we could not identify this unique taste by our taste bud, I did a search on the web for its recipe. 
 
The traditional Paprenjak contains a unique mix of honey and black pepper and also has sugar syrup or honey, butter or fat, eggs, nuts, pepper and various spices such as clove, cinnamon and nutmeg in it. 
Each family probably had their own recipe, and it gets passed down with variations, so no wonder the waiter won't know the family's secret! 
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