Turkish Soap Operas, Real Sets behind them, and Dereotlu Pogaca (Turkish Biscuit)

It is Wednesday! I am rushing my kids to complete their homework, I am loading dishwasher with few plates in rush, completing everything I had to do, check my Facebook page, Gmail, and Twitter-everything before eight o'clock. It's my night of Turkish Soap Opera.I am a big fan of "Kuzey and Guney", it airs at 8 PM every Wednesday on Kanal D in Turkey.
Turkish soap operas are real big deal for Turkey, and for Middle East, and for many Balkan countries where viewers wait by the TV for their favorite story to be continued. The competition among channels is gigantic! Channels compete by measuring the ratings during the prime-time airing. Time between 8PM and 10PM, are the most valuable hours for the TV companies. Every channel has its own dizi ( TV series in turkish), which is trying to beat the rating and gain more profits from Advertising company.This is the most talked business in whole country. Dizi is powerful tool to turn an unknown foreign actor/or actress into a king or queen of media in Turkey. Like Meryem Uzerli, who is more known as Hurrem from "Muhtesem Yuzyil" series. She was invited from Germany to play a famous wife of sultan Suleyman. She is one of the most beloved actresses in modern Turkey now. The Muhtesem Yuzyil/or Magnificent Century is most profitable and at the same time most expensive TV Series in country. It also airs on Wednesday, but I am not watching it, since Hurrem's role meant to be mine, and now by not giving its producer one extra rating, I am protesting it. :)
To make one episode, hundreds of people work full-time for 7 days a week. And by full-time, I mean 24 hours a day. One episode lasts for one and half hour, instead world standard -45 minutes. It takes a lot of juice from the crew to film a full movie-lenght episode in 6 days every week. Actors don't know their words until last moment,since the script writers are finishing their dialogues right in front of them on the sets. We met a director, who is filming famous TV series which lasts couple seasons, and she didn't see how her baby grew all this time. It's a really tough and crucial business. Viewers sometimes relate to the characters too much, and relate everything that happens on the screen as it was a real life. I will be honest if I will tell the fact about myself. My husband met Bugra Gulsoy (Guney from Kuzey Guney series), and I have been begging my husband to introduce me with him. In yesterday's episode, Guney turned into a negative character, and I told my husband, that I changed my mind, and didn't want to meet such a evil person anymore. Sounds funny, I know. The young and beautiful actress from "Eve Dusen Yildirim" was playing a character who was destroying family. The girl was attacked by people on the street for that. She had an extremely hard time walking and living a regular life without being insulted by women, who felt sorry for the left alone wife in the series.
Existence of Tweeter and Facebook, also plays a big role in scandalous situations with actors. For example, during the "Adini Feriha Koydum" series, there were two groups of fans, that attacked the producers of the TV series in the cyber space in order for them to change the story line.
Last week, I had a chance to visit a set of upcoming TV series "Otisabi", which is based on the Comic series, by Yilmaz Aslanturk. The series are going to be broadcasted on CinemaTV. It's a first-time experience for Private channel, that is doing an exclusive production of its own TV series in Turkey. Think of HBO special series. The director of the OTISABI is fantastic man, who has years of experience,who is trying to bring the level of the local production upto the Hollywood standards. The TV series is promising to be extremely entertaining, and very sexy. The set left an impression on me, which broke my dream of wanting to become and actress one day. It was a first time for me to see all the cameras, lights, people behind the camera, and one actor who has got all one hundred eyes on him. I felt like I didn't want to be in his shoes at that moment. This is so scary!!!Guys, I am telling you, it's not easy at all. Everyone expects you to show that perfect emotion, that one special move of the finger, or a sparkle in your eyes. The actor did fantastic job! He is hilarious, he is sexy, he is tough,simply the real OTISABI, that I used to imagine reading the comics. The Facebook page of Otisabi is already full of criticism, praising, opinions, reviews, even before anybody has seen any episode.


Criticism of famous "Muhtesem Yuzyil"went even further to the Premier Minister of Turkey. In his public speech, he told his opinion, that the TV series was not reflecting the real facts or was historically incorrect. The producers had to do certain changes in following episodes because of that.
My post got too long :) From the set of Otisabi, I am bringing you the recipe of usual snack. It's a POGACA (poacha). There are diffrent kinds of Pogacas in Turkey, some of them are yeasty and look like buns, some are simple and taste crumbly like scone or biscuit. I chose a simple and quick version of dereotlu pogaca (Biscuits with dill), which can be perfect for your potluck, or appetizer table, as a bread substitute for the fancy dinner.
The recipe is adapted from MutfakSirlari.

Dereotlu Pogaca -Bisuits with dill and Feta cheese.

3 1/2 c of all-purpose flour
1 t.salt
1 t. sugar
1/4 cup of chopped and washed fresh dill
1 T baking powder
125 gr. of cold butter
1/2 c vegetable oil
3/4 c yogurt ( or sour-cream)
1 egg divided into e.g. white and yolk.
100 gr Feta Cheese -Optional

Mix the dry ingredients+dill, cut the butter into the flour mixture. You better use the pastry knife, or your hands to turn the butter and flour into crumbs.





Separately mix the liquid ingredients Yogurt+Egg White+Oil. Add them to Flour. Use your hands to knead the dough. We don't need to reach smooth texture, leave a little bit crumbly. Heat the oven 350F (185C). Use parchment paper on baking pan. Roll the doing in your palms into a golf size (or walnut)ball. Make a closed hole, and insert the piece of Feta cheese, close the hole.


You can close totally and roll it into ball, or leave it in kind of half-open shell shape. Brush egg yolk on top. Bake 25-30 minutes until dark golden color.

Maslenitsa-Mасленица

Spring is one of the most beloved seasons for most of the people. I really enjoy early spring here in Istanbul. Compare to cold, and snowy March in New York, we are enjoying Californian warm sun here. We have been spending so much time outdoors, exploring parks, sahil yollar (meaning pedestrian road by the water). Seeing jogging people, girls in tight sport outfits makes me feel comfortable. WARNING: I wouldn't do running in super sexy outfit in every neighborhood of Istanbul.



To warm up my friends on East coast, and Europe, I am baking today specialty of this week -BLINY (блины), Blintzes, Crepes.Whole week was a week of celebration called Maslenica Wikipedia gives us this meaning "Maslenica is a port and village in Zadar County, Dalmatia, Croatia." -No, no, no -that's not what we celebrate. MASLENITSA is according to Wikipedia "an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday. It is celebrated during the last week before Great Lent—that is, the seventh week before Eastern Orthodox Pascha (Easter)" Traditionally, we bake Bliny, and eat them with various fillings -herring, caviar, honey, jams, smoked fish,hard-boiled eggs+rice, meat, and more modern and most popular sweetened condensed milk, Nutella.
There is no recipe of Bliny in my family. It's a product of leftovers, mixing them, reaching correct consistency, and frying on right heavy-bottomed pan. Like yesterday, my mom said that Bliny were fantastic, not like on Monday.
- Mom, did you do something different this time?
- No, of course not. Little bit of milk, 2 eggs, flour. That's it.
So, every time I am about to beat up the batter, I am hoping that BLINY Gods will be happy today with my mixing skills and my bliny will be soft, delicious, and just like my mom's. After 100th recipe, that I had tried, I believe I am getting better, and can post a recipe that you might follow and get delicious result.
In Turkey, I am in constant search of good ingredients. Recently, I found Organic Flour in Migros. I bought two kinds -whole wheat, and regular white flour packages. I cannot write review in fully yet, but I will be making Bliny with white flour today.


I usually, mix the batter right before I pick up my kids from school. After we get home, I work it on two frying pans, and getting the bliny ready in no time in front of my two hungry men.
CREPES-BLINY
1 1/2 cups milk
3 large eggs
3 T sugar
1/2 t salt
70 grams of melted butter
1 T Vanilla extract
1 cup of all-purpose flour

You can use blender to mix all the ingredients together. If you are using mixer, then mix Eggs+ Sugar, do not make it foamy, add salt, butter, half of milk, and vanilla. 1/2 cup of flour, rest of the milk and the rest of the flour (1/2 c).Cover the bowl with batter with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Butter hot frying pans. One ladle of batter should be spread by moving the pan.The edges will turn into light golden color, you flip the crepe over, and fry the other side. Stack crepes on top of each other on the plate.

Apple Tart, or Thanksgiving Preparation

Oh, I haven't written anything in a while. I feel like I am learning to cooke all from scratch here in Turkey. My oven doesn't bake the way I used to ovens, the ingredients don't taste the same, the measurements for local recipes call for tea cups, coffee cups instead of our usual measuring cups and pyrex cup. And my Kitchen Aid mixer was not with me ( and you know it's my best friend)

So, here I am adjusting to the new way around my turkish kitchen, and begging my husband to find me Kitchen Aid mixer, and here my wish comes true. During the recent holiday here in Istanbul, the price for my "Diamond" was reduced by %50. I ran to the store, and purchased the present of the year for myself. I couldn't wait to beat up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate cake. I baked, baked , and baked. Until I realized that I wasn't so comfortable in my pair of jeans. I had an emergency, and last week on Thursday started a Dukan diet. Now, I am cooking for family, and for myself separately, and not so much of baking will be happening in my kitchen for some time until the holidays. I lost so far about 5 Lbs, and happy how the diet is simple and makes me feel. I will try to share some recipes with you from my diet plan, if you'd like.

The thought of having a Thanksgiving Dinner at my home, made me think of all the delicious things, that I can cook. I decided to try to bake some of my Thanksgiving recipes in my new oven ,and using local ingredients. Today I baked an Apple Galette, which I really liked. The original recipe was found on epicurious.com, however I baked it with some slight changes.

Oh, how much I struggled not to swallow the slice of galette ( I am on protein diet).The crust is nice and crumbly, the apples are delicious and sweet, and if you place and vanilla ice cream on top, you will be on heaven.

APPLE GALETTE.
adapted from Epicurious, originally from Chez Panisse.

1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 sticks (165 gr) cold butter
3-4 Tablespoons of ice water

1 1/2 lb Granny Smith apples
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1/2 lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup of apricot preserves
whole milk or egg wash

You can use processor to make dough or fork/pastry knife. Mix flour+salt+sugar, add cubes of butter, and work it until it looks like crumbs.

Add water, and put the dough into one piece, make a disk,wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Peel your apples, clean and core. I didn't have the core cutting tool, I simple quartered an apple, and gently cut out the seeds.

Slice the apples, and mix them with cinnamon, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice.
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Roll out the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper into 14 inches circle. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Take off the top parchment paper, and place your circle on the baking sheet. Spread the preserves over the top, leaving 1 1/2 inches for border. I didn't have apricot jam, and used homemade figs preserves-loved it.

Arrange Apple slices on top. Fold the borders. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar and walnuts on top.

Brush the borders with milk or egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes (I baked 15 Minutes), reduce to 375F, and continue baking until crust is pretty golden color about 30 minutes.
Best served warm with an ice cream on top. I am planning to warm it up in he oven after the dinner, and serve it with delicious walnut ice cream.

Cinnamon Sticky Buns

 Cinnamon Sticky Buns.

(adapted from Oprah's magazine)

Buns, Croissants, Brioche, Danishes-my yummy world of yeasty dough. "Bulochki" in Russian for buns  have been so my favorite since my childhood. Grandmothers were using poppy seed filling and specially baking it for me for my after school snack. Yeap...no chips, no oreos, no soda, no carrot sticks, and no peanut butter sandwiches-only delicious freshly baked poppy seed buns. I will be honest, and tell you the truth, that I never succeeded in remaking those childhood buns. I tried thousands of recipes, and it just never awoke that memory. I will share with you the recipe, which is very easy to do, the results have been always satisfying, and received approval from now-days school snackers. :)

  -1/4 cup of warm water
  -1 packet/or 2 1/2 teaspoon of dry yeast
 - 1/3 cup of sugar
  -3/4 cup of milk
 - 4 Tablespoon softened butter
  - 3 Large egg yolks
 - 1 Tablespoon of orange zest
  -  1 1/4 teaspoon salt
 - 4 - 41/4 cup flour


 Filling
-1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar
-1 T. cinnamon
-4 T softened butter

Warm water + yeast+ 1t sugar, leave for foaming in the mixing bowl.
Add milk+butter+sugar+egg yolks+zest+ 3 cups of flour, use the dough hook for your mixer.And add 1 cup of flour, if the dough is sticky add the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.
Leave the dough in the greased stainless bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and a towel on top. Leave it for 1 hour , until doubles in volume. Punch it down with your fingers, and let it rest for 20 minutes more.While waiting prepare the topping. 


Topping
-3/4 cup pf light brown sugar
-4 T-butter
-3 T-honey
-1 T light corn syrup
-1 1/2 chopped pecans
In a 1 quart saucepan, combine sugar, butter, honey, corn syrup. let it simmer.
Prepare 12x18 rectangle pan,  or 12x18 pyrex. Pour the sticky mixture into pan, sprinkle equally pecans on the bottom of the pan. 


 Roll dough in 12"x18" rectangle. Brush melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture, roll the dough, starting with the long side.Slice into equal 15 pieces. Place dough slices flat side down on top of prepared topping. Cover with plastic wrap, leave it to rise for an hour.

 

If you are baking in the morning, you could leave the pan in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, leave it outside of the fridge for 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake 30-35 minutes. While hot, turn it upside down on the pan, or a big serving dish. Make sure the pecans, and the sticky topping stays on the buns, not on your feet. I bake the buns without waiting overnight, after 1 hour of raising time in the pan.

 




  

   

My Little Baby Turned 4!!!Sponge Bob Birthday Cake.

When my Little son turned 4 and I had to find idea for his birthday party, I was quite lost. Whenever I asked him what he wanted, he couldn't give me an answer. My oldest son in oppose to his little brother tells me a year before and gives me a list with presents, and I also knew what my son's current obsession was.My little one, was born in the house, which was already filled with toys and never really asked me  to buy anything for him. He never cried and never sent the letter to Santa with hundreds items in it. I figured that I have to see what he loves to watch, and we looooove Sponge Bob Square Pants. It's silly, it's stupid from time to time, but it is entertaining. So, it was decided to create Sponge Bob theme party and I bought all kinds of board games with Sponge Bob images and decided to cover my cake with fondant to make  it look like Sponge Bob as close as possible. I tried to make my own fondant few times before with marshmallows and covered the cakes with it and never was fully satisfied with the results. The MF (marshmallow fondant) was too soft and melted to quickly. For me and my family, the taste of cake is very important, that's why everything from top to bottom had to be delicious and beautiful. I bought Wilton fondant, tasted it, and threw it to garbage. Years ago, I bought "The Cake Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum and thought through the Fondant recipe from it. I bought all the ingredients and... didn't do it. Later, I bought "The essential guide to cake decorating" and liked the simplicity of its sugarpaste recipe. Never did it. :( Finally, decided to browse the Cake decorator's favorite site www.cakecentral.com and found recipe which satisfied hundreds of people. I decided to give it a try...

FONDANT RECIPE

The fondant was made 2 days in advance. I wanted to give it a rest a day after it was made and a day after colored it. I colored it with gel Wilton colors in batches. I loved it!!! The fondant is pliable, stretchy, tastes delicious!

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE.

CHOCOLATE CUPCAKE WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE.

(adapted from the cooking book of Idon'trememebrwho)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

5 1/3 oz (10 2/3 tbsp) unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

You will need two medium size muffin tins (muffin pans) and muffin paper cups to put into tins.

Sift flour, soda, salt and cocoa. In the standing mixer cream softened butter until creamy and white. Add into butter vanilla and sugar. mix for at least 2 minutes. Add egg one at a time. After adding on egg you have wait till the dough fully incorporate with an egg, otherwise you will have a separation of fats and liquid. Add your sifted dry ingredients alternating with milk. Explanation: You put 1/3 of your dry ingredients, mix it on the low speed, add 1/3 of a milk and mix it. Make it 3 times ending with the flour not the milk.

Oven is 350 F. Baking time is 25 minutes. Checking the cupcake for readiness with the wooden skewer or the toothpick. The stick should come out if the dough absolutely clean and dry.

GLAZE.

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chip

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tbsp butter

Mix everything together in the medium sauce pan over the low heat. Constantly mixing with the spoon. When the mixture is all incorporated and all of the chocolate almost melted, take away from the heat and mix it very well. Cool it until room temperature.

I take one cupcake at a time a dip into the chocolate glaze. The top will be smoothly covered with it.

Bonne Appetite!!!

BREAD MAKER HAMBURGER BUNS

 Fantastic recipe of homemade Buns.

The recipe was found couple years ago in one of the cooking forums. Since then, it is the only favorite buns recipe in my family. If you have a bread making machine, it's fast and easy solution for a dinner. 
You can substitute 1 cup of all-purpse flour with whole-wheat. It works just fine.

Add the ingredients in a order.

 1 cup water
 2 eggs
 1/3 cup oil + 2 tbsp oil
 1/4 cup sugar
 1 tsp salt
  4 cups flour
  1 and 1/2 tsp machine yeast
  
Select the dough setting, when cycle is complete, I like to leave the dough in the machine for another 30 minutes, just to give it an extra rise.

Remove the dough from machine and divide it in 3 equal portions on the floured surface. Divide each portion into 6 equal balls. My oldest son like big buns and little one loves small buns, that's why I never manage to make equal balls. You have to use your eye-measurement for that. 

Turn the balls in your floured hands into a right shaped balls and flatten them a little.

I press them a little on a baking sheet. Baking sheet is covered with parchment paper. I cover the sheet with clean kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes or until double in volume.

Time to turn your oven on. We will need F350.

I beat  1 egg for the egg-wash and brush it on buns.

Sprinkle sesame seeds and bake at F 350 for 10-12 minutes until lightly brown.

FAUBORG PAVE

THE MOST DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM PIERRE HERME'S "CHOCOLATE DESSERTS" BOOK.

 Thanksgiving holiday was really a joy in my family. The special feast required a special dessert. After looking through hundreds of recipes, I couldn't find something new that I had never done before. Then, I remembered about the Pierre Herme book, and found this recipe. 
The cake is very delicious. Rich ganache is to die for, together with dried apricots the cake tastes heavenly. 


It took me 4 hours to complete the cake. The recipe is not very difficult and you can definitely fasten the process if you will think throughly the timing, since some of the components can be done in advance.


The recipe is long and may scare you away, but if you will think over of all the components before starting the process, you will see that the it is not complicated as it seems.

This recipe makes two cakes-one for now and one that can be stored in the freezer. You will need two 
7 1/2 by 3 1/2  pound cake pans (loaf pans).  My loaf  pans are 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches, that's why I had a good size one cake and second pan was baked with a thin cake layer. 


You can bake in advance COCOA CAKES (Sometimes I bake cake in the evening before the day of the party and store them wrapped airtight at room temperature.)
  
 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp (40 grams) Dutch-processes cocoa powder
 1/4 cup (35 grams) cake flour
 3 1/2 tbsp potato starch
 5 1/2 tbsp (75 grams) unsalted butter
 9 large egg yolks, at room temperature
 1 1/4 cups sugar
 5 large eg whites, at room temperature


1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter two loaf pans, then line  the pans with parchment paper.


2. Sift together the cocoa powder , cake flour, and potato starch. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool until it is barely warm to the touch.


3. Working in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and 1/2 cup plus 2 table spoons  of the sugar on a medium-high speed. About 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl. You will need another mixer to beat the egg whites, if you don't have one, scrape the thickened egg yolks into a large bowl and wash and dry you mixer bowl and whisk attachment.


4. Whip the egg white at medium-hih speed until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the 
remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar and beat until the peaks are firm and shiny.


5. Working with a large rubber spatula and a light hand, fold the sifted dry ingredients  and 1/4 of the beaten whites into the yolk mixture.  Stir few tablespoons of this mixture into the cooled melted butter, stirring to incorporate the butter as much as possible. Add the butter and the remaining white to the yolk mixture. Gently fold everything together.


6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans - it should come three-quarters of the way up the sides. Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes. Check with the wooden skewer or the toothpick for doneness. 


7. Cool the loaves, allow them to rest 3 minutes in their pans, then gently unmold them onto cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.


 THE SOAKING SYRUP


 ( can be made up to 3 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator)


1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salted butter (or use unsalted with a pinch of salt)
6 tbsp warm water


Put the sugar in a medium saucepan or a small skillet and place the pan over medium heat. As soon as the sugar starts to melt , stir it with a wooden spoon. Keep heating and stirring the sugar until it turns a rich brown color. Standing away from the pan , drop the butter into the pan , then  as it melts , stir it into the caramelized sugar. Stand back again and add the water. When the mixture comes to the boil, pull the pan from the heat. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature.


THE APRICOTS


 6 ounces (170 grams) moist, plump dried apricots.
 1 cup water
 Juice of 1/2 lemon
 pinch of freshly ground black pepper


Put the apricots  and water in a medium saucepan  and bring to a gentle boil.Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and simmer for 3- 4 minutes. Drain the apricots and let cool


 When they are cool, cup the apricots into small dice.  (If you'd like, you can reserve couple apricots and use them to decorate the tops of the cakes). Toss the apricots with lemon juice and black pepper and set them aside until needed.


 THE GANACHE


 6 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (the best quality you can find), finely chopped
 4 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
 2/3 cup sugar
 1 1/2 tbsp salted butter (if unsalted , then add a pinch of salt)
 1 cup plus 2 tbsp heavy cream
 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature.


1. Mix together bittersweet and milk chocolate together in a large heatproof bowl.


2. Set a heavy-botomed medium saucepan over medium -high heat and sprinkle about one-third of the sugar over the bottom of the pan. As soon as the sugar starts to melt and color, stir it with wooden spoon until it melts and caramelize. Sprinkle over half of the remaining sugar and, as soon as it starts to melt , stir it into caramelized sugar in the pan. Repeat with the last of the sugar and cook until the sugar is deep brown color. Stand away from the pan , still stirring, add the butter and then, when the butter is incorporated, the cream. Stir  and bring the cream to the boil, then remove the pan from the heat.


3. Pour half of the hot caramel over the chopped chocolate, using rubber spatula , stir gently. When the chocolate is smooth, add the remaining caramel, stirring. Set the ganache aside to cool for about 10 minutes. It should still be warm to a touch.


4. While the ganache is cooling, beat the unsalted butter , using either the paddle attachment or spatula. You want to soften the butter until it is consistency of mayonnaise, but you don not want to beat air into it. Gently stir the butter into the ganache. You can use it now or store it in refrigerator for up to 2 days. When you are ready to use it, allow it to come to room temperature and stir it. 


5. To work with ganache, it must be the consistency of a very creamy frosting and must have enough body to mound. Place bowl of ganache in refrigerator, checking every 5 minutes  to stir it , so it doesn't become too firm around the edges. 


TO ASSEMBLE


Working with a serrate knife, slice each cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Place a first layer on the cardboard or cake platter. Using a pastry brush, dab the bottom layers with the syrup. Use a metal spatula to spread ganache over the moistened layer. (1/2 inch thick) Top the layer of the ganache with half of apricots and very gently press the apricots into ganache. Set the next layer into place on each cake, and moisten it syrup. Smooth each layer with another layer of ganache and dot with remaining apricots. Moisten the top layer with syrup and settle it on the place. Spread a very thin layer of ganache over the side and tops of the cakes. Chill the cake for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Keep the ganache at room temperature. Remove the cake and spread a new layer of ganache on top and sides with metal spatula. Use a fork to comb the sides of the cake for decorative purpose. You can serve the cake now or refrigerate it for up to 12 hours. If the cake is too cold the extraordinary texture of he ganache is diminished. Just before serving, dust the tops lightly with cocoa powder. Place the reserved whole apricots.

SNICKERDOODLE-BUNDT CAKE

 BUNDT CAKE WITH CINNAMON.

I love Bundt cakes! They are easy to make, very quick and ingredients are usually already awaiting in your pantry.
I have 3-4 recipes which I make from time to time. They are tested many times by my family and my friends. If you are going to bake something for the 1st. time, I would also suggest to start your experiment with Bundt-cake. 

Recipe is shared by VSEWARD (CHEF-V) in Recipezaar forum.

You will need a bundt-cake pan.
Mixer


2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup white sugar


2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 kosher salt
1 (2 sticks) cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup, regular sour cream, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 325 F. I preheat it to 350 F usually.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 tsp of cinnamon. Mix together really well and set aside.

Generously spray a 9-inch Bundt pan with Pam. I use the shortening and cover all the nooks and cranies and a tube with my fingers.

Gently dust the entire inside of the pan with the sugar  and cinnamon mixture. You should use 1/4 cup of sugar, evenly coat the inside surface of the pan, including the tube. Set aside the remaining sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat just the butter in a medium speed for one full minute. Add the white sugar and mix for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl. Mix until white and fluffy. Add the brown sugar. Mix for 2 minutes until mixture looks light brown and uniform in color. Add eggs-one at a time, beating each for 1 full minute. Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternatively with the sour cream;beat well.

Spread half of the batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle  with 1/4-1/3 of cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter. Spread the rest of the batter into the pan and sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over top.

Bake in preheated oven for 55-65 minute. My baking time was 50 minutes. Check the cake with the toothpick. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes on the wire rack and then invert the cake on the wire rack to cool completely.

MACADAMIA TRIANGLES-COOKIES

GREAT COOKIES WITH MY FAVORITE MACADAMIA NUTS.

Recipe is from Good Housekeeping "Best -Loved Desserts"


It's a nice recipe of very delicious cookies. You can bake them for some-speacial occasion, they are perfect for the Holiday season.


1 cup-all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter
3 tbsp cold water
1 jar (7 oz) macadamia nuts
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425 F. Line 9-inch pan with foil, grease foil. If you don't have exact 9-inch pan, I used the slight bigger rectangle one and build up the necessary size with the foil.

In a medium bowl, with a wire whisk, mix flour, sugar , and salt. With knives or pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing lightly with fork after each addition. Help with your hands to moist all the dough. With lightly floured hands, press dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. With fork, prick dough at 1-inch intervals to prevent puffing.

Bake crust until golden, 15-20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Turn your ovens heat to 375 F.

Coarsely chop 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, reserve hem for the topping. In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse remaining macadamia nuts and brown sugar until nuts are finely ground. Add egg and vanilla. Pulse until just combined.

Spread macadamia filling evenly over cooled crust with a spatula. Sprinkle reserved chopped macadamia nuts on top. Bake until filling has set , 20 minutes.

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. When cool , lift foil with pastry out of pan and place on cutting board. Cut into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 4 squares, cut each square diagonally in half.

P.S. The macadamia nuts are little bit pricier than other nuts, but very delicious. You can find them in your local Nut store, Whole Foods or Turkish grocery stores. I also, think that walnuts would work great  in this recipe.

PUMPKIN PIE.

PUMPKIN-PRALINE PIE FROM THE "AMERICAN TEST KITCHEN.

I consider myself a very good baker, and working on a cake for 12 hours doesn't scare me usually, but somehow I always had a fear to bake an all-American pie. I have some kind of dislike to the recipes which requires to stop the process in order to put the dough in the refrigerator for an hour or two. Under a pressure of Thanksgiving menus seen and heard form everywhere, I decided that I must to try something that I had never had in my life- THE PUMPKIN PIE. I did the dough from scratch but you can definitely use the store-bought. The recipe was found by me in the trusted source -American Test Kitchen.

  CRUST:

1 1/4 cups (6 1/4 oz) all-purpose flour

 2 tbsp. dark-brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

3-4 tbsp ice water

 FILLING:

1 (15 oz) can plain pumpkin puree

3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) packed dark brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp allspice

Pinch ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup evaporated milk

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

TOPPING:

1 cup pecans, chopped fine

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

Pinch salt

2 tsp dark corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp granulated sugar

FOR THE CRUST:

Process flour, brown sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl. Sprinkle 3 tbsp of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together until the dough sticks together. If needed, add another tablespoon of water. Flatten the dough into a 4-inch disk.Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 -hour. After 1 hour , roll the disk in between two-parchment paper sheets. The sheets should floured. Roll it into 12-inch circle 1/8-inch thick.Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Press the dough gently into the plate and refrigerate for about 30 minute , then freeze for 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375 F.Line the chilled dough with a double layer of aluminum foil and fill it with dry beans or pennies. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Carefully remove the pie weights and foil  and continue to bake for 5-6 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

FOR THE FILLING:

Heat oven to 350F. Process the pumpkin, brown sugar, spices and salt in a food processor, about 1-minute.Cook the mixture in large sauce over the medium-high heat until thickened, about 4 minutes.Off the heat, whisk in the evaporated milk into the pumpkin mixture, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Pour the filling into the warmed pie shell. Bake for 35 minutes or until the filling is puffed and cracked around the edges and the center barely jiggles.

While the pie is baking, combine the pecans, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the corn syrup and vanilla, using your fingers to combine. Scatter the topping evenly over the filling and sprinkle granulated sugar. Bake until the topping is bubbling around the edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pie to a wire rack to cool completely , at least 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.

The family's opinion was divided into half. Half of the family liked the pie very much and another half wasn't impressed much. The dessert itself is very good, it's just that we are so much more chocolate ganache and cake people than pumpkin pie eaters.    :)

NOT REAL SAMSA

MY HOME-STYLE SAMSA.

This recipe was found by me many years ago in a wonderful newspaper of Uzbekistan and later adopted to different ingredients and different places that I stayed in. I call it samsa, only because the pirozhki in triangle shape with meat and onion inside were called like that in Central Asia. There is not much common with a real samsa in this recipe, but it still gives me courage to highly advice you to try it at home.

Ingredients:

1 cup of warm milk

1 packet of active-dry yeast (2  1/2 tsp)

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp of salt (if using the unsalted butter)

3-4 cup of all-purpose flour (depends on the flour)

2 sticks of unsalted butter or margarine (softened). If you use margarine, avoid the salt.

Filling:

1 1/2 lb ground turkey meat

2 medium onion

ground black pepper

salt

ground cumin and coriander

In my early attempts to make the samsa, I added 2 eggs, but it requires little bit more time.

Warm up 1 cup of milk. Touch it with your finger, the milk should have  pleasant warm temperature. Mix in 1 packet of the active-dry yeast and sugar.Let it stand.

Sift in 3 cups of flour in a separate bowl . Add softened butter and mix in the butter with your hands. Do not knead the dough, try to get crumbles.

In the cup of milk, you will see the active growth of the yeast. Add the mixture into the flour. Knead the dough into the ball shape. Add more flour, if needed. The dough should be very pliable, not sticky at all. Sometimes I add up to 5 cups of flour.

After the dough is shaped into a ball, put it in the bowl and covet it tightly with plastic and place it in refrigerator.

Time to prepare the meat filling.

Clean the onion and process it in the food processor. Mix the ground turkey meat and onions in medium size bowl. Add salt, pepper, cumin, coriander. Mix it very well.

Heat the oven 350 F.

Cover the baking tray with parchment paper.

Get the dough out of the refrigerator , cut 1/4 part of it. Place the rest of the dough back in the refrigerator. On the floured surface, cut the dough into walnut -size pieces. Roll each piece with the rolling pin into a circle. Place 1 tbsp (or less) of meat filling in the middle of the circle. Pull two top sides of the circle and stick them together, add the bottom side and shape the triangle. Place the shaped samsa on the baking tray. The stitches should on the bottom.When you fill one baking tray, brush the tops of the samsas with egg-wash. You can sprinkle sesame seeds or black cumin (black sesame) seeds (optional). Put the baking tray into the oven.Bake for 30 minutes.

Continue with the remaining dough.

Long time ago, I was adding 2 eggs into the milk mixture. After that, the process is absolutely the same. The only different requirement is that you will need to leave the dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

I also used ground beef instead of turkey.

If you have any questions, please write in the comments, I will be happy to help.

LEMON BARS

Lemons Bars
Adapted from Good Housekeeping Baking Book.


The recipe is easy and the bars are very tender and delicious. The crust is the crumbiest and the Lemon top is very tender and Lemony. The perfect Vitamin C dessert for Cold Days.

3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) softened butter

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

3 to 4 large lemons ( 3 large lemons must be enough)

6 large eggs (room temperature)

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease 13 by 9 baking pan.  Line pan with foil, extending foil over rim;lightly grease foil. The foil covered fully the glass pan that I used , that's why I didn't grease the pan.


In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse butter, 2 cups flour and 2/3 cup confectioners sugar until mixture is moist but crumbly.

Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan. With fingertips, press dough evenly
onto bottom of pan. Bake until lightly brown for 20-25 minutes

While crust bakes, prepare filling. From lemons, grate 2 1/2 tsp peel and squeeze 2/3 cup juice. In large bowl, with wire whisk, beat eggs. Add lemon peel and juice, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk until well blended. (3-5 minutes)

When the crust is ready, whisk your lemon filling again and pour onto hot crust. Bake until filling is just set and golden around edges 18 -22 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack. Sift remaining 1 tbsp confectioners sugar over warm filling. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

When cool, lift foil with pastry out of pan and place on cutting board;carefully peel the foil away from sides. If you like trim edges. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips , then cut each strip crosswise into 8 pieces. I cut into diamond shapes.