So, yesterday I wasn’t feeling well. The world going crazy and all has already been affecting my personal mood. Then yesterday I watched a video about Charlottesville attack last Saturday and I snapped. I had to take my mind off those things and so I baked. I checked whatever I had at home and made these easy peasy cookies.
Some days when you are home and you suddenly crave for a cake, you just whisk a few ingredients at hand and in less than hour, you have a cake. This is one of those cakes, but there is just a small and simple twist in this basic vanilla cake recipe which combines sweet and sour: cherries! And if you don’t have cherries hanging around or in your local grocery store 2 minutes from your apartment, then you can replace it with blueberries, raspberries, any berries you like really.
When I was a kid, I used to think that some dishes could only be made by certain family members. For example, there was a black tea cake that I believed only my mother could bake. Turkish dumplings, I thought only my mother and aunt could make so delicious. And then there was this pastry which I believed could only be baked by my aunt, my father’s sister, as if there was something magical or that the trick was in her oven or something. Turns out, I was wrong. You just need to learn.
My aunt used to bake the best version of this cake. Moist chocolate cake… It was one of my favourite cakes when I was a kid. In later years I forgot about it, until suddenly I woke up one day a few weeks ago and I immediately craved for this cake. It could be because I miss my aunt and five o’clock tea time in her home in Istanbul…
You know what? Since I started getting to know gluten free baking more than a year ago, I realised how great cakes and cookies and other baked goodies you can get without the use of regular flour. It is much more challenging, but it pays off always with each cake’s unique texture and taste.
I have been planning to make this dessert for a looo…ng time. Every time I decided to work on it, something happened and I had to postpone. Finally last weekend I had the time and energy to work on it and it turned out to be an amazing sweet experience. And then I also realised that this dessert is originally from Egypt with the name “Basbousa”!
Back in February, I made a fully gluten free yoga brunch here in Helsinki. As usual, the brunch was vegetarian, and there were also many vegan options. This chocolate mousse was one of the sweets in that brunch, and it was a hit. Especially my friend Essi, who did the yoga part of the brunch loved it very much!
I absolutely love using citrus family in recipes. When I baked this cake the other day, my apartment smelled crazy with lemon and orange. It was the freshest moment of the week, to be honest.
I ate (and made) many different kinds of biscotti all my life, but there is something about this one that takes biscotti to a new, higher level for my taste. I think it is the rather simplicity of it, and the freshness brought by lemon-lime-orange zest combo and of course, the equally zestful Sambuca, Italian herb liqueur. I saw a similar recipe in Italian Food Safari on SBS a few months ago, and working on it a few times, I made my own version of it.
Do you know Hairy Bikers? Do you watch Hairy Bikers? Do you like Hairy Bikers? I LOVE them!! They are just so lovely, hairy big boys with a beautiful bromance going on for years and they make absolutely gorgeous food on BBC! I love their TV programs – their love for food is so much more than any other famous chef I’ve seen. They absolutely LOVE eating what they cook and you can see how they almost pass out sometimes!! I recently watched their new TV show called Hairy Biker’s Comfort Food and a gingerbread cake recipe was in the first episode. As soon as I saw it, I had to make one!
Working for socially and ecologically just societies
Inspiring People Through Food
Food, movie reviews, arts and crafts, and life.
Science-based Tips on Weight loss, Fitness, Health, and Nutrition from a Ph.D. Scientist
My Wonderful Little World
Food for folks who have yet to figure it all out
Connecting to Friends, Old and New, Through Recipes, Gardens, and Dinner Parties
Distinguished Veg/Vegan Cuisine with Flavours From Around the World - New Website: www.videhi.co.za
My Dear Kitchen in Helsinki 