With that said, I made the most baked cake in my kitchen in the last two months! I’m suprised my husband is not sick of it yet!  Well maybe he is!  This is one of my favorite cake recipes, its a mixture of crumble cake with a soft and airy texture!  The added bonus is the aroma of the spices that fills the whole house, making it feel warm and very holiday like.

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
adapted from Ina Gartens: Barefoot Contessa Family Style

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)*see instructions below
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions:

After dinner during the month of Ramadan, I look forward to drinking my tea and feasting on dessert.  As much as I say my husband loves desserts, I must admit I equally do as well. He prefers milk desserts like pudding and ice creams, my preferences are mostly of cakes, cookies, chocolates and several different traditional Middle Eastern & Turkish desserts.

Revani or Basbousa as known as in Arabic, amongst many other Turkish desserts, happens to be one of my absolute favorite dessert.  Over the summer, I started looking for a good recipe and to my surprise stumbled upon a recipe on Epicurious.com.  This recipe was a bit different from the traditional Turkish recipes as it called for semolina then flour creating a dense sponge cake soaked in syrup.

Even though both Eids have past, this is a great recipe to have and make for anytime of the year. Especially when you are expecting company and want to creat a special dessert.

REVANI
adapted from Epicurious | July 2009
by Carol Robertson  – Turkish Cooking: A Culinary Journey through Turkey

Ingredients:

Syrup:

• 3 cups of sugar
• 4 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

Cake:

• 9 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• grated rind from 1 lemon
• 2 cups semolina or farina (cream of wheat)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar (I did not serve with whipped cream)
• 1/4 cup ground nuts or 1/4 cup of dry coconut

To make the syrup:
Bring sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil, simmer 15 minutes. Cool.

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon rind with an electric beater for 5 minutes or until pale yellow.
3. Wash and dry the beater.
4. Fold the semolina and flour into the beaten yolks until well blended. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites with the clean beater until stiff.
6. Alternate gently folding the egg whites and the melted butter into the yolk and flour mix.
7. Pour batter into a well greased and floured 9×12 inch or 10×12 inch baking pan.
8. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Pour the syrup over the hot cake. Let it stand for several hours until the syrup is absorbed and the cake is cool.
10. Cut the cake into squares.
11. Serve with whipped cream and sprinkle nuts or dry coconut on tops.

It is quite interesting that I never posted a pancake recipe before.  Especially since pancakes are a big part of our weekend breakfasts aside from our traditional Turkish breakfasts.  Weekend breakfasts and breakfasts in general are traditionally very big in Turkish kitchens, a traditional Turkish breakfast provides a very balanced meal, from a variety cheeses to cucumber and tomato salads and eggs of various kinds.  I should know, because I’m big on breakfasts and brunches.

Pancakes are known to be the number one American breakfast food and we certainly can not agree more.  With this said, there are large variety of pancakes recipes, from simple recipes of milk, eggs and flour to buttermilk recipes (with turn out so moist and yummy) and to this Ina Garten recipe of sour cream pancakes, with hints of lemon zest – it is incredibly addictive.

Pancakes are a great comfort food (believe me I know), I’ve made several batches in the middle of the night.  What is about these flour filled goodness that satisfy and hit that soft spot perfectly?  Well no matter what and how pancakes curve your craving, make  and eat as much as you want, go a head and make a stack for you mom too.

Stack a layer of two, three or even four, pour a good (large) amount of good quality maple syrup and dig in.  I often stack the first batch then I grab the top pancake and take a huge bite, just like Julia Roberts does in Pretty Woman. Vivian sits down (wells sits on the edge of the table) for breakfast and Edward has ordered everything on the menu because he is not sure of what she likes.  I love that scene in the movie.

1 year ago: a mother’s day breakfast

BANANA SOUR CREAM PANCAKES
adapted from Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa Family Style

makes about 10 – 12 depending on the size

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups  all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (I added – not in the original recipe)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I added close to a tablespoon)
• 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil or butter
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving (I didn’t add the banana into the pancakes – served along with the pancakes)
• Pure maple syrup

Preparation:

Hi! Simple and two letters only.  Hi, has become my favorite word in English, one of the Doctors who treated me after a really bad car accident back in 2007, that left me in the hospital for a pretty long time, would always greet me with a simple Hi! In return, he had asked me teach him how to say ”hi” in Turkish.  He never used the word Hello, because it contained the word hell.  Interesting isn’t!  By the time I left the hospital he had learned several other words in Turkish, but his new favorite word became “Merhaba.”

Again, Hi! It has been a long time since my last post, I constintantly apologize for it and I honestly mean it.  It is not as if I don’t cook, I do really. Mostly either late at night or before sunrise every morning. I snap photo’s just don’t have enough time in the day to blog them.  Also, its year end and tax season at work, so I’m extremely tired by the time I come home.

This week is a three day weekend from work and here I am catching up on cooking & blogging.  I’ve made several batches of these cupcakes because my husband kept on asking for cupcakes.  First batch were for a birthday girl, second batch didn’t have any frosting he complained, third batch was for my girlfriend who’s birthday I had missed.  The 4th batch will me made just for him tonight.  Thank god my daughter does not have a sweet tooth like her dad.

 Chocolate Cupcake
                adapted from Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2009

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (or milk) 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation 

Make Ahead
The unfrosted cupcakes can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
               from Simply Recipes

Method

1. With an electric mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2. Add the vanilla extract and mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Keep adding until you get to desired sweetness and thickness.
3. Either spread on with a blunt knife or spatula, or spoon into a piping bag to decorate your cupcake.