tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-111236672011-12-14T21:35:12.471-05:00zinnurnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1981100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-9989284252917392272009-04-10T06:36:00.004-04:002009-04-11T08:29:45.652-04:00

I made these for a group of nurses visiting our mosque. I could not be present during their visit, but found out later that the whirls were very well-received. In fact, some of the guests realized that they were homemade, and asked for the recipe which we emailed to them. The headmistress of the nursing school replied back, thanking and informing us that they made copies of the recipe

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-27039243518570798472009-02-05T09:38:00.002-05:002009-02-05T09:49:33.358-05:00

My least favorite amongst dairy desserts is rice pudding, but this version I found in Kate Zuckerman's The Sweet Life is an acception to the rule. It is still a rice pudding, but Kate Zuckerman's technique sets it apart from the traditional rice pudding as we know it. She first cooks the rice in coconut milk, and then mixes it with a rich custard base flavored with cardamom. Another flavor

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-58578004916903597742009-01-27T11:31:00.009-05:002009-01-29T21:47:05.454-05:00

Although nowadays I prefer bittersweet chocolate to milk chocolate, I still favor milk chocolate when the occasion calls for pairing chocolate with nuts. It must be homage to those childhood years when my favorite snack was a bar of pistachio-decked milk chocolate. I would have loved to make these cookies with milk chocolate, but I did not have any at home, so I used bittersweet chocolate

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-76439703776145188762008-03-13T07:08:00.009-04:002008-12-09T10:08:47.388-05:00

Two weeks ago, I had a very busy baking day. To be exact, I made 4 Chestnut and White Chocolate Cheesecakes, 4 Chocolate and Pecan Cheesecakes, a Linzer Torte, a Sacher Torte, lots of Chocolate Hazelnut Sables, Raspberry Macarons and Chocolate Crumb Bars. Fortunately, the weather was on my side, and I was able to use our front porch as a walk-in refrigerator. As intense as that experience was, I

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-41214579129086421252008-01-31T08:18:00.005-05:002008-12-09T10:08:49.358-05:00

Here are some desserts that I made in the past couple of weeks. None of them was made following a recipe, although I was inspired by what I saw on some blogs and cookbooks.Do you enjoy making cake rolls? I really do. First of all, I find them easier and faster to make than regular cakes. Secondly, there is a good deal of satisfaction that comes by completing the task without major cracks. Not

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-26249691682573142232008-01-17T10:21:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:08:49.855-05:00

I finally got around to making Plaisir Sucre from Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Desserts. So much has already been said about this dessert, but I still want to add my two pence's worth of praises to the collection. This probably was the most fulfilling baking/cooking experience that I had. The well-written book took me step by step along the somewhat lengthy preparation, and when

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-57523966786054736932007-12-26T14:46:00.001-05:002008-12-09T10:08:50.553-05:00

I made a lemon curd based berry trifle the other day. The egg whites left over from the lemon curd stayed on the kitchen countertop until next day. When I noticed them next morning, I thought of making macarons. This time, I started with a new recipe (Hazelnut Macarons from The Sweet Life by Kate Zuckerman) and tweaked it a little to make coffee macarons with a coffee-caramel filling. The result

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-90382408851282867422007-12-25T11:11:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:08:50.871-05:00

We wish you fun-filled holidays with your loved ones.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-29786543004176515572007-12-17T13:05:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:08:52.487-05:00

I made this yule log well in advance, so I could share the recipe early enough for people who might want to try it. Two days are already gone by. So, here I am posting a picture as a visual cue to myself to sit down and write the recipe... as soon as possible. Hopefully before the day ends. The recipe is from Francois Payard's Simply Sensational Desserts. The book has 3 of them, and I tried the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-16276258943928663892007-12-09T09:29:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:08:53.633-05:00

Once again, it is the time of indulgence and there are excuses aplenty for baking. It is so much more enjoyable to bake when there are people around to share the bounty, and the holidays are just such times. Since we do not officially observe Christmas, I don't have to deal with the shopping frenzy either, and this leaves me plenty of time to enjoy the season and bake. Of course, there is always

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-88151952397957833662007-12-02T15:31:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:08:54.188-05:00

Another month lapsed without any posts. I do have a good excuse this time, though. My brother and his wife Fatima -- an ex-contributor to this blog -- had a baby, and I was off to California for two weeks to see my very first nephew. It was a very pleasurable experience for me to be so close to a newborn without the crazy hormones, aches and pains getting in the way. I went to college in

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-30658881279040166292007-10-24T15:03:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:54.667-05:00

The yeast phase waned off, but I still have a couple of recipes to post from those days. These pinwheels from my Breads book (by Cynthia Scheer, et al) tempted me by their looks. Unfortunately, they stayed in the oven more than they should, and ended up being on the drier side. This, to my husband, was a desirable quality, as it made them a good accompaniment to his coffee. It must be said that

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-45872112396734691732007-10-17T09:27:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:55.265-05:00

I love macarons, of course, but they have an overhead. The hassle of grinding the nuts very finely, waiting for the egg whites to age and the piped macarons to crust, and the stressful anticipation for emerging feet sometimes make me think twice before I embark on a macaron journey. Another French egg white creation, on the other hand, could not be easier. I am talking about financiers.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-46706551281252524402007-10-03T06:30:00.001-04:002008-12-09T10:08:55.781-05:00

These mini tea cakes from Francois Payard's Simply Sensational Desserts appealed to me at first sight, but it somehow took me very long to put together the ingredients to make them. In fact, even when I thought I was finally ready to go, I noticed that I did not have the almond paste, which Payard notes on the side not to substitute with marzipan. Well, I ended up doing just that because it was

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-60019804811237199992007-09-21T05:40:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:56.404-05:00

I baked dacquoise cakes a few times before, and had results ranging from mysteriously vanishing meringue layers to rather hard ones. Luckily, I made some memorably delicious dacquoise, too. It is one of those things that I am not yet confident about making, and this incorporates a healthy dose of suspense to my kitchen activities that involve dacquoise. Come to think of it, I never

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-4923159070910735262007-09-15T00:00:00.001-04:002007-09-15T00:25:51.914-04:00

The Chocolate Sparklers from Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan's Chocolate Desserts have a crumbly texture, but not all the way through. The logs are rolled in sugar before they are baked, giving the cookies a delicious crunchy edge. The recipe makes two logs, so you can enjoy one today, and keep the second in your freezer to be sliced and baked at your convenience. The Sparklers are easy to make,

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-72232489057984716622007-09-05T21:38:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:57.917-05:00

I made this cake a while ago at the height of the berry season. Although the cake was made with buttermilk, and the layers then sprinkled with a berry syrup, this was not a very wet cake, and I would have preferred it to be more drenched with berries and berry juices. If you love berries like I do, go ahead and use more of them in the recipe. The tanginess of creme fraiche and the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-32776853773233708462007-09-01T12:44:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:58.226-05:00

In Turkey, these crisp savory rings are traditionally made to celebrate the 5 special nights known as Kandil Geceleri. There, one can simply purchase them from a bakery; but some of us --who, being away from home, do not have that luxury-- learn to make them ourselves one way or the other. There are versions made with yeast as well as others leavened with baking powder; some recipes even

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-65990548670125033372007-08-27T21:15:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:08:59.063-05:00

During the many months I haven't been able to blog, I was busy baking. I remember diagnosing a "yeast deficiency" in Our Patisserie a while ago. Well, things have changed drastically since then. Nowadays, I cannot bake enough with yeast. Those long waiting times that deterred me from baking anything with yeast, now bring the sweetest anticipation with them. I love feeling the smoothness and

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-29160429064885875732007-05-04T07:46:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:09:00.596-05:00

I have been fighting a serious case of baker's block lately. I even forced myself to make a pumpkin cake for a joint blog venture of the worthiest kind (the recipes will be used in a book to benefit needy children), but it did not come out as good as I wished, simply because my heart and mind were not put into it. I had even started to fear that I would not be able to bake any more; luckily the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-79833232105256804762007-04-18T20:48:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:09:01.203-05:00

These mini tarts were inspired by P. Herme's famous Nutella tart. Although I wasn't faithful to his recipe, the result was very good. An interesting feature of this recipe is that the crust is baked, and then filled and baked briefly again. The second baking refreshes the crust just enough to give it a melt-in-your-mouth quality. But let me not forget the luscious and still slightly warm

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-22583392991442627732007-04-16T07:27:00.000-04:002008-12-09T10:09:01.545-05:00

I don't usually go for the traditional Turkish desserts, but Ekmek Kadayifi (Bread Kataifi) is definitely an exception to the rule. The name Ekmek Kadayifi refers to the dessert as well as its its bread-like base. As the latter can readily be purchased in Turkey, nobody bothers to make it at home and the recipe remains a mystery. Once you get your Ekmek Kadayifi, all you have to do is to prepare

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-76536838094811803842007-03-01T20:54:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:09:01.960-05:00

This post will be a recap of the cookies I baked in the last 3 months, but before I get to the cookies, let me mention this dome cake. My real project was another chocolate cake, but at the end of the day, it was the eclectic dome --made with leftovers from 2 seperate desserts-- that stole the show. It had white chocolate mousse, raspberries, pistachio praline, chocolate genoise, whipped

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-41648659898070314972007-02-25T14:33:00.000-05:002008-12-09T10:09:02.790-05:00

As far as I am concerned, December is the month for chestnuts. Time to use up whatever is left from last year's chestnut puree, time to make a new batch for next year's chestnut desserts... I first baked this dense chestnut cake over a year ago. Since then, I've been wanting to make it again with a chocolate glaze as in the original recipe (from Bruce Healey's The Art of the Cake). Finally, I got

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-27110045905822861052007-02-24T12:52:00.000-05:002007-02-24T18:38:01.872-05:00

I have been away for a long time; and the longer one is away, the more difficult it becomes to come back. As some of you might know, I also have a Turkish blog, and for a while I managed to keep both blogs in parallel. But that didn't last long, and I painfully realized that I have to make a choice. Since I did not want to let go of Our Patisserie, I attempted to convert it to a no-recipe,

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1165527886071807202006-12-07T16:40:00.000-05:002006-12-09T09:16:09.936-05:00

I emerged from my first experience with tuiles with several flat cookies, a burnt finger and a bad temper. Even as I refused to taste the cookies in my disappointment, I knew that there would have to be a retribution soon. About two weeks later, I attempted the recipe from Michel Roux's Finest Desserts again. This time, I didn't change anything in the original recipe --no substitutions,

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1164105689241286172006-11-21T05:18:00.001-05:002006-11-21T16:03:18.896-05:00

While trying to come up with different ways to use my baker's ammonia, these individual desserts emerged from my childhood memories. In those days, almost every patisserie had them. I must say that they do not appeal to me as much today as they did then, but it was a delightful process to guess the recipe, execute it and conjure a long-forgotten taste that took me back many, many years.Baker's

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1163263966246710092006-11-11T07:55:00.000-05:002006-11-11T12:23:37.310-05:00

White Chocolate Almond BarsThis simple bar is a Pillsbury recipe. The addition of white chocolate into the batter makes it moist and delicious, while imparting a beautiful golden color to the finished product. I piped small rosettes of a cream cheese frosting on each square, but it is as delicious without it.2 oz white chocolate, chopped1/2 c unsalted butter3/4 c sugar2 eggs1 tsp almond extract2/

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1160130301927095292006-10-06T06:21:00.000-04:002006-10-06T10:03:40.046-04:00

I have not been able to blog much lately -- at least, not here. I kept saying to myself that I would post the accumulating recipes; but as the number became larger and larger, it became apparent that I was no match for the task. So I take the easy route now: here is a recap of what I have been up to in the past couple of months. You can click on the pictures to see their larger versions. If there

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1158333777372082282006-09-15T11:02:00.000-04:002006-09-15T19:50:36.070-04:00

September's theme for the Turkish food bloggers' event was pasta. After missing two of these blog events during our summer vacation, I really wanted to contribute to this one. A quick Internet search revealed myriads of sweet pasta recipes. Although dessert ravioli was definitely a more tempting choice, I decided on this recipe as its preparation --as well as its presentation-- made it a more

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1157071930533712212006-08-31T20:51:00.000-04:002006-09-01T20:48:12.080-04:00

When I came across this recipe in Nick Malgieri's Perfect Cakes, I thought that it was a perfect opportunity to utilize my leftover sour cream (from the Sour Cream Ganache Cake I made earlier and have not posted yet.) Halfway into preparation, I noticed that my small bottle of poppy seeds was almost empty. As stopping was not an option at that point, this instance of the orange poppy seed cake

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1156858525315744312006-08-29T09:30:00.000-04:002006-08-29T15:35:40.496-04:00

I do not bake much with yeast. This does not reflect a culinary preference on my part, but has more to do more with my impatient nature. Even reading about all those rising and resting periods is enough to steer me away from an otherwise appealing recipe. Our Patisserie's yeast deficiency became apparent while I was working on an archive for my Turkish blog, and as a remedy I took the time to

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1156165781628345012006-08-21T08:53:00.000-04:002006-08-24T08:41:20.796-04:00

Turkey is the world's leading hazelnut producer. In fact, the majority of the population in Turkey's Black Sea region make their living from hazelnuts. This year, Turkey's production exceeded the world demand which caused the prices to plummet: a disastrous situation for many hazelnut growers. In an effort to encourage hazelnut consumption within the country, Turkish food bloggers started to post

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1155845572567040612006-08-17T12:21:00.000-04:002006-08-17T17:59:16.000-04:00

I've been dreaming of making rose-flavored desserts for a while now. I first started experimenting with what's always been available to me, namely rose petal jam and rose water. Unfortunately, they did not really work. So I started searching for rose petal paste and rose extracts on the Internet, but unbeknowest to me, what I needed was much closer than I thought. A day before we left for our

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1153794102857946082006-07-24T22:15:00.000-04:002006-08-08T10:13:46.826-04:00

Milk-based desserts are aplenty in Turkish cuisine. There are even dessert shops specializing in them. Some of these are easy to make at home; others like Tavuk Gogsu -- a pudding enriched by cooked chicken breast strands (do I see you making a face?) -- require some expertise, so many prefer to buy them from these specialty shops rather than labor at home for less than satisfactory results.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1153066306128901142006-07-16T11:40:00.000-04:002006-07-18T08:51:18.173-04:00

We are back from our summer vacation. When we came home very late on Wednesday, we gratefully saw that a couple of really nice friends had stopped by earlier to stack our refrigerator. These little cups of custard from Ceyda were most appreciated. Since they disappeared before I could unpack my camera (our luggage was delayed), I could not picture them; but I called Ceyda the next day both to

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1149946891491055222006-06-10T09:41:00.000-04:002006-06-14T23:29:16.243-04:00

Lately, I have been lax in my blogging. As I write this, there are only a couple of more days left before we leave for our annual trip to Turkey, and it is clear that I will not be able to post all those recipes that piled up in the past few months. I'll do the best I can before we leave; and after we come back, I hope to dedicate the rest of the summer to Our Patisserie so that it catches up

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1149946813283974732006-06-10T09:09:00.000-04:002006-06-10T18:53:38.896-04:00

I made this cake over a month ago. The recipe comes from one of my older books: A Gourmet's Guide to Chocolate by Lesley Mackley ve Carole Handslip. It has been on my "to do" list for so many years that when I finally made it, I was almost relieved of a burden. As soon as I took some pictures, I shared a couple of them with my blogger friend Dilek of Dilek'ce, and to my surprise she sent back

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1149184803430533542006-06-01T13:42:00.000-04:002006-06-04T08:16:11.816-04:00

There is something very appealing about individual desserts. They are beautiful to look at, fun to prepare, and a foolproof way to make your guests feel special. But I have another very important reason for making smaller desserts. I find that if what I eat is pleasing both to the eye and to the palate, I can be satisfied with much smaller portions. This way, we can have dessert without worrying

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1148405437725485472006-05-23T09:25:00.000-04:002006-05-25T14:52:59.463-04:00

When I saw the black and white versions of these cookies in Francois Payard's Extraordinary Desserts, I immediately wanted to give them some color with matcha. The first time I made them, my rectangular logs of dough did not have sharp corners, so the cookies did not look as I expected. Some even had holes in the center. The second time, I spent more time shaping the logs --equipped with a scale,

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1147395107380444212006-05-11T20:35:00.000-04:002006-05-17T16:43:20.276-04:00

I don't know if some of you can relate to this, but I am sometimes taken by a baking frenzy, making one dessert after another when we've hardly had a chance to finish the last one. This takes a double toll on my family; not only do they have to consume copious amounts of sugar over a short period of time, but there are days when dinner time finds us with a sinkful of piled dishes, several

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1146829809968438892006-05-05T07:47:00.000-04:002006-05-07T12:02:35.460-04:00

I have made financiers before and we liked them. But it was this time --when I embellished them with fresh fruit-- that we simply fell in love with them. These beauties were crispy on the outside and very soft, fruity and nutty in the center. The slivered almonds added a nice visual and textural touch. It was a joy to experience many different textures and tastes in such a small morsel! They

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1145901016903107262006-04-24T13:44:00.000-04:002006-05-01T09:34:54.756-04:00

When I was younger, my favorite snack was a lemon half sprinkled with a little salt. These days, I cannot do that anymore, but I still prefer a lemon dressing over a vinegar one; and I love to lighten a soup or a vegetable dish with a generous squeeze of lemon juice. I am not shy of using it for meat dishes, either. However, until quite recently, my indulgence in everything lemony ended when it

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1145653467576095152006-04-21T16:53:00.000-04:002006-04-25T08:46:09.086-04:00

This fragrant and lightly sweetened loaf was introduced to Turkish cuisine by Christian bakers, and has become a patisserie staple since then. What makes this version different from other easter bread recipes is the use of two unusual ingredients: mastic and mahleb. Call it Easter Braid or Paskalya Coregi as we do in Turkey, this is a sweet bread you'll want to bake year-round, not just for

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1144428390062511342006-04-07T12:06:00.000-04:002006-04-21T13:35:06.320-04:00

It was one of those days that everything went wrong as if trying to give me a hint that I really should not be in the kitchen. I was inspired by the elegant Aztec Cake from Cocolat, but my version had a mind of its own and the end result turned out to be quite different.I underbaked my chocolate Genoise causing it to fall and I could only use half of it. Rather than braving a second genoise

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1144425933811088182006-04-07T12:05:00.000-04:002006-04-19T20:01:45.020-04:00

The theme for last month's Turkish blog event was Delicacies from the Ottoman Palace. This gave me a good chance to research on Ottoman desserts as well as to try a few new things. I was pleased to see that almost all the desserts I encountered in my research still continue to grace our tables today in one form or the other. The difference, it seems, is in the manner of preparation and service.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1143977967056282712006-04-02T07:19:00.000-04:002006-11-28T21:07:32.600-05:00

The Friday before my friends' wedding was a surprise shower for the bride. It was a potluck and I contributed a brownie and a blondie for the dessert table. Over the years I've seen more than my share of brownies on potluck occasions, and they do not appeal much to me anymore. But these two are by no means your regular potluck fare. Nay, they are brownies extraordinaire. The first one is rich

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1143646822791595722006-03-29T10:08:00.000-05:002006-03-29T10:40:22.846-05:00

There was a request for a pide (pronounced pee-dah) recipe in the comments a while ago. Here it is with my apologies for delaying it until now. The recipe below is from Ayla Esen Algar's Classical Turkish Cooking, and is for a cheese pide; but in fact, the filling can be almost anything. We even use potatoes and eggplants in pides, and they are all delicious.Sponge4 tsp yeast1/2 tsp sugar1/2 c

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1143634204498868522006-03-29T07:09:00.000-05:002006-03-29T07:16:03.276-05:00

My older daughter made these cookies a while ago from a Pillsbury booklet. Judging by the fact that I came across the recipe in several Internet sites, it is a very popular one. Rightly so, too. The fudgy interior encircled in a chocolate rich dough makes it a delectable morsel, especially when served within a couple hours after baking. My 3-year old helped her older sister by unwrapping

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1143414609647480582006-03-26T18:04:00.000-05:002006-03-27T00:29:28.193-05:00

Today was the long awaited wedding day for our friends. I spent a good part of yesterday cutting, filling and crumb-coating the cakes. (It is just amazing how long it takes to go through those seemingly straightforward steps.) Later that night, my friend Aisha came and gave the cakes their final coat of buttercream. We took the cakes to our mosque early this morning. It took Aisha several hours

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1142218181964593842006-03-12T21:28:00.000-05:002006-03-12T21:49:42.003-05:00

Two of my friends are getting married at the end of this month and I am going to make their wedding cake. I finally started baking today; but since I still have a lot of cake to bake and tons of buttercream to whip, I don't think that I'll be around much until the wedding day. See you all in April!

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1142054645203470932006-03-11T00:22:00.000-05:002006-03-11T15:53:42.826-05:00

All my recently acquired cookbooks have recipes for financiers, so I was naturally curious. I first tried an untraditional financier recipe: Apple Financier Tart from Francois Payard's Sensational Desserts. This was made in a 9" tart pan with a pastry crust, and had apple chunks sauteed in a browned butter and honey mixture underneath the financier batter. Being on a low-fat diet for the past

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1141483379767938542006-03-04T08:45:00.001-05:002006-03-04T09:52:55.396-05:00

I wrote in an earlier post that one of my kitchen challenges in 2006 would be to try some P. Herme creations. This dessert started as such, but I both cheated (used store-bought lady fingers) and was careless (did not have all ingredients ready, did not follow instructions carefully etc.) during preparation, so the result fell short of what it could be. It still tasted quite good, and had a

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1141235743615921712006-03-01T12:46:00.000-05:002006-03-02T12:17:26.470-05:00

Ay coregi is a Turkish patisserie staple for a good reason. Whatever is on hand can go in the filling, and oddly enough, the filling is the best part. I used to love these cresent-shaped sweet breads, but since I found out that they are the patisseries' way of recycling otherwise unsellable products, I lost my appetite for them. Recently, a reader of my Turkish blog requested a recipe for ay

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1140800727763136772006-02-24T12:04:00.000-05:002006-02-26T20:49:28.343-05:00

For one reason or another, this month's baking activities do not deserve individual posts. So I decided to share only their pictures with a brief description of what went wrong in each case.What you see below is a Turkish quince dessert served with mascarpone as a substitute for its perfect accompaniment kaymak (clotted cream). The poaching instructions are included in this post. We were very

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1140024927453183392006-02-15T12:34:00.000-05:002006-02-15T15:39:26.936-05:00

Here is another dessert I made a while ago and forgot to post. The recipe is from Alice Medrich's A Year In Chocolate. It is basically a layering of a dacquoise shell (chock full of toasted bits of hazelnuts and chocolate), sweetened whipped cream and a fruit topping. The original recipe used only blackberries but I splurged since I happened to have raspberries as well. Simple and delicious...

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1139781662247705542006-02-12T17:00:00.000-05:002006-02-13T01:00:04.206-05:00

Toward the end of Prophet Noah's journey, there wasn't much left to eat on the Ark. So the Prophet put together whatever was left of the various grains and dried fruit to make this pudding which sustained them until the end of their journey. This is the origins of ashura, acclaimed to be the oldest dessert known to mankind.In Turkey, ashura is traditionally made in Muharram, the first month of

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1139367091703874552006-02-07T21:50:00.000-05:002006-02-10T11:08:18.660-05:00

Almost No-Fat Fudge BrowniesWhen I checked out Chocolate by Nick Malgieri from our local library, I had no idea that this would be the first recipe --of all the other wonderful ones-- I would try from it. Of course, I had no idea that we would be going low-fat for a while, either. That said, I must add that these brownies did not disappoint. They took quite a bit longer to bake than what the book

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1139199088986284372006-02-05T21:44:00.000-05:002006-02-06T01:48:50.000-05:00

I have been tagged by Tulin of Domestic Cat to list my food challenges for 2006. Let's see if I will be able to come up with 5 as asked:I promised to make a wedding cake for my friends who are getting married at the end of March. The bride wants a chocolate cake with a traditional white frosting. I have tried my hand at wedding cakes before, but every wedding cake is definitely a new

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1137703804156190982006-01-19T15:49:00.000-05:002006-01-31T20:45:11.900-05:00

This tart is from The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis. My friend Ceyda made it first, and then she made it again, and then again for the third time in the course of a week. She did not bring us any samples, but she kept telling me how good it was. That was enough motivation for me to borrow the book from her and to give it a try myself.The crust for this tart is crispy and keeps its crunch

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1137703720618354882006-01-19T15:48:00.000-05:002006-01-21T10:58:09.430-05:00

I messed up this one. It almost did not make its way to Our Patisserie; but since there is a lot to learn from failures, I decided to post it anyway.Here is an outline of the steps. Following the original recipe in Alice Medrich's Cocolat, I first made a hot milk sponge layer. I brushed it with syrup and spread it with chocolate buttercream. (The cake calls for 1 1/2 c of buttercream flavored

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1137551290882317982006-01-17T21:16:00.000-05:002006-01-19T23:47:52.126-05:00

The theme for this month's Turkish blog event was quinces. The first challenge was to find them where I live. That accomplished, I was faced with another difficulty. I desperately wanted to make ayva tatlisi --a classical Turkish dessert that I had not eaten for years; yet, I knew that this choice would be far from original for my Turkish readers as it is probably the first thing that comes to a

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1137254029429001852006-01-14T10:22:00.000-05:002006-01-14T13:00:58.933-05:00

I had cranberries in my refrigerator that were begging to be used, so I made this tart. The original recipe was from The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis, but I made several changes to it (which I now wish I had not). It turned out to be a little too tart for my taste. Maybe if I mixed half of the cranberry filling with the cheese layer, and did not omit the lattice crust on top, it would

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1137076527313987962006-01-12T09:14:00.000-05:002006-01-12T16:31:00.840-05:00

I like the combination of chestnuts and matcha as well as the idea of experiencing the same flavor in different textures. I experimented yesterday, and the result was this multi layer cake with 2 different cake layers and 2 kinds of buttercream. I usually have a large batch of RLB's Classic Buttercream recipe from the Cake Bible stacked in my freezer. (For her easier Neoclassic buttercream recipe

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1136916073276099892006-01-10T12:21:00.000-05:002006-01-10T13:24:06.876-05:00

I would like to thank you for your kind comments regarding my decision about the future of Our Patisserie. As much as I would like to, I just can not post everything I cook or bake these days. But I will continue to share pictures --and in some cases recipes-- as my circumstances permit.Last week, I baked pistachio, green tea and chocolate macarons for Zeynep to take to school on her birthday.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1135702789389532802005-12-27T11:27:00.000-05:002005-12-28T10:15:10.810-05:00

Dear Friends,After almost a year of blogging and 136 posts, I have decided that it is time to bring about some changes to Our Patisserie. I have been considering this for a while, and the additional workload forced upon me due to my recent computer failure made it easier to come to this conclusion. Managing two blogs at the same time is just too demanding for me at this time, and the obvious

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1135459354142659082005-12-24T16:21:00.000-05:002005-12-25T00:59:07.106-05:00

I'd like to wish all of you happy holidays and a great time with your loved ones. May the remaining few days of 2005 be filled with good fortune, good food, good company and good fun for you.Chestnut and Ginger Yule Log (adapted from Francois Payard's Simply Sensational Desserts)13"x18" Hot Milk Sponge Cake LayerGinger syrup (recipe below)Chestnut Cream (recipe below)10 coarsely crushed candied

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1135182698504208752005-12-21T10:52:00.000-05:002005-12-22T17:19:15.540-05:00

A friend of mine asked me for a Panettone recipe a while ago. I have never made this Milanese sweet bread before; so I eagerly promised that I would make one around Christmas, and post the recipe for her. Initially, I wanted to make my own candied fruit, too; but as time drew near and my things to do list piled up, I decided to make do with what's abundantly available on supermarket shelves these

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1134919312923010802005-12-18T10:04:00.000-05:002005-12-18T13:23:56.096-05:00

I made chestnut macarons and a dome cake for a chestnut-themed Turkish blog event. For the macarons, I used a la Cuisine's basic macaron recipe with 1.5 tbs chestnut puree added in the batter during the final mixing. I did not have any buttercream on hand and I did not feel like making a new batch, so I just whipped heavy cream with more chestnut puree for the filling. I love the taste of whipped

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1134703512464221292005-12-15T22:24:00.000-05:002005-12-15T22:47:17.213-05:00

I had started writing this post prior to my hard drive failure. Now I have a new hard drive and piles and piles of data to be reentered. Although there is no time to write recipes, I still want to share with you the results of my kitchen adventures. So I decided to post this as is:Twenty years ago, I used to read much more than I do these days. There was a bookshop that I frequented. I spent long

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1134153312783797962005-12-09T13:24:00.000-05:002005-12-09T13:35:12.823-05:00

Dear Readers of Our Patisserie:My computer died on me yesterday. Since I am not very good at taking backups, I lost a lot of valuable data some of which will have to be patiently reentered. It will take me at least a month to put things back in order; therefore, I will not be able to post anything new until 2006.In the mean time, I wish all of you happy holidays with your loved ones.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1133972517051996772005-12-07T10:50:00.000-05:002005-12-07T14:21:03.493-05:00

As many of you know, chestnut puree is not readily available in most supermarkets in USA. Even if you are lucky enough to find it, it is quite an expensive item to stock up on. Until a couple of years ago, my solution to this problem was to bring my yearly stock of chestnut puree from Turkey. This, too, had its problems. First of all, since we went to Turkey in the summers, I had to bring the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1133540892688450272005-12-02T11:01:00.000-05:002005-12-02T11:41:07.253-05:00

Hazelnuts are one of my favorite nuts, and they abound where I come from. Suffice it to say that hazelnuts to Turks are what peanuts to Americans. So I could not possibly finalize my experimentation with macarons without trying my hand at hazelnut macarons. To make these, I used Clement's macaron batter recipe and substituted an equal amount of hazelnuts for almonds. (By the way, I did a couple

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1133372717888054472005-11-30T12:08:00.000-05:002005-11-30T16:29:14.016-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a disasterous result with Nigella Lawson's Pistachio Macaron recipe from How to be A Domestic Goddess. I feel like I have to clarify that. While it is true that the cookies that came out of the oven were almost flat and did not look at all like macarons, they were really delicious. We enjoyed them to the last crumb at the cost of scraping some of them

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1133276159514128022005-11-29T09:51:00.000-05:002005-11-29T16:50:59.410-05:00

My friend Dilek tagged me for a Cookbook meme last week. Here are the questions and my answers:Total number of cookbooks I own:I have a lot of cookbooks. Many were self-bought, others were gifts or inherited. I especially like the ones passed on to me by friends with telltale signs of use on their pages and scribbled notes next to the recipes. I keep the ones I use frequently in my kitchen. I

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1133139796668466632005-11-27T19:24:00.000-05:002005-11-27T21:23:12.836-05:00

This month's joint SHF/IMBB event is a Virtual Cookie Swap. I really wanted to take part in this event, and in fact planned ahead what I should bake. However, being the procrastinator I am, I left the actual work to the very last weekend. This was a busy -- in fact eventful-- weekend in my house and the realization that my precious little book (where all my favorite cookie recipes resided) had

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1132885818692089802005-11-24T20:33:00.000-05:002005-11-24T22:26:12.636-05:00

Since we live far away from our families, we usually celebrate Thanksgiving with a big group of friends every year. This year we felt that it was time for a change of pace and decided to have a small family dinner at home. I cooked a no-frills-just-the basics Thanksgiving dinner. The same minimalistic approach applied to dessert, too. I declared well in advance that there would be only one

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1132318642591149612005-11-18T07:31:00.000-05:002005-11-18T09:54:29.263-05:00

At long last, after 6 semi-successful tries and 2 disasters, I think I got as close to a macaron as I hope to get with what is available to me. My homemade almond flour is still a little coarse --and will be, as long as I do not replace that ancient food processor-- so my macarons do not have smooth tops; but they do have tiny feet! That delicious crunch at first bite, followed by the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1132152014250880902005-11-16T08:59:00.000-05:002005-11-16T20:21:06.073-05:00

Dates are packed with vitamin C and fiber, and I should probably be eating more of them. Having said that, I have to confess that I find them a bit too sweet. In fact a Medjool date is enough to take away my appetite for dessert after dinner. Of course, I would rather have dessert instead, and that's where desserts with dates come into the picture. They are not quite as sweet as the date itself (

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1131832378875106892005-11-12T16:43:00.000-05:002005-11-13T12:31:39.726-05:00

I had some leftover ricotta cheese from another project. Ordinarily, I would make one of my three favorite ricotta cheesecakes. (White Chocolate and Chestnut, Orange and Chocolate, Chocolate and Pecan.) But having posted those recipes already, I decided to look for another recipe in the Book of Cheesecakes by Steven Wheeler, and settled for this one after a short search. Instead of the golden

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1131655669600843382005-11-10T15:30:00.000-05:002005-11-10T18:41:51.996-05:00

So far, I've tried Pierre Herme's, David Lebovitz's and Fran Bigelow's chocolate macaron recipes as well as Clement's basic and Nigella Lawson's pistachio macaron recipes. That makes 6 batches of "footless" macarons. Of these, nonchocolate ones turned out to be real disasters, and the chocolate ones were acceptable with varying degrees of unsuccess. David Lebovitz's recipe definitely deserves a

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1131634576363528632005-11-10T09:03:00.000-05:002005-11-10T18:45:57.850-05:00

After repeated unsuccessful results with chocolate macarons, I had to try my hand at something different. (The truth is I ran out of almond flour after the 6th batch.) I bought pears in bulk last week, and we ended up eating a lot of them. Since nobody seemed to be interested in the last 3 anymore, I decided to make a Pear and Chocolate Cream Tart from Simple Tarts by Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen.

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1131417115491318962005-11-07T20:48:00.000-05:002005-11-08T00:33:41.656-05:00

Macarons have been on my ever-growing list of have-to-bakes for quite a while before I finally got my hands dirty last week and tried the Chocolate Macaron recipe from Pierre Herme's Chocolate Desserts. Since I had not eaten macarons before, I did not have any expectations concerning the taste. But I had a fairly good idea as to how they should look. That's why I was quite dissapointed to see the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1131219418743639312005-11-05T14:10:00.000-05:002005-11-06T21:13:11.603-05:00

There are probably as many claims to the origin of baklava as there are Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, I will not argue here that it has Turkish origin. What I will say, however, is that it is probably the most popular dessert in Turkey, with many pastry shops specializing in different kinds of baklava in every Turkish city. My little research on the history of baklava revealed that this

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1130792625192225152005-10-31T15:43:00.000-05:002005-11-01T11:15:38.520-05:00

Last Saturday, I made pumpkin pie. I must confess that I prefer to use pumpkin in savory dishes --as in a curried cream of pumpkin soup-- rather than in desserts. But when fall comes and we start to see pumpkins everywhere, I pull out this recipe which I found years ago in a Pillsbury booklet. It is the only pumpkin pie that I really like, and I am afraid this has more to do with the crunchy

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1130766405952111032005-10-31T08:30:00.000-05:002005-10-31T09:36:25.690-05:00

Kataifi is very thin strands of partially cooked and dried wheat pastry sold in 1-lb packages. I know it as a Middle Eastern delicacy, although the brand name it is commonly sold under suggests that it may also be popular in the Balkans. I am personally not a fan of syrupy desserts, but the slightly unconventional first recipe I will give here (which I got from my Egyptian friend Nahed) is not

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1129808415337177642005-10-20T07:07:00.000-04:002005-10-21T20:53:05.586-04:00

The theme for SHF#13 hosted by loveScool is dark chocolate. And although I am very busy these days, I just could not let this one pass by. When I attempt to verbalize the ultimate chocolate experience for me, not one but two words jump into my head: tortes and truffles. Since I already posted my favorite torte recipes (and just can not think of how I can improve or give them a twist), I decided

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1129349242560117112005-10-15T00:04:00.000-04:002005-10-20T16:02:05.316-04:00

I've been trying to come up with dessert ideas using pomegranates for a Turkish blog event. Here are a couple of pictures, the recipes will follow. This proved challenging for me. I ended up making a cake and a ricotta cream using both pomegranate seeds and juice. I then tried to create different desserts using these 2 building blocks. I must say that I was not too pleased with my results, as the

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1129178805635795842005-10-13T00:44:00.000-04:002005-10-13T01:11:14.303-04:00

The first time I had Tarte Tatin, I decided that I must learn to make it myself. That was more than 10 years ago. I am really not sure why it took me so long to actually make it, but it may partly be that the recipes I had were somewhat involved. Stranded at home today with only a couple of apples for fruit, I was considering my options for a fast dessert. The puff pastry package in the freezer

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1128875907248068102005-10-09T12:25:00.000-04:002005-10-09T13:19:20.116-04:00

We entertained about 100-120 of our friends on Saturday. Yes, we do like to do things in a grand scale, and no, it was not in our house since it surely would not accomodate this number of guests. The dessert we served was Mocha Pecan Torte from Alice Medrich's Cocolat. Since this is a dense torte best served in thin slices, eight tortes were enough to feed a crowd of this size. It was quite a

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1128141006157089782005-09-30T23:07:00.000-04:002005-10-02T17:27:06.726-04:00

An almond paste cake has been on my desserts-to-make list ever since I set my eyes on the picture of Trianon Montmorency in The Art of Cake, a gorgeous-looking almond genoise gateau filled with French buttercream and kirsch-soaked dried cherries, and then draped in pink tinted almond paste. Yesterday, when I finally got to make it, I did not really follow the recipe in the book. Instead, I

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1127666567230108452005-09-25T12:05:00.000-04:002005-09-25T20:13:56.553-04:00

"Oh please, not another cheesecake!" do I hear you say? Not to worry, this will be the last cheesecake for a while, since it completes my beloved ricotta cheesecakes trio. All three recipes are from The Book of Cheesecakes by Steven Wheeler with some modifications, some minor and some not so minor. (For the other two ricotta cheesecakes, see Chocolate and Pecan Cheesecake and White Chocolate and

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1127076096255537692005-09-18T16:24:00.000-04:002005-09-19T12:49:26.590-04:00

I made dessert for 50 on Sunday. Since this is a lot of dessert, I chose to bake easy-to-make dessert bars. As it turns out, my best bar recipes both use coconut; so I made one tray of each recipe for variety. When my daughter suddenly had the urge to make ice cream later in the evening, she decided to go coconut, too. So, I guess it is fair to say that we had a coconutty weekend.The first recipe

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1126721785583529162005-09-14T14:06:00.000-04:002005-11-16T06:51:44.006-05:00

I realized the other day that there is not even a single yeast recipe amongst the 100+ which were posted so far in Our Patisserie. What's a patisserie without yeast breads, rolls and danishes, I ask you? Since I wanted to remedy this situation as fast as I could, I decided to make an apple ring with yeast for the ongoing Turkish blog-event featuring apples. Although I accidentally used almost

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1126251538480691022005-09-09T03:20:00.000-04:002005-09-09T08:18:37.956-04:00

This recipe comes from "125 Best Cheesecake Recipes" book. On the cover page, you'll see the picture of this tempting dessert. If you like cheesecake, you'll definitely love this one. Here are the instructions:Preheat oven to 350F (180C).9-inch (23 cm) cheesecake pan, ungreased, or springform pan with 3-inch (7.5) sides, greased.CRUST:1 ¼ cups sugar cookie crumbs (note: I used graham cracker)½

vanillatrufflenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1125772868810040022005-09-03T14:40:00.000-04:002005-09-06T08:29:24.423-04:00

I've been wanting to make these for a long time. Their picture in Alice Medrich's A Year in Chocolate looked soo inviting. When I found blackberries for sale in the supermarket stand, I knew it was time. Let me say outright that the taste was outstanding. Very creamy and complex, with one taste closely following the next ... Of course, this did not come as a surprise as I expect nothing less from

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1125674255196460522005-09-02T11:17:00.000-04:002005-09-02T21:23:51.116-04:00

When my dreams of making a fancy chestnut layer cake did not materialize last weekend, I had to come up with an easy way to use my defrosted homemade chestnut puree. This Internet recipe fit the bill with a couple of modifications. I omitted the powdered sugar since my chestnut puree was already sweetened and did not use the Kirsch. Half of the recipe was enough to fill two mini tartlet pans. I

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1125291427465655462005-08-29T00:56:00.000-04:002005-08-31T00:42:45.270-04:00

Two weeks ago, our friend Shehnaz invited us for dinner on August 28th, and I insisted on providing dessert for the occasion. I was thinking a spectacular chocolate and chestnut layer cake with 2 different buttercreams and 2 different kinds of cake layers. But come the morning of August 28th, common sense prevailed, and I decided to use the apples and figs at home. I turned to a tried-and-true

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1124658921175709732005-08-21T17:14:00.000-04:002005-08-24T01:05:34.003-04:00

Plum Custard KuchenI bought plums last week, put them in the refrigerator and forgot about them. When they finally made an appearance yesterday from their hiding place, they were very ripe. Zeynep and Mehmet eat plums only when they are firm, but even they could resist this juicy plum kuchen. The recipe is from this site.Plum Streusel CoffeecakeSince we had more plums to rescue, we tried this

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11123667.post-1124579035866663882005-08-20T18:53:00.000-04:002005-08-21T15:53:20.466-04:00

What motivated me to make this cake was a memory. I wanted to make a raspberry cake that looked and tasted like the Frambuaz of Divan Patisserie in Turkey. In particular, I was after that pink raspberry glaze to cover the cake. The result was not what I had hoped for, but nevertheless a beautiful--if overly romantic--cake with a distinctive raspberry taste. However, my pursuit is by no means over

zinnurnoreply@blogger.com11