Caramel Apple Loaf Cake

With the snow falling outside and temps down to 1C, what better  to warm the heart than a delicious teacake made from seasonal  ingredients such as apples and walnuts combined with natural yogurt? This is indeed the time of year in which to invite friends who live locally or those neighbours that you’ve been putting off as indeed I am guilty of not doing, to tea as all other activities especially in Istanbul when you have to trek to the other side (of the Bosphorus) either by car and risk massive traffic, or take a minimum of three modes of public transport, are out.  This latter is all very well but not when it is absolutely miserable out there.

This cake is the one I made when Son Cem was coming recently. It is a very moist cake thanks to the apple but what makes it is the delicious sweet topping made by drizzling toffee sauce mixed with a bit of cream over the finished loaf.  Every bit as good as it sounds, believe me! The recipe comes from BBC Good Food Magazine http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/  - such a great magazine and website.

Ingredients for Caramel Apple Loaf Cake

Cuts into 8-10 slices

175g/6oz soft butter, plus extra for greasing

175g/6oz golden caster sugar (in Turkey just use normal toz şeker)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

225g/8oz plain flour

½ tsp cinnamon

4 rounded tbsp plain yogurt

2 eating apples

50g/2oz walnuts, very roughly chopped, plus 1 tbsp extra, chopped

50g/2oz soft toffees/karamel

2 tbsp double cream (in Turkey use cream from those little packets eg Pınar or Tikveşli)

Method

· Pre-heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line the base and ends with a long strip of baking paper.

 

· Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale, then beat in the eggs, one by one. Tip in the flour, cinnamon and yogurt. Peel, core and chop apples into small chunks, then add to the bowl and mix everything together with a wooden spoon.

· Scrape into the tin, smooth the top and scatter the walnuts down the middle. Bake on a middle shelf for 1hr 20-30 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin.

· To decorate, put the toffees in a small saucepan with the double cream. Gently heat, stirring until toffees have melted into a smooth caramel sauce. Cool for about 1 min while you gently turn out the cake. Slowly drizzle the toffee sauce over the top of the cake. Scatter immediately with the extra walnuts – they should stick where they hit the toffee. Leave for 10 mins before serving.

·  Best fresh but will keep in an airtight tin for 3 – 4 days. Also suitable for freezing before decorating.

Tips

1. This cake does take a long time to cook.  Make sure you test it before removing from oven. I gave mine two extra lots of 10 mins as it was still coming out too moist.

2. It may sound like a drag to have to line the tin but there is always a reason when a recipe states this. It means that any potential disaster like the cake sticking to the tin at the end will be avoided. So I always do it. I would hate my cake to collapse after all the effort of making it!

3. I used a caramel bar not toffees. This was actually fine: as it was a chocolate caramel bar it melted perfectly. But toffees are easily available here and really it would be better without the extra taste of chocolate. Yes , I mean it!

Afiyet Olsun!

Ottolenghi-inspired: Carrot and Walnut Cake

carrot and walnut cake in all its glory

Mmmmm. Need I say more?

Who knows Ottolenghi? Last May when we stayed in Islington was the first time I came across this cafe, deli, patisserie and bakery known by this distinctive name. And there are cookbooks too! This one is called simply ‘Ottolenghi The Cookbook’. It contains recipes for exactly the kind of food I like: familiar ingredients but used in new and exciting ways. I can’t wait to buy it for myself as my dear physio who lent me this will want it back any day now!

After this post, I  promise to go back to my pulses and knobbly veggies.

But this is one of the other two cakes I made for my Book Club meeting last week and judging by the reactions, I think it’s probably an excellent recipe to share. 

These cakes that I bake, by the way, are not Turkish in the slightest but they go down well with both Turkish and foreign friends alike. Cakes per se are not a traditional part of the cuisine here: if you want something sweet – and for sure there is no shortage of items in this category – you would normally buy baklava, helva or any of the many Middle Eastern syrupy sugary desserts like the exotically-named Lady’s Navel or Nightingale’s Nest from speciality bakeries or patisseries. There are yet other shops that specialise in milk-based puddings and the selection is an eye-opener.

It took me a long time to get used to the idea of carrot cake. At first it seemed very ‘American’ to me and the thought of carrot in something sweet did not remotely appeal. But time moves on and it has now long been absorbed into my baking psyche and repertoire.

This cake is ‘light and fluffy’ as opposed to ‘dense and fruity’. I think it’s quite perfect.

Ingredients

160g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon/tarçin

¼ tsp ground cloves/karanfil

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

200g sunflower oil

270g caster sugar (in Turkey just use the regular toz şeker)

50g walnuts/ceviz, chopped

50g desiccated coconut/hindistan cevizi

135g carrot, roughly grated

2 egg whites

Pinch of salt

Icing

175g cream cheese at room temperature

70g unsalted butter

35g icing sugar/pudra şekeri

25g honey/bal

30g walnuts/ceviz, chopped and lightly toasted

Method

·         Preheat oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.

·         Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda and spices. Lightly whisk the whole egg with the egg yolk.

·         Put the sunflower oil and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for about a minute on medium speed. On a low speed, slowly add the beaten egg. Mix in the walnuts, coconut and carrot and then the sifted dry ingredients. Don’t over mix.

·         Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Wash and dry the mixer bowl, making sure it is totally clean, then put the egg whites and salt in it and whisk on a high speed until firm peaks form.

 

like this

Gently fold the egg whites into the carrot mixture in 3 additions, being careful not to over mix. Streaks of white in the mixture are okay.

·         Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour; it could take longer. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out dry. If the cake starts getting dark before the centre is cooked through, cover it with foil. Let the cake cool completely and then remove from the tin.

·         To make the icing, beat the cream cheese in a mixer till light and smooth. Remove from the mixer. Beat the butter, icing sugar and honey in the mixer until light and airy. Fold together the cheese and butter mixes. Spread waves of icing on top of the cake and sprinkle with the nuts.

good view of that nutty topping



I think my only complaint is that a lot of washing up of bowls is involved! But that’s minor when you think of the end result.

Afiyet olsun!

Two Festive Istanbul Teaparties

welcome! this is what this glass of çay says to me

 And indeed we were. This was yesterday when Nurhayat invited our old group of seven or eight ex-teachers from the English Department of the local high school round for tea. She had been trying and trying to get us all together - a difficult task with everybody's busy lives - but she didn't give up till she did.

look at this appetising spread!

Here is her sofra or table of offerings, and this is only the tuzlu or savoury part which every Turkish teaparty starts off with. Don't forget the tatlıs/sweet things were to come!  I love the bright colours of her provencale cloth which set the food off so well. My favourite was the mısır ekmeği/corn bread which she made from an old recipe of her mother’s. Nurhayat’s family hails from İzmir, by the sea, and this bread had an Aegean touch as the ingredients included both olives and walnuts. It was both delicious and light.

There was also kısır which was special as it was made with brown bulgur which we had never seen before, and moistened with unsweetened pomegranate molasses. The böreks  were sprinkled with seeds which she baked in the oven as opposed to frying. She is very into healthy cooking which I really appreciated.

By the way, in case you were wondering, we never have lunch before we go to these teas!

Crystel's Christmas table

The day before, I enjoyed another lovely afternoon: my German friend Crystel invited our staunch group of friends who have been meeting once a month for about 15 years, round for her traditional Christmas teaparty. You know how well Germans do Christmas and she always excels herself!

those delicious cheesy swiss chard tartlets

 We were immediately transported into a German Weinacht once we entered her flat as the tree was up, Christmas music playing, and a trayful of glasses of aromatic gluhwein  magically appeared!  Crystel is actually an engineer but her speciality is the most amazing gateaux which she produces effortlessly from her tiny kitchen.

me at the head of Crystel's table

Above you can see her amazing lemon meringue pie in the foreground and below you can see other goodies she made:

nutty chocolate cookies



crumble cake

If you want any recipes, just let me know and I will ask Nurhayat or Crystel! They will be delighted if you ask!