Vanilla-Date Swirl Cake

The original recipe was for an easy vanilla-flavored cake, which I've made several times before. I wondered how I could jazz it up this time, and decided to swirl in some date syrup (dibs at-tamar/silan). Although I didn't quite get the swirl I wanted, it looked pretty, and did flavor the cake nicely. 

Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

These were based on The Kitchen Magpie's Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don't tend to have peanut butter around, but I did have a large jar of tahini (sesame seed paste). I also used coconut oil instead of butter, a little less sugar, and fewer chocolate chips. (Using fewer chips sounds bad, but believe me, there was still plenty of chocolatey goodness. 😃) These were such awesome cookies! I feel certain I'll make them again sometime.

After making enough cookies to fit a baking sheet, I patted the rest into an oven-proof cereal bowl, and baked it in that. It took about the same time to bake as the individual cookies. Just cut up the result however you like. These cookies, in whichever shape, lasted a long time, as long as their container was tightly covered.

The Kitchen Magpie Website, Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bougatsa 

(Greek Sweet Custard Phyllo Pie)

This is a throwback to: the dessert featured in my last post, Bougatsa (Greek Sweet Custard Phyllo Pie). The Bougatsa and Scratch Made Phyllo Dough recipes are from Kouzounas Kitchen, while the filling is from the Tamriye recipe of Anissa Helou's Sweet Middle East. (For more details, please see the last post.) I took this pic the day after baking. Although this piece was slightly singed from the toaster oven reheating process, I think it shows off the finished product much better! 

Kouzounas Kitchen, Scratch-Made Phyllo Dough

Kouzounas Kitchen, Bougatsa (Greek Sweet Custard Phyllo Pie)

Bougatsa 

(Greek Sweet Custard Phyllo Pie)

I made this using Kouzounas Kitchen's Scratch-Made Phyllo Dough! The filling is the filling for Tamriye (Arabic Semolina Cream Hand Pies), from Sweet Middle East by Anissa Helou. It's a funny story how that happened, actually ... 

I decided that the Tamriye filling by itself would be delicious. (The recipe calls for store-bought puff pastry, which is too rich for me to eat.) The filling smelled so good, with rosewater, but then was very creamy ... too much so to make individual pastries with phyllo, say. (Maybe I used the wrong kind of semolina? I used semolina flour instead of the farina that's like Cream of Wheat.)

Somehow, I came up with the idea of using it as filling in Bougatsa. This would be the perfect occasion to try this Phyllo Dough recipe again! I also used Kouzounas Kitchen's Bougatsa recipe, with this filling instead. At the end, I sprinkled on some ground cinnamon. ... I think this may be breakfast. 

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Scratch-Made Phyllo Dough

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Bougatsa (Greek Sweet Custard Phyllo Pie)

Mango Cake

This was based on the One-Bowl Mango Cupcakes of Vegan Richa. Any subs or additions I made, were included in the recipe: making it into a cake, and using all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and an extra 1/8 tsp baking powder. As you can see, it didn't rise much, so next time I'll use more baking powder (in addition to the leavening from baking soda and vinegar), as suggested. However, after I first tasted it, I realized how much I liked it ... it reminded me of pumpkin pie (without the crust), but with mango flavor. 

(Vegan Richa later kindly suggested that the use of additional flour would help with this.)

I used canned Kesar mango pulp, which added color and flavor (and vitamins? ). It was also very thick, and I think that contributed to the pie-etude of this cake. I look forward to making this cake again ... maybe it will be cake, and maybe like pie, but either way, it will be a treat! 

I have both of Vegan Richa's cookbooks, but somehow, I haven't cooked from them, yet. I've only made recipes from her website. It's just so fun! 

Vegan Richa Website, One-Bowl Vegan Mango Cupcakes

Ebelskiver 

(Danish Pancakes)

After several months of using my ebelskiver pan to make other things, I decided to make ... actual Ebelskiver! (The recipe is from House of Nash Eats.)These are traditional Danish pancakes, which are round and puffy. They can be filled with something sweet, so I tried to fill them with strawberry jam, but it kept running out and burning onto the pan. Oops! (Pic #2 above shows some of this batch, with whole-milk yogurt.) After that, I didn't attempt to fill them, but instead served them with jam on the side. Either way was yummy, but not stuffing them was much easier. I'm glad I finally tried this! 

House of Nash Eats, Aebleskiver | Danish Pancakes

Tahini (Sesame Seed Paste) 

Cookies

These cookies conain tahini (sesame seed paste), sugar, egg, vanilla, salt, rice flour, and baking powder. The recipe is from Lil' Cookie, and calls for cornstarch or a gluten-free flour. I decided to use rice flour, but it would be interesting to make it another time with cornstarch, to see if there's any difference.

I read the recipe thoroughly, but didn't look enough at the photo. I guess that's why these cookies look bigger and thicker than the original. The main problem this caused, was they took longer to bake. I wanted to make sure they didn't get overdone, as I tend to like cookies which are softer. However, luckily for me they came out great!

These reminded me of peanut butter cookies. They actually tasted best when one was eaten just by itself (not after something else), slowly. Yummy!

Lil' Cookie Website, Gluten Free Tahini Cookies

Baked Qatayif 

(Pancakes with Ground Almonds)

Now for something sweet! Here are Baked Qatayif (Pancakes with Ground Almonds). I wanted to make real Qatayif, Arabic pancakes filled with nuts, then baked or fried, and sweetened with a sugar syrup. Sounds yum! But ... it would be too rich for me, so I'd never made it before. Another thing is, while I enjoy pancakes, I find it difficult to stand at the stove long enough to make a batch, sometimes. What a bummer! Now, how could I make it more suitable for me?  Recently, I found an answer ...

I made Baked Pancakes, in a muffin pan! This was according to the Kitchen @ Hoskins method in the recipe for Baked Pumpkin Pancakes. I used the Basic Pancake batter from Mom's Big Book of Baking, by Lauren Chattman, except: I used 2 Tbsp almond filling instead of sugar, added 1 Tbsp rosewater and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract to the liquid, and used a little less milk.

The filling I used was from Lebanese Cuisine, by Madelain Farah, for her Qtayif recipe. The only difference was, I used 1 cup ground almonds instead of walnuts, and added a little extra rosewater. I stored leftover filling in the fridge, to use elsewhere.

I added some batter to each of the muffin liners in the muffin pan, sprinkled in some almond filling, and then covered it with more batter. Towards the end, there wasn't quite enough batter to cover the almonds, so they became more of a streusel topping. I baked it all at 375 F, for about 26 minutes. When I would eat one of these goodies, I'd reheat it gently, and then drizzle some sugar syrup on it. (Note: errant almond topping sticks to the pan, so it helps to at least wipe it off, after baking, while the pan is still somewhat warm.) I hope someday to try the real thing, but until then, I'm glad I have a substitute!

To illustrate what the real deal looks like, I've taken the liberty of adding links below, to YouTube videos of SmileyGirl230 making Atayif (just the pancakes), as well as Atayif bil Jibneh (pancakes filled with cheese, and baked). While I have never made her Atayif before, I have made other of her recipes, and they were outstanding! I have also added a link to Najat's Kitchen on YouTube's video of Atayef (with English subtitles), as she uses a walnut filling. While I have not made this particular recipe, I thought it would help to illustrate the traditional version. 

Kitchen @ Hoskins Website, Pumpkin Streusel Pancake Cups  

SmileyGirl230 Facebook

SmileyGirl230 YouTube, Atayef - The easiest pancakes you will ever make 

SmileyGirl230 YouTube, Atayef bil Jibneh - Lebanese pancakes with cheese 

Najat's Kitchen YouTube, How to make Atayef (Arabic Pancakes) (with subtitles)

Kulche Jawari (Afghan Corn Cake)

The recipe is from Afghan Desserts Made Simple, by Sina Abed. Inspired by @mamas._best_ 's recent post on Instagram, of Jawari (Corn Cake), I just had to make one. This seemed like a good, simple recipe, so I decided to try it.

I made only half a recipe, in a glass 9.5-inch round deep pie dish. I used masa harina (Latin American corn flour) instead of cornmeal, and added a pinch of salt, as well as a little extra milk. It took a while for the cake to start to rise, but it did bake in the 40 minutes the recipe said it would take.

The result was ... Yummy! The cake was light and flaky, and reminded me of Sfouf, a Lebanese cake with saffron. Next time, I might add a little saffron!

@mamas._best_ Instagram, 2 February 2018, [Jawari Corn Cake]

Basbousa Madeleines

Basbousa, or Namoura, is a cake-like sweet, soaked in syrup, from the Middle East. Normally, it's in the form of squares, but here, I've been inspired by @ahava_x 's post of August 15, featuring it in Madeleine form. These were very light and yummy.

I used the Basbousa recipe kindly provided, but used ground almonds instead of coconut, and coconut oil instead of butter or margarine. I added a pinch of salt, and then, just "for insurance," a pinch of baking soda. I had an open bottle of rosewater 🌹, so I used that to flavor the syrup. It took about 20 minutes of baking at 350 F to get them "done." (I kept checking on them, at 8 minutes, then 14 minutes, and then every minute or 2 afterwards.)

I added the "insurance" of baking soda, as until recently, every time I made any form of Basbousa, it basically ended up heavy like a brick! Very disappointing. I eventually realized that the recipes I was using for Basbousa, which called for "semolina," actually were referring to semolina *flour* (and not the semolina/farina/sooji/rava, like Cream of Wheat, used in many Indian recipes). However, I still get just a little nervous whenever I make Basbousa, lest it should be another brick.

@ahava_x Instagram, 15 August 2017

Rizogalo 

(Greek Rice Pudding) 

Ice Cream

The Rizogalo recipe is courtesy Kouzounas Kitchen, and makes more than enough to freeze for later. Now, I really like rice puddings that have been frozen and then thawed in the fridge; maybe it makes them seem creamier? This time, I thought, why not try rice pudding as ice cream, and eat it while it's still frozen? It made for a very nice ice cream!

Kouzounas Kitchen Facebook 

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Traditional Rizogalo Recipe (Greek Rice Pudding)

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Rizogalo (Greek Rice Pudding) [vegan, with coconut milk]

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Instant Pot Rizogalo Recipe

Devil's Food Chocolate Bundt Cakelets

Throwback to May, and Devil's Food Chocolate Bundt Cakelets, for #nationalbundtday.

Hazelnut Cake, 

Greek-style

This is based on the Walnut Cake (Karydopita) of Mia Kouppa. When I mentioned that I don't like walnuts (I wish I did! 😄), Mia Kouppa kindly advised that I could try using hazelnuts, instead, for a different kind of cake. I had some ground hazelnuts in the fridge, and so, cake it was. The directions were easy: just mix everything together!

The baked cake is soaked in a syrup, and left to cool. When I went to taste it in the evening, I was a bit nervous that maybe I'd added too much lemon juice to the syrup. I've mostly used hazelnuts before only with something chocolatey. Plus, I had been afraid the recipe would be too rich for me, as written, and so I'd made a half-recipe only, but used one fewer egg and less sugar. I thought, Oh, did I ruin this lovely cake?

The next day, I tried a little more, and it was so good! I could understand how it would be great with walnuts. I had a little more still later, and decided that this is one cake that improves over time. I don't like to experiment too much, because when I veer off the recipe, it doesn't always turn out well. Fortunately, this time, it did!

Mia Kouppa Facebook 

Mia Kouppa Website, Walnut Cake (Karydopita)

Traditional Rizogalo 

(Greek Rice Pudding)

This is from the recipe of Kouzounas Kitchen. I had some leftover homemade sweetened condensed milk, as well as whole milk, to use up, and decided, What better way, than with Rizogalo? I started out by cooking less rice in more water, until it was really soft. Then, I left out the sugar, as the condensed milk was already sweet. This time, the result was even better than before! It was so creamy, and the ground cinnamon turned into something more than itself. Yummy! 

Kouzounas Kitchen Facebook 

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Traditional Rizogalo Recipe (Greek Rice Pudding) 

Bigger Bolder Baking Website, How to Make Condensed Milk

Vanilla-Chocolate Swirl Pudding & Ice Cream

Throwback: Let's stroll down Memory Lane, all the way back to ... April 2016.

I like to take homemade pudding, and put it in the freezer to make "ice cream." Some varieties of pudding work better for this than others. In this case, I made vanilla pudding (without egg), and wanted to turn it into Vanilla-Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. So, I added some chocolate chips to the cooling/still-very-warm pudding. When I went to mix them in, the chips, of course, melted, and turned into this swirl, on the left. The resulting "ice cream" is on the right. It was cold, sweet, and much like ice cream in some ways, so that was enough for me. 

Apple Galette

This was inspired by a recent post of @crystal_e_rivera on Instagram. (The 2nd pic gives a look at the inside.) The difficult part for me is the pastry, which always seems to require butter ... which at least for now I can't eat (too rich 😐). And when I try oil-based pie-crust pastry, it never comes out quite right. I'm afraid this time, as well, even following a different recipe, the crust was a bit of a "fail": the outside was good, the inside got a little "wet." However, the apple filling was great, and I ate it with the "good crust." So, not too bad. I think next time, I might try a coconut oil-based pastry. Or would a strudel dough work as well? 

I realized, as I was filling the 2 small galettes, that there might be too much apple filling. Then I remembered that (IIRC) Smitten Kitchen, in a galette recipe on her site, mentioned ground almonds (to soak up the juice?). What I already had opened in the fridge, though, was ground hazelnuts ... so I used those, instead, to top the galettes. It occurred to me that maybe she meant that you could mix the almonds into the filling (rather than to top it), but it was too late by then to change what I was doing.  Anyway, I learned a lot from making these galettes, they are mostly pretty good, and the apple filling is great. 

Although I didn't use these actual recipes, I'll give the links here to: 

crystal_e_rivera Instagram, Apple Cheddar n Ham Galette 1 and 2

Smitten Kitchen Website, Nectarine Galette

Quick Chocolate Pudding

The recipe is from Bhavna's Kitchen. I really like this pudding recipe, as it's simple, and it really does only take about 10 minutes. Instead of the butter to be added at the end, I usually add honey to thicken it. This time, I also added coconut oil, as well as extra vanilla extract. After the pudding was cool, I wrapped up the coffee cups it was in, and put them in the freezer for . . . ice cream!

Bhavna's Kitchen Facebook

Bhavna's Kitchen Website, Quick Chocolate Pudding

Bhavna's Kitchen YouTube, Quick Chocolate Pudding