Peach Cobbler

Some people are already enjoying their summer vacation. My friend, Lucy who got me started on this blog, has asked for a Peach Cobbler recipe. It is below. The peaches in summer are fantastic, so we often cut them up and freeze them so we can also enjoy peach cobblers in the winter. You can add additional fruit too, not too much at once though. No picture yet, Lucy will need to send me one!

Peach Cobbler

This is a basic recipe from my mom; I do not know where she got it. And I am doing this from memory, which should be okay; however I have been working on reports and grades.

Buttered 9 X 13 inch rectangular pan
Peaches, sliced- enough to comfortably cover a 13 X 9 inch pan 3 -5 sliced peaches deep
1-2 tablespoons lemon, lime or liqueur (I like Grande Marnier)

1 stick or half a cup or 4 ounces butter, softened but NOT mushy falling apart soft
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar- in Turkey I use white sugar and two tablespoons
molasses as we have no brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, or 180 C. Place sliced peaches in the pan, squeeze a little lemon or lime or liqueur over the peaches.

Place butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a food processor. Pulse until it is like crumbs. Cover the peaches with the topping, spread it evenly.

Cook in the oven until the peach juice is bubbling (about 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven). It should make the house smell good too. Goes great with home-made vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Glazed Hazelnut Mousse Cake

This is actually very easy to make and takes less than an hour. It is delicious and improves with good cream.

Chocolate-Glazed Hazelnut Mousse Cake
Gourmet February 2006

For shortbread base
• 2 tablespoons hazelnuts, toasted and skins rubbed off.
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ cup all purpose flour (no sin stuff)
• ½ stick ( ¼ cup) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder (don’t know used Cadbury that I found in fridge)
• teaspoon salt

For mousse
• 1 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• ½ cup chocolate hazelnut spread such as Nutella
• ½ cup mascarpone ( ¼ pound)
• 1 ½ cups chilled heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons sugar

For Ganache
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 3 ½ oz fine quality bittersweet chocolate
8-inch (20 cm) spring form pan

Make shortbread base:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to F (180 C). Invert bottom of spring form pan, then lock on side of pan and line bottom with round of parchment paper.
Pulse hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped. Add flour, butter, cocoa, and salt and pulse just until a dough forms.
Press dough evenly onto bottom of spring form pan with your fingers (what if I had said toes?). Prick all over with a fork, then bake until just dry to the touch (about 18 to 20 minutes). Transfer to rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove side of pan and slide out parchment from under shortbread, then reattach side of pan around shortbread base.

Make Mousse while shortbread cools:
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a 1 to 1 ½ quart heavy saucepan and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat, stirring, just until gelatin is melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk in Nutella until combined and remove from heat.
Whisk together mascarpone and chocolate hazelnut mixture in a large bowl. Beat together cream, cocoa powder, and sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until just combined, then increase speed to high and beat until cream just holds soft peaks. Whisk one third of whipped cream into mascarpone mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream until well combined.
Spoon filling onto shortbread base in pan, gently smoothing top, then chill, covered, at least three hours.

Make ganache and glaze cake:
Bring cream to a simmer in a small heavy saucepan and remove from heat. Add chocolate and let stand 1 minute, then gently whisk until completely melted and smooth. Transfer ganache to a small bowl and cool stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened but still pourable, about 20 minutes.
Run a warm thin knife around inside of spring form pan, then remove side (of pan). Slide cake off bottom of pan and transfer to a serving plate. Pour ganache onto top of cake and spread allowing excess ganache to drip down sides.

Cake without glaze can be chilled up to 2 days.
Cake can be glazed 6 hours ahead and chilled uncovered.

Sticky Buns

Coming soon....

Sheep's Cheese Bread

The bread before going into the oven.

Ella- here is the proper recipe.

Sheep’s Cheese Bread


1 kg strong plain flour
30g fresh yeast or 1 tbsp dried yeast
250g feta or other sheep’s cheese (I add a little gruyere)
1 tsp sugar
½ litre tepid water
1 tsp salt
3 large onions
1 tbsp oil

Cream the yeast with the sugar and the tepid water. Leave the mixture in a warm place until it is foaming, about 15 minutes. Sift the flour and salt into a warmed mixing bowl and add the onions. Stir in the cheese and the yeast mixture and knead the dough thoroughly for about 10 minutes. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about 1 ½ hours or until doubled in bulk.
Knock back the dough and knead it again for about 5 minutes, dusting it with flour if it sticks to your fingers. Shape the dough into an oval 30cm long (yeah right) and leave it to proof on a buttered baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until it has doubled in bulk again. With a very sharp knife (or just a serrated one), make three shallow diagonal slashes in the top of the loaf. Brush the oil into the loaf, but do not brush it into the gnashes. (I do the oil first and then the gnashes, no problem). Bake in an oven preheated 180C ( 350F ) oven for 50 minutes to 1-hour until golden brown.

The Good Cook Breads; Time Life Books

Sausage Burrito (sausage optional)

A very nice woman from work brought us some pork sausages from ?somewhere here in Istanbul. So I made coleslaw and baked the sausages to make a burrito. My oh my.

The Burrito

one tortilla (lavash)
spread onto the tortilla:
1-2 tablespoons spinache pesto (JH sauce)
1-2 tablespoons marinated eggplant
1 tablespoon grated cheese
1-2 tablespoons tomato sauce
a couple of sausages down the diameter(middle?) of the tortilla/lavash

Roll it up and enjoy

Here is the finished chocolate babka. I have not yet learned how to control where the pictures go on this blog. I have tried to insert them between text or paragraphs and they all end up in a jumble at the top. Makes it difficult for me to be sneeky and hide Waldo.

Chocolate Babka- for Zeynep

As my friend has asked me to post this recipe, and my daughter has decided we should make it again as she helped me find the recipe. This is a very nice bread with chocolate, not as heavy as a chocolate croissant, rather heavenly.

For my friend, Zeynep.

Chocolate Babka
From Gourmet, December 2006,
Makes 2 loaves

This bread melts in your mouth and is very buttery in texture. Nice for breakfast with a good cup of coffee or tea. The entire process takes about four hours with all the rising time.

FOR DOUGH
¾ cup warm milk (105-115 degrees F- 40 degrees C)
½ cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons active dry yeast
3 ¼ cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting
2 whole large eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ sticks (10 tablespoons- 5 ounces or 140 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened

EGG WASH
1 large (ha) egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk

CHOCOLATE FILLING
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, well softened (2.5 ounces or 70 grams)
7-8 ounces (200-250 grams) fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao) finely chopped
¼ cup sugar

Stir together warm milk and 2 teaspoons sugar in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add ½ cup flour to yeast mixture and beat at medium speed until combined. Add whole eggs, yolk, vanilla, salt and remaining ½ cup sugar and beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, then mix in remaining 2 ¾ cups flour, about ½ cup at a time. Increase speeds to medium, then beat in butter, a couple of pieces at a time, continue beating until dough is shiny and forms strands (?) from paddle to bowl, about 4 minutes. (Dough will be soft and sticky).

Put dough into lightly oiled bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

Line each loaf pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper (1-lengthwise, 1-across).
Punch down dough with a lightly oiled rubber spatula, than cut dough in half. Roll one piece out on a well-floured surface into an 18- by 10- inch rectangle (45 X 25 cm).

Beat yolk and cream together. Spread 2 ½ tablespoons softened butter onto dough, leaving a ½ inch (1.5 cm) all around (no butter). Brush some egg wash on the long border.

Sprinkle half of the chocolate evenly over the buttered dough, then sprinkle with half the sugar. Starting with the long side, roll dough into a snug log, pinching firmly along the egg washed seam to seal. Bring the ends of the log together to form a ring, pinching to seal. Twist entire ring twice to form a double figure 8 and fit into one of the lined loaf pans.

Repeat for the second loaf.

Loosely cover pans with buttered plastic wrap and let babkas rise in a draft free place at warm room temperature until dough reaches top of pans, 1 – 2 hours.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 F- just under 180 C.

Brush tops of dough with remaining egg wash. Bake until tops are golden brown and bottoms sound hollow when tapped, about 40 minutes. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to room temperature.