Turkish cooking – My Whisk and I

175g butter, cubed
100g brown sugar
30ml + 15ml honey
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
2,5ml ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas
100g stoned dates
50g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 160℃ and line a medium loaf tin with baking paper.
Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together.
Add the honey with the mixer running and then add the eggs one at a time.
Scrape the mixture down and mix for another minute.
Mix the flour and ground cinnamon and add a tablespoon of flour to the mixture while mixing. Continue adding flour until you have none left.
Mash the bananas and cut the dates into small pieces with scissors.
Add the fruit to the the batter and mix for 2 minutes.
Spoon the batter in to the prepared loaf tin and level out the top.
Scatter the pistachios over and bake in the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes – check the loaf with a skewer to see if its done.
Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before lifting it out of the baking tin.
Drizzle the remaining 15ml honey over the warm cake and allow to cool.
Slice into thick slices and serve along a cup of Turkish coffee.

80ml blanched almonds
80ml blanched walnuts
30ml brown sugar
7,5ml ground cinnamon
750ml self-raising flour
80g butter, cubed
300ml milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Honey Syrup:
190ml sugar
60ml honey
125ml water

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 10cm x 21cm loaf pan with baking paper.
Add the almonds and walnuts to the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped.
Spoon the nuts into a bowl and add the brown sugar and cinnamon.
Mix through and then spoon 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a small bowl. Set both bowls aside.
Sift the flour in to a mixing bowl and add the butter.
Rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the centre and add the 250ml of milk.
Mix with a flat-bladed knife until it forms a soft dough – add a few drops of milk at a time if the mixture needs more liquid.
Flour a work surface and place the dough on it. Gently knead the dough until it JUST comes together.
Now place the dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll to a 20cm x 35cm rectangle.
Brush the surface with the egg and scatter over the nuts.
Start from a short end and roll up like a Swiss roll.
Place in the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour.
Stand in the pan for 10 minute, remove from the baking tin and place on a cooling rack to cool.

For the syrup:
Add all the ingredients to a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Cook the mixture for 5 minutes while stirring.
Now boil it without stirring for another 5 minutes and take it from the heat.
Pierce the top of the warm loaf with a skewer and drizzle half the syrup over.
Sprinkle the reserved two tablespoons nut mixture over the cake and stand for another 10 minutes.
Serve the Baklava Loaf sliced with the remaining syrup.

Tag: Turkish cooking

Pistachio, Date and Honey Cake

Baklava Loaf