BEZDIRME ( TURKISH FLAT BREAD )

If you made your dough for making filo pastry ( yufka ) and you felt you couldn't do it, why not use the dough and make flat bread. ( Also known as bazlama and bezdirme )

Roll each dough with the rolling pin about 25 cm in diameter and cook both sides on a preheated non stick frying pan on a medium heat. Turn the bread over 2-4 times to cook both sides equally.

Then serve them warm with butter on them or serve them plain with curries.

After cooking, wrap them in covered in a tea towel to keep them warm. They are best eaten the same day or will keep for a day or two buttered, wrapped, then reheated in the pan before serving.

CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE CAKE

It was my daughter's birthday and enjoyed making this cake with chocolate drops, orange zest and orange juice. The cake was nice and moist and had a  good texture with a fresh orange flavour. Cake covering was rich with double cream and chocolate but we all enjoyed it as a special treat. I decorated the cake with apple blossoms but decorate as how you like with chocolate or butter icing.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups of fresh orange juice
• grated rind of 1 orange
• 100 g chocolate drops

For the cake covering

• 200 ml double cream
•  200 g dark chocolate

METHOD

Sift flour with salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Separate the eggs.

Grate the orange .

Grease and flour a 25 cm kugelhopf  ring tin

Preheat the oven to 180 C, 160 Fan setting.

1) Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy with a hand held mixer. Add egg yolks one at a time whisking after each addition.

2) Fold the sifted flour with salt and baking powder into the creamed mixture. Add the orange juice mixing with a metal spoon. Stir in the orange rind and chocolate drops.

3) Whisk the egg whites  in a separate bowl until it is at soft peak stage and fold them into the mixture.

4) Pour into the prepared mould and bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. 

5) Rewove the cake from oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Then invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool for further 15- 20 minutes or until it is completely cool.

MAKE THE CHOCOLATE COVERING

1 )Bring cream to boil in a pan. Break chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate pieces into a heatproof  bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Place the bowl with  cream and chocolate mixture over a pan with hot water. Bring water to boil and melt the chocolate gently, stirring all the time. When chocolate is completely melted, take of the heat.

2) Let it cool until just runny enough to pour the chocolate sauce over the cake.

3) Let the chocolate set before decorating the cake.

SIMIT (TURKISH SESAME BAGELS )

SIMITS ( Bagels ) are a very popular snack in Turkey which is lovely to eat at any time of the day and especially for breakfast. Street vendors tour round the housing estates to sell  warm simits first thing in the morning,  straight from the local bakers. Simit sellers even keep slices of cheese and boiled egg along with the simits for those who didn't have time for breakfast before leaving home. You are sure to have a good breakfast on the go with fresh simit, cheese and egg.

This is the first time I made simit and very pleased that they turned out nice. My family's comments were: "they taste just like the ones  we buy in Turkey", which is a great compliment. 

Below makes 10 simits.

INGREDIENTS

• 450 g strong bread flour
• 2 level tsp salt
• 7 g easy bake yeast 
• 250 ml warm water
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp pekmez or molasses
• 1 cup  hot water
• 200 g sesame seeds

METHOD

1) Sift the flour with salt. Add yeast  and mix well. 

2) Mix honey, oil and water in a jug. 

3) Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour the liquid in gradually to make a firm dough. Start kneading and stretching for about 10 minutes. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

4) Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a greased  bowl. Cover with cling film and place it on a warm corner in your kitchen for 2 hours, until the dough doubled in size.

5) After 2 hours, punch down and knead the dough briefly.

6) Divide the dough into 10 equal chunks  then divide each chunk into 2 small balls. Roll each ball into  25-30 cm long log. Then twist two logs together into a plat. Squeeze and seal the ends together with a splash of water. As you make one simit, keep the other chunks of dough covered with a clean tea towel. Repeat with rest of the dough to make 10 simits. Place the simits into the baking tray, cover with tea towel and allow to stand for 1 hour. 

7) When the dough is nearly ready, mix molasses or pekmez with hot water and mix well.

8) Then dip each simit, first in the pekmez and water mixture and then roll the simits all over in the sesame seeds, in a large tray.

9) Place the simits back  in the baking tray lined with grease proof paper. Let the simits rest further 30 minutes before baking.

10) Place 2 cups of water in an oven proof dish and place it at the base of the oven.

11) Cook simits in preheated oven 220 C, 200 Fan setting for 15- 20 minutes.

12) Cool them on wire rack before serving.