Lemon Cake For Blogoversary

It has been a long time since I wrote my last post. I have been working till late hours, so I can not even write back to your so much valuable comments. Hope you understand me. I couldn’t even realize that Give Recipe left a year behind until my hubby reminded me 4 days ago. He asked, “Aren’t you thinking of making something special to celebrate our child’s birthday?” You see, Give Recipe is like our child as he says I spend a big part of my time either dealing with it or thinking about it. I know I’ve neglected it since the school started (working as a teacher) but it’s always on my mind. However, I’m grateful to hubby for reminding me of my first blogoversary.

It was on a weekday and unfortunately, I couldn’t make anything special, so I had to postpone it to this weekend. I was decisive on making something sweet as I think it’s not a real celebration if there is nothing sweet. I thought a lamon cake would be great to celebrate a blogoversary. And ofcourse it wouldn’t be a real celebration without some guests, so we called a few friends and enjoyed this cake together with Turkish black tea.

Finally, thanks a million to everyone for visiting Give Recipe and for helping me improve it with your comments, suggestions and questions.

Limonlu Kek
Ingredients
-    100g butter (at room temperature)
-    125g sugar
-    4 eggs
-    50ml (1/4 cup) milk
-    Rind of 1 lemon, grated
-    300g flour
-    1tbsp baking powder
For the jam on the top:
-    1 lemon
-    2 tbsp sugar
-    5 tbsp water
Preheat the oven at 180C (350F).

Mix butter and sugar, add eggs and beat well until smooth. Pour milk in it and mix. Put grated lemon rind and flour, whisk with a spatula. Take a tbsp baking powder and squeeze a few drops of lemon on it. This will help the cake rise well.

Oil the cake mould (I used a rectangular one) and pour the batter into it and bake for 45 minutes. You know how to check if it’s done at the end of this duration. Just use a toothpick; if it comes out clean, it means you can take it from oven.

As a big fan of lemon, I don’t want to waste any part of it. Believe or not, I eat lemons with their rinds, they are not different from any other fruits. Most of my friends find it weird, but I do love the bitterish taste of their rind. When preparing the cake butter, I thought it would be great to garnish it with some slices of lemon rind. But not to have a bitter taste (no problem for me), I must find a way to make them sweet (for my friends). I just followed the steps similar to my usual jams, just in small amounts. You can play with the amounts of sugar and water here according to your taste.

So when you put the cake aside, you can prepare the lemon jam to make your cake have a ‘lemon’ cake look. Slice the lemon rind thinly, put them in a small pan, add sugar and water in it. Heat it ove medium heat stirring occasionaly until the sugar melts. When it starts to boil, add a few drops of lemon in it. You will see it becomes thicker after adding lemon juice. Then you can take it from heat and garnish your cake.

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Sour Cherry Pie

The first thing I remember about sour cherry goes back to my childhood. It was a hot Summer day and we were on holiday at our village. We always went to our village to visit my grandma (dad’s mom)  and relatives in Summer after a studying term.

I used to look forward to going there as I loved to spend time with villagers. They woke up at 5 a.m and went to their fields to work. Their fields located away from the village, it took at least one hour on foot. Some of them had donkeys and they used to put me on one of the donkeys. I was a child from the city for them, so they thought that I was so fragile and wasn’t able to walk the whole way. Actually, I used to love going on a donkey, so I wouldn’t refuse. They’d sometimes water the yard, sometimes pick their products. I was at my teens and I was crazy about going to the fields with the villagers at that early time of the day. They would hit the trail so early and they’d generally have breakfast at their fileds on earth. Everything was so natural then. I knew the pleasure of picking a tomato from its branch and I would prefer not eating anything until we arrived the fields.

I wore the white dress that my grandma gave me as a gift on that hot summer day before meeting the villagers to go to the fields. When we arrived to the field of one of the villagers, I saw a tree full of sour cherries. They were so tempting, so I asked its owner if I could climb on it. As they would all love me much, I didn’t have to insist much. I was on the tree after a few minutes. The cherries were so sour, but I always love everything sour. After I was full with sour cherries, I thought that mom would be so happy when she saw the sour cherries I picked as she always loved to make sour cherry jam. And I started to pick sour cherries on the skirt of my dress, which was as white as snow. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Mom got so ngry with me when I returned with my pinkish dress. She thought that this was my disrecpectfulness to my grandma as it was her gift. However, grandma didn’t agree with her and she said that she was proud of me. For her, it was a good thing that a child thought his/her mom. I was saved from a big scolding thanks to her.

Mom didn’t make jam from those cherries on that day, she made a yummy pie instead as a reward for me. And I learnt how to make it from mom after years and wanted to share it with you.

Vişneli Pay

Ingredients
-    1 egg, at room temperature
-    4 tbsp yogurt
-    125g butter, at room temperature
-    6 tbsp vegetable oil
-    5 tbsp sugar for the dough
-    1 tbsp baking powder
-    3 ½ cups flour
-    2 cups sour cherry, pits removed
-    3 tbsp sugar for its filling
-    Sugar powder for garnish

We should start with the sour cherries first. After removing their pits, sprinkle 3 tbsp sugar on them and wait.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).

Meanwhile you can start to prepare its dough. Mix the gg, yogurt, butter, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder and flour and knead well to combine them well. Divide the dough into two.

After this time, you’ll see that cherries release their juice. Squeeze all of them in your hands into a cup.You can use a strainer for this.

Oil a circular cake mold and spread one of the dough balls on its bottom.

It should cove all its bottom, so just use your palms and press on it, it will spread bit by bit.

Put the squeezed sour cherries on it. Then sprinkle a little flour on the counter and roll the other dough out on it. It must be as big as the size of the cake mold. Then gently take it and put it on cherries to cover all of them.

Make an X mark on top of the pie before putting it into oven so that every part of it cook equally. Cook it for 50 minutes and do not open the oven during this time. After the end of the time, take it out and let it cool.

Turn the cake mold upside down to remove your pie from it. Sprinkle sugar powder on it while serving.

You can serve the sour cherry juice along with the pie. I did so and it was great!

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Fruit and Cheese Pie

This yummy pie is one of our discoveries in kitchen. Last night, I was preparing the ingredients for a usual carrot cake when my dear husband raised an idea. He opened the refrigerator and showed me the leftovers of fruit; a few strawberries, one kiwi, three bananas, and one pomegranate. Then he suggested “why don’t we try something new this time?”.

We wanted to make something more fresh with these fruits. So this pie comes out. My husband prepared its dough and I prepared its cream.  But as we knew that we wouldn’t agree on garnishing, we made two pies. One of them  is garnished by me, the other by him (But the measurements are for one). It’s so easy to make it, the only problem is that you should wait for some time to chill it. You should be patient enough and pull yourself together after you put it in the refrigerator.

This is my version. You can see how much I love fruit.

Ingredients

For its dough:
•    1 1/3 cup flour
•    100gr butter (1 stick)
•    2 tbsp castor sugar
•    1 egg
•    ½ carbonate

For its cream:
•    250gr milk (1 cup )
•    75 gr (¼ cup) castor sugar
•    70 gr flour
•    1 dessert spoon starch
•    3 egg yolks
•    200gr mascarpone cheese (labne cheese for Turkey)

For garnishing:
•    A few strawberries
•    1 kiwi
•    1 banana
•    1 pomegrenate
•    Grated coconut, chocolate chips

Tip: Take all the ingredients out of refrigerator at least half an hour before making the pie.

First we’ll knead the dough, so mix all the ingredients of dough in a bowl and knead it well. It should’t be sticky anymore. Then wait it in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 C (350F)

Then oil the pie mold and spread the dough on it with your hands. After it covers the bottom of the mold, gently insert a fork into the dough randomly. Bake it for 25 minutes. Then take it out and let it cool.

While the pie dough is cooking in oven, you can prepare the cream. Put all the ingredients ezcept mascarpone cheese in a pot. Mix them well. Put it on medium heat and stir it continually. When it gets as thick as pudding, take it from heat and add mascarpone cheese in it. (We also add mashed banana at this point, but if you don’t want it to have too much banana flavor in it, skip this banana part). mix the cream with a mixer until smooth. And let it cool.

When both cream and dough get cool enough, it’s time for the last step before the most enjoyable part. Spread all the cream on the dough. The cream should cover it completely. Put the pie in refrigerator and wait it at least for 4 hours. The more it waits, the more yummy it becomes. That’s why, we prefer doing it at night. Then it’s ready the following day.

If you chill it enough, you can start the most enyoyable part: Garnishing. This part is totally up to you. Use the garnishing ingredients (or you can use different fruits) and free your hands and mind.

Now all you need is a cup of coffee and a window that you can watch the snow through. 

This one is my husband’s version. He added some mashed banana in its cream. And you see how impatient he is. He couldn’t wait until today and ate a slice of it last night. But he is so creative that he fills the place of eaten slice with grated coconut and says that this is the hair of his pie man.

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Cake with Tea

When I first heard the name of this cake, I couldn’t believe that it contains tea (as a liquid) in it. I just thought that there might be some leaves of tea. One day, one of my friends (Sibel) served us a yummy cake, I asked her if there was really tea in it or not and I learned that there was. So I was wrong. Thanks to a cup of tea in it, this cake is so light that you can eat a few big pieces consecutively. This cake with tea has been another popular cake in our home since then. If you like such light cakes, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

•    3 eggs
•    1 ½ cup sugar
•    1 cup cold well-steeped tea
•    ½ cup olive oil
•    2 tbsp cacao
•    2 tbsp nuts
•    2 tsp baking powder
•    1 tsp vanilla
•    8 tbsp flour

Mix sugar and eggs until smooth with a beater. This is very important to have a well baked cake. Add olive oil and cold tea. Mix it again. Add cacao, nuts, vanilla and flour. Mix with a spoon. As in all cakes, put the baking powder last and go on mixing.

Preheat the oven to 170C (338F)

Oil the cake mold with a brush and pour the mixture in it. Place it in the preheated oven for 45 or 50 minutes. You can check if it is done by dipping a toothpick into the cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is done.

This cake is both economical and yummy. You should be quick to have one piece before the others finish it.

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Cake with Cacao Recipe

If you invite your friends to your home, and can not decide what to serve, here is your recipe. You can pick a lot of bonus from your friend with this yummy cake. Don’t panic, it is so easy to make. I prefer making this cake whenever I’m in hurry because despite its delightful taste, it’s time saving.
Ingredients
•    3 eggs
•    1 cup sugar
•    ½ cup olive oil
•    ½ cup milk
•    2 cups flour
•    ½ cup cacao
•    1 tbsp baking powder
•    1 orange zest, grated
•    Castor sugar

Mix eggs and sugar in a large bowl until it gets creamy (at least 10 minutes).
Keep mixing (but this time with a spoon) and add oil, milk, flour and cacao in this order. If you think it is not dark enough, add some more cacao.
Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Finally add baking powder and orange zest. And pour this mixture in an oiled cake mold. Stir a little.
Place it in heated oven and bake it for 50 minutes. You can check it with a toothpick. Dip it into the cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is done. If not, bake it for another 5 minutes.
After taking the cake out, let it get cold to remove it from its mold.
Optional: sprinkle some castor sugar on it before serving.

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Cake with Carrot and Walnut Recipe

This is my favorite cake recipe as it is very easy and rich in taste. I make it very often because nobody can see it in our kitchen after two days. We (my husband and I ) serve it to our friends and eat it all in such a short time. After writing this recipe, I’m planning to go to kitchen and start to make this cake.

Ingredients
•    2 cups grated carrots
•    Grated zest of 1 lemon
•    3 eggs
•    1 cup sugar
•    2 cups flour
•    1 cup butter, room temperature
•    ½ cup walnut, and a a handful chocolate chips
•    1 tbsp baking powder
•    1 tbsp vanilla
Seperate the yolks of eggs from its white. Put them in seperate bowls.
Mix the yolks and sugar with your mixer for at least 10 minutes (time of mixing is very important for all cakes to bake well).
Add butter and keep mixing. After it becomes creamy, add grated carrots and zest of one lemon. This time, mix it by hand with a big spoon. Do not use mixer for this mixture from now on.
Now add flour. It seems very tough, but you will soften it with egg white. To do this, mix egg whites until it becomes as white as snow. And pour it in the cake mixture little by little.
Sprinkle some flour on walnut and chocolate chips so that they will not sink at the bottom only. Add it to the mixture.
Baking powder and vanilin are always the last things to add in a cake mixture. Add them and mix with spoon.
Pour this mixture into an oiled cake mold.
Preheat the oven to 180 C, and bake it for 50 minutes. You can check with a toothpick if your cake is done. Dip a toothpick into your cake (while it’s stil in oven). If it comes out clean, your cake is cooked enough. If not, cook it for another 5 minutes.
After you take the cake out, let it get cold enough to remove it from the cake mold.
Enjoy it with your friends and family.

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