Semolina Helva (Irmik Helvasi)

This delectable dessert is a traditional Turkish sweet, and probably every Turkish household has its own version. I first had it at a restaurant called Venge in Istanbul's Levant quarter, but I must admit that the result of my recipe, and all other ones I have tried, is very different from the Venge version. At Venge the semolina was fairly coarse, comparable to fine bulgur, and it was loose, meaning not firm and sticky which is the only result I have been able to get, and the way it was served was a delight. They lined a deep plate with hot helva, left room in the centre for a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, then turned it onto a flat plate so you only discovered the cool creamy centre when putting your spoon into it to take the first bite. Most recipes I have seen online, including the one at Binnur's Turkish Cookbook, serves the helva in one big piece, sometimes even with a sauce. I like to serve it as a kind of finger food, and I don't think it needs any accompanying sauce.

Ingredients (ca. 6 servings):

Syrup:

• 3 1/2 dl full fat milk
• 2 dl water
• 1 1/2 dl sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 10 cardamon pods

Other:

• 1 1/2 dl peeled almonds
• 75-100 g butter
• 3 dl semolina (medium grain)
• 1 dl sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• small oven tray, ca. 20x20 cm.

How to:

1. Put all ingredients for the syrup in a saucepan, place on a medium heat. When it reaches boiling point, reduce heat to very low, letting the sugar dissolve and the spices infuse the milk. This should take ca. 15 minutes.
2. While the syrup is infusing, chop the almonds very, very finely. Try to resist the temptation of doing this in the food processor, since you will end up with almond meal instead of little crunchy bits. Keep 1/2 dl of chopped almonds aside.
3. Mix the additional 1 dl sugar with the cinnamon powder in a small bowl.
4. Line the oven tray with baking paper.
5. In a second saucepan (larger than the one for the syrup), melt the butter and fry the 1 dl of chopped almonds in the butter for ca. 5 minutes until they turn golden, then add the semolina, and fry for another 5 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid the semolina from burning.
6. Now add the syrup to the semolina-almond mixture. Be careful of spluttering! Stir vigorously to prevent lumping. When the mixture has the texture of a light porridge, stir in the sugar-cinnamon mixture, and keep stirring until all the syrup has been absorbed. This probably only takes 20-30 seconds! The mixture should now be so firm and doughy that it is almost impossible to stir it any longer.
7. Remove from heat and scoop into the oven tray. Smoothen the top of the helva with a wet spoon.
8. Sprinkle a little water on the surface of the helva, then sprinkle the 1/2 dl almonds on top, press them slightly into the helva. Finally sprinkle a bit of cinnamon powder on top as well.
9. Before serving, remove the helva from the tray and cut it into cubes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tip: Instead of almonds you can use other nuts, like pine nuts, pistachios or walnuts.

Pumpkin Fritters

This a typical Christmas dessert in Portugal (in portuguese called Filhoses de Abóbora) .

Ingredients

• 600g pumpkin
  
• 12 tbspoons plain flour
• 2 tbspoons sugar
  
• 1 tbspoon baking powder
• 5 eggs
  
• 50ml orange juice

How to:

1. You will have to cook the pumpkin the day before. Boil it until very soft, drain all the water very well and leave it for 8/10 hours to dry.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, using a blender, until the batter is very smooth.
3. In a large frying pan heat vegetable oil (you need a large quantity, say 5-7 cm deep) and fry scoops of the batter until golden brown (2min each side).
4. In the end, while still warm, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on top.
   

Walnut muffins

Ingredients (makes 12)

• 250 gr (wholewheat) flour
• 2 tea spoons baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 200g caster sugar
• 75 gr walnuts roughly choppped
• 1 tea spoon vanilla essence
• 100g butter, melted and cooled
• 3 eggs
• 200ml milk

How to

1. Preaheat the oven to 180°C and line a 12-muffin tin with paper cups.
2. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar.
3. In another bowl mix the vanilla essence, butter, eggs and milk (until smooth).
4. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin paper cases.
6. Bake for 20/25 minutes (or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.)
7. Allow to cool in the tin and unmould.

Bom apetite :)

Tarte de Natas (Portuguese Custard Pie)

Ingredients

For the pastry

• 150 g plain flour
• 75 g butter
• 1 egg

For the filling

• 5 egg yolks
• 1 lemon zest
• 750 ml milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 tbspoons sugar
• 3 tbspoons maizena

How to:

1. Do the pastry as in the quiche lorraine recipe.
2. Do the filling as in the Leite Creme recipe (with the adjusted ingredient quantities).
3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C.
4. Roll out the pastry and place it in a baking tray.
5. Pour the filling and bake for 30/40 min.
6. In the end the top should be slightly brownish.

I like to eat this pie sprinkled with cinnamon powder!

Walnut cake

• 8 eggs
• 250 gr margarine (room temperature)
  
• 200 gr walnuts roughly choppped
  
• 500 gr sugar
• 250 gr plain flour
• 2 tea spoons baking powder
  

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
   
2. Beat the sugar together with the margarine.
   
3. Add the egg yolks and beat until creamy.
4. Incorporate the flour and baking powder.
   
5. Beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter.
6. Finally incorporate the walnuts.
7. Pour into the form and bake for +/- 45 min (you can test if it is cooked with a toothpick. Just insert it into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.)

Leite Creme

(I will upload a picture soon...)

Ingredients

• 6 egg yolks
• 1l milk
  
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon zest
• 5 tbspoons sugar
• 4 tbspoons maizena (corn flour)
  

How to:

1. Pour the milk into a pan and pop in the cinammon stick and the lemon zest.
2. Bring to the boil, then take the pan off the heat and leave for the milk to infuse.
3. Whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and the maizena, until the mizture is creamy.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon zest from the milk.
5. Pour the milk into the egg yolk mixture and stir.
6. Return the whole mixture to the pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring all the time. (As the mixture thickens lumps may form, but they will eventually beat out.)
7. Take the pan off the heat and transfer the cream to a oven proof dish.
   
8. Just before serving sprinkle with sugar on top (3/4 tbspoons) and caramelize under the oven grill.
   

Wet chocolate cake (Dina's cake)

This cake has the 2 characteristics a dessert should always have: is easy/quick to do and tastes great! All the credits of this recipe go to Dina!

Ingredients

• 200g dark chocolate (I like to use one that has above 70% cocoa)
• 200g butter
• 200g flour (self raising or, alternatively, add 2 teaspoons baking powder)
  
• 150g sugar
• 4 eggs
  

How to:

1. Pre-heat the oven 200 degrees
   
2. Melt the chocolate with the butter and set aside
   
3. Beat the eggs and the sugar until thick (it will look pale and moussey)
4. Gradually add the flour
5. Finally, add the chocolate mixture
6. Pour into a baking form and bake for 15 min (in the end should be wet)

A note about taking this cake from the baking form: because it is a wet cake it will be easy if you use a silicon form or a springform pan. If you do not have one of these let the cake cool down for a few minutes before you try to take it out.

Chocolate Cake

This recipe is one of the fantastic desserts that my friend Paulo always take to dinners at my place (of course his mother is the author :)). Thank you Paulo :)

You will need:

1) For the cake:

• 1 cup chocolate powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup warm water
  
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 cups white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 5 eggs

(cup = tea cup)

2) For the sauce:

• 10 spoons of milk
• 5 table spoons chocolate powder
• 3 table spoons sugar
• 2 table spoons butter

Now:

1. Pre heat your oven 180 degrees and grease a cake form.
2. Beat the eggs and the sugar until thick (it will look pale and moussey)
3. Continue mixing adding in this order: the oil, the water, the chocolate and the flour (with the baking powder mixed in).
4. Pour into the form and bake for 30-35 min (the top of the cake should be firm, you can test if its cooked with a toothpick. Just insert it into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.)

For the sauce:

1. Put all ingredients into a pan and mix everything (if you think the mixture looks too thick add a bit more of milk)
2. Heat the mixture until hot

To finish: make some small holes in your cake (use a fork or a tooth pick) and cover with the sauce (this process should be done with both the cake and sauce hot).

Enjoy! (I like to eat it with a lot of whiped cream :))

Natas do Céu

This is one of the easiest desserts I know. It is great when you have to cook for a lot of people: it can done in advance and there is no problem in freezing it.

You will need:

• Condensed milk (400 ml)
• Cream (3 paks of 200 or 250 ml)
• Marie Biscuits (± 20)
• Gelatine (3 sheets)

Then:

1. Immerse the sheets of gelatine in cold water
2. Whip the cream until it reaches a good consistency
   
3. Take the gelatine sheets out of the cold water and dissolve them in a small quantity of hot water
   
4. Incorporate the condensed milk and the gelatine into the whipped cream
5. Grind the cookies
6. In a bowl, make three layers aletrnating the cream and the cookies (starting with the cookies)
7. Put in the fridge for at least 1h30m