Buche de Noel a la Tonia (Tonia's Christmas Log)

   Every Year, the day before Christmas, Mum spend all day in the kitchen making Buche de Noel. She will make loads a give out to neighbours, friends  and family. She use to make chocolate ones & white ones.
I am making some and decorating them the way she use to do it.

Ingredients:
Cake:
5 Eggs
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
Vanilla
If Chocolate: add 3 Tablespoon Cocoa sifted + 1 Tablespoon Water ( or Rum)

Cream Filling:
1 1/2 cup Milk  ( if chocolate add 2 tsp of Cocoa to the Milk)
1 Egg
1 1/2 Tbsp Flour
2 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Butter
 Vanilla

Mix eggs, sugar, vanilla then add flour & baking powder.  Pour in rectangular tray (32x21cm) lined with a greaseproof baking sheet. If you like the buche thin, divide the cake mix into a rectangular tray (32x21cm) & square tray (21x21cm) both lined with greaseproof paper ( this is what I usually do).
 Bake in medium hot ( gas mark 5) oven for 15 mins or until sponge-like to the touch.

Remove from oven, roll the cake with the baking sheet & leave it aside to cool down.
Meantime, prepare the cream. Mix egg, sugar & flour. Add the milk and place in saucepan on low heat and stir continously. Once the cream thickened, remove from heat and add butter. Leave it aside to cool and  stir the mixture from time to time till it cool down.

Once cake is cold, peel off the baking paper carefully & straight away spread the filling cream on the cake from inside to out. Re-roll cake.

Place, seam-side down, on serving plate. Spread cream on the top of the log. Run a fork up and down the icing until the icing resembles tree. Dust the Christmas log with cocoa powder and icing sugar. Sprinkle on top a little bit of coconut. Decorate the log with Glace cherry if you like or any festive decoration.
Put it in fridge for 2hrs before serving. 

3eid Melad Majeed!! Joyeux Noel!! Merry Christmas!!

Mum’s Fruit Cake

Mum’s fruit cake is the cake that we used to eat especially on Mother’s Day.

It was mum’s favourite and used to call it “Mums Cake” because it’s rich and full of ingredients.

Since this Sunday it is Mother’s Day... Happy Mother’s Day! 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour

1 cup Sugar

½ cup Butter

½ cup Milk

1 cup diced Apple

½ cup Raisin

½ cup Walnut (chopped)

½ cup Dates (chopped)

2 Eggs

Zest orange or lemon

½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

½ tsp Baking Powder

½ tsp Cinnamon

 

Dice the apples, bake it saucepan on low heat with the half of sugar & cinnamon. Leave it to cool.  Mix the flour with walnuts, raisins, dates, baking powder & bicarbonate of soda.  In separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs & zest.   Add the flour mix gradually with the apple & milk to the butter & egg mixture.  With a spatula, mix them all together.

Pour in greased and flour dusted cake tray and bake in medium hot oven gas mark 5 (350F) for 35-40 mins or till the cake is done.  

Done when a toothpick comes out clean. Sahtein!

Saniyet Tamer (Date Cake)

A cake with a layer of dates in middle...A layer of cake, layer of dates & another layer of cake on top, almost like a sandwich.......

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 Eggs

1 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

5 cups Flour

3/4 cup Yogurt

1 ½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

½ tsp Baking powder

Filling:

500g Dates (pitted or paste)

1 cup Walnuts (optional)

½ cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Butter

1 tsp Cinnamon

Handful of pine nuts for decoration

Mix all the dough ingredients together.  Let it rest for 10-15 min. As for the filling, chop the dates with a knife into small pieces and then mix them with the rest of the ingredients for the filling to form a compact mass. 
Grease the baking tray and dust with flour. 

Take half of the dough and roll it between 2 cling film or greaseproof papers.

Remove the top cling film & flip the dough onto the baking tray ; then remove the secong cling flim ( as it will hold the dough till you get it in the tray).

  
Repeat above with the filling. Roll the filling between 2 cling film or greaseproof papers and add it on top of the first half of the dough.

 Press it down with your fingers to stick it to the first layer.
Then, repeat the same with the second half of the dough and flop it on top of the filling in the baking tray. Press it down with your fingers.

Score the cake into rows and then diagonal lines inside the rows to form a trapezoid. Top every trapezoid with a pine nut.

Bake in a medium hot oven 350F or gas mark 5 for 30 - 40 min until golden. 

Cool and serve.

PastaFlora

PastaFlora is a cake , more on the scone side, with jam on top......

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter

1 ½ cup Sugar

3 cup Flour

3 Eggs

3 teaspoon Baking Powder

Vanilla

Orange zest

4 tablespoon Apricot Jam

Mix above ingredient (except the jam).

The consistency of the mix is more like a sticky dough than a cake.

Take a handful of dough, leave it aside & put the rest in greased baking tray.
The tray used is 25cm diametre. Flatten the top with the spatula.

Dilute the apricot jam with a teaspoon of water (or a bit of Rum).

Spread the jam on the cake.

With the remaining dough, add a bit of flour to the dough till it isnt sticky. Take a piece & roll it into long thin rope.

 Top the jam with the thin rope in a crisscross way.

Bake in a medium hot oven (gas mark 6) for 35-30 minutes. Let it cool.

When cutting the pieces, cut them between the rope.

 You will have a piece of cake with an “+” of dough on top of the jam.

Sahtein!

Sfouf Sofor (Yellow Cake with Turmeric)

    Sfouf is a cake a little bit on the dry side. We were brought up eating with 2 different kind of Sfoufs: Sfouf bil Debs which is made with Debs el Kharoub ( Carob Molasses) (see previous blog) and Sfouf Sofor (yellow) which is made with turmeric, hence the name.

   Sfouf Sofor is simple and fragrant with a distinctive colour from turmeric.

Ingredients:

4 cups Flour

2 ¼ cup Sugar 
½ cup corn oil ( or any vegetable oil)

¾ cup Butter

1 Tbsp Turmeric

1 Tbsp Aniseed powder

1 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 ½ lukewarm water

1 handful of pine nuts( for decoration optional)

 

Preheat oven to gas mark 5 (350F). Mix flour, spices & baking powder.  Cut butter into small pieces and use the tips of your fingers to thoroughly incorporate into the flour and spice mix. Add oil.  Dissolve sugar in the lukewarm water. Add the water and sugar to the flour, mix and incorporate thoroughly with a spoon. The yellow colour will now come through brilliantly.

Pour in grease baking tray. With wet hands, flat the top of the sfouf. Sprinkle the pine nuts on top if you like it. I made my tray half with pine nuts & half without due to different preference in the family!

My tray size is 25cm diametre.

 Cook in medium heat oven, gaz mark 5, for 25-30 min or till you feel it is done.

Once cooled, cut it into squares

& sahtein!

Sfouf Bil Debs ( Carob Molasses Cake)

        Debs el kharoub, or carob molasses, is a thick sweet syrup made by soaking milled carob pods in water and reducing the extracted liquid. In Lebanon, carob molasses was traditionally used as an alternative to sugar.

   

  Sfouf  is a cake a little bit on the dry side ...So easy to make and absolutely wonderful....

Ingredients:

4 cups Flour

1 cup corn oil

1 cup Debs el Karoub (Carob Molasses)

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp Ground Aniseed
   a bit of water ( if needed)

Sesame Seed  (for decoration optional)

  Preheat oven to gaz mark 5 ( 350F). Mix all ingredients together. Grease the cake tin with butter or it would be very authentic if use tahini instead to coat the baking tray before pouring the mixture. It will give a crunchy crust and deep flavour. Put the mixture into the baking tray.  Smooth the top with wet hands. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top a very thin layer and bake in medium oven gas mark 5 ( 350F) for approx 20-30 mins Cut into small squares once cooled.

 

     Another typical Lebanese dessert with Debs is Debs bi Tahineh (Tahini and Carob Molasses).  It is a mix tahini (sesame seed paste) with the molasses in a small bowl and you would use pitta bread to dip and eat. Proportion is really up to the individual taste.  Try equal proportion at first and adjust to taste. I love the idea of mixing a sweet syrup with tahini as a dessert.

Chouring

This sweet bread is delicious for breakfast, with coffee or a snack. We used to have it on New Year’s Day. Mum used to hide a coin inside the braid before baking it. On that morning, Mum cut the braid into slices & we have to pick one slice each. The person who got the slice with the coin was destined to have a good & prosperous year.

Ingredients:

3 cups Flour

½ cup Milk

¾ cup Sugar
1/3 cup Butter

2 Eggs

1 tsp dry Yeast( or 15g fresh Yeast)

1 tsp Miskeh / Mastic (pound the mastic into powder)

1 tsp Mahlab/ Mahleb


   Topping:
1 beaten egg
Sugar

Sesame Seeds

Habet Barakeh/ Black Sesame Seeds (optional)

Mix flour, milk, sugar, eggs, yeast, mastic & mahlab together till the dough is soft. Cover the bowl. Leave dough to rest for 2-3 hours in warm place. Punch down the dough and divide it into 2 or 3 portions ( for smaller braids) to create braids. Each portion, divided into 3 equal parts & roll each into ropes about 30cm long. Braid the 3 ropes to form a loaf. Now it is the time to insert a coin!

You can also make other shapes, roll the ropes into spiral like snail, or anything of your choice. Place the braid on a greased or parchement paper lined baking tray. Cover them, and allow rising in a warm place for 1hr. Preheat oven to gas mark 5 or 350F. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sugar,  sesame seeds & habet barakeh. Bake in oven on medium heat for 20-30 min or until it is golden. Sahtein!