I have this recipe from my dear friend Paula. Thanks to her, I discovered hungryhappens.net; we tried several recipes from the blog, even together! ♥

I adapted the recipe. I baked it on our anniversary; Marcel loved it (when he immediately asks for a second slice, he likes a dessert a lot). J

Use

a large ripe banana

30ml flaxseed oil

a medium egg

85ml agave syrup

vanilla extract

a teaspoon of ground coffee

2g baking powder

90g almond flour

90g tapioca powder

salt

30g dark chocolate

How to bake it?

Mash the banana, add the flaxseed oil, the egg, the agave syrup, the vanilla extract, the ground coffee, the almond flour, the tapioca powder, the salt, and 15g of dark chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a round silicone baking pan, using the remaining 15g to decorate the cake.

Then, bake the cake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven at 180⁰C.

You’re going to enjoy this cake a lot!

Clafoutis... well, I only baked it once before, several years ago. I used kiwis and added some drops of marsala to the batter for some kick. Meanwhile, here’s a quicker version with sour cherries – I have a lot of things on my plate right now.

Ingredients—

250g pitted sour cherries

10g butter

2 tbsp semolina

3 (medium) eggs

210ml milk

a pinch of salt

3 tbsp sugar

175g flour (+extra flour -> baking pan)

a drop of vanilla extract

Marcel helped me pit the sour cherries using a metallic straw.

What next?

Melt the butter in the oven in a regular tart baking pan. Flour the pan, spread the cherries on it, and sprinkle the semolina on top of them.

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the flour and mix until you get a fine batter. Add the vanilla extract at the end.

Pour the mix over the sour cherries. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes at 180⁰C.

This dessert turned out so delicious that I ate a big slice and then had two more (ok, they were smaller!). I didn’t need whipped cream or powdered sugar, it was perfect as it was.

The strawberry season hasn’t yet ended and... I had only baked myself a small cake on my name day, so I told myself... ’Why not?’.

You will need the following ingredients, in addition to the tartlet moulds, for the 

CRUST

150g flour

70g (melted and cooled) butter /oil also goes – I used flaxseed oil/

1 egg yolk

10g vanilla sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

2 tbsp water

a pinch of salt

CREAM

1 egg

165ml milk

60g sugar

25g flour

a dash of vanilla extract

+butter/oil and flour -> baking moulds

+at least 15-16 large strawberries

All these make 8 tartlets. J

I made the dough based on this recipe and I split it into 8. I used flaxseed oil instead of butter. Bake the mini crusts for 20 minutes, in the preheated oven, at 160⁰C. To keep the crusts thin, I used baking beans.

To make the cream, beat the egg and the sugar. Add the flour and mix very well. Pour the mix into the milk boiling with the vanilla extract. Continue to mix until you see bubbles forming. Pour the cream into the mini crusts (I took them out of the moulds first).  

Let them cool a bit and place them in the fridge.

Marcel’s suggestion was to place the strawberries (cleaned and cut into slices) onto the tartlets right before serving. They were fresher this way.

There is so much versatility offered by the various crust and cream recipes, combined with nature’s gifts to us!

2 rhubarb stalks

300g strawberries

4 large eggs

250g sugar

a pinch of salt

lemon zest from 1 lemon

a drop of vanilla extract

100g (melted) butter

200ml milk

350g flour

4g baking powder

a drop of rum essence

+4 tbsp of breadcrumbs

This recipe (I adapted it in the meantime) was given to me by an ex-girlfriend. I am grateful to her because I love rhubarb and strawberries; it is their season!

Clean the rhubarb and the strawberries and cut them into pieces. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of sugar on top of the rhubarb pieces. Let them sit while you make the batter (they will lose juice and won’t be that sour anymore).

In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with 100g of sugar. Add the salt, the (organic) lemon zest, the vanilla extract, and the melted and cooled butter. Then, add the milk, the flour, and the baking powder. Mix everything well with a spoon.

Beat the egg whites stiff with the remaining sugar and the rum essence.

Mix the foam into the batter, with light upward movements, until the mixture becomes homogenous.

Transfer the batter onto the large oven baking pan (44x37 cm) lined with baking parchment and level it. Sprinkle two tablespoons of breadcrumbs into each fruit piece bowl. Place these fruit pieces on the batter (the breadcrumbs will not let them sink into the batter).  

Bake the cake in the preheated oven, at 170⁰C, for 30 minutes.

P.S. From one-fourth of the ingredients, I baked the same cake as a name day cake for my Dad in a smaller baking pan.

I dedicate it to you, dear children, on our day! Happy Children’s Day! ♥

Makes 16

500g cottage cheese

a few drops of vanilla extract

zest from one organic orange

2 eggs

2 tbsp of coconut sugar

1/2 sachet of baking powder

330g flour

+sour cream, blueberry preserves

Fried, boiled, and even baked, papanaşi are always tasty!

However, there are times when – even with all the ingredients at hand –, I’m not in the mood to fry them. This recipe is precisely for those times!

They are easy to put together. Mix the cottage cheese, the vanilla extract, the orange zest, and the eggs. Add the coconut sugar, the baking powder, and the flour. Knead until the dough is firm and not sticky. Optional: keep it in the fridge for 45 minutes to turn it even firmer.

Then, divide it into 4. Each piece of dough will make 4 papanaşi. You’ll work with dough balls. Flatten each and make a hole in their centre.

Shape them well before getting them into the oven. They’ll bake for 20 minutes at 180⁰C, in a baking pan lined with baking parchment.

They turned golden and I served them with lots of local sour cream and blueberry preserves.

Makes 17-18 cookies

1 tbsp flaxseeds

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp agave syrup

1 tbsp coconut oil

a drop of vanilla extract

1 banana

75g peanut butter

100g gluten-free flakes

5g baking powder

I had a banana and some peanut butter left. ‘Some cookies would be nice’ I told myself. To be honest, I was craving cookies.

Mix the flaxseeds with the water, by adding the agave syrup, the coconut oil, and the vanilla extract. Mash the banana and mix in the peanut butter and the gluten-free flakes. Sprinkle the baking powder at the end.

The batter was moist, but I could easily shape it into cookies, placing them into a large baking pan lined with baking parchment. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, at 160⁰C.

They didn’t last for long. :D

175g rhubarb

130ml water

75g sugar

orange zest

a drop of vanilla extract

As I am crazy about rhubarb, I couldn’t fail to use it in my recipes this year.

Clean about 3 rhubarb stalks and cut them into small pieces; then, boil them in the water mixed with the sugar and the orange zest (must be organic!), on medium heat.

When the rhubarb starts disintegrating, remove the mix from the heat and add the vanilla extract.

The rhubarb sauce keeps well in the fridge and can be served with other desserts, like this homemade vanilla pudding.

...and I’m craving it now! J

The crust

100g buckwheat flour

50g tapioca flour

a pinch of salt

3 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of flax seeds

1 tbsp of vinegar

30g coconut oil

30ml almond milk

20g agave syrup

The filling

3 rhubarb stalks (+3 tbsp agave syrup)

5 big strawberries

400ml almond milk

vanilla extract

20g agave syrup

25g cornstarch

+coconut oil and tapioca flour -> your baking pan

When May arrives, it’s all about rhubarb and strawberries to me.

So, I decided to bake this vegan tart using them as ingredients.

You can use this recipe for the tart crust.

Bake it separately, in the preheated oven, at 170°C, for 15 minutes.

While the tart crust is cooling, clean the rhubarb and the strawberries and cut them into pieces, then make the filling.

Pour agave syrup over the rhubarb pieces and let them sit for 10 minutes.

Mix the almond milk, vanilla extract, agave syrup, and cornstarch in a pan and place it on medium heat. Let it boil. After it cools, fill the tart crust and place the rhubarb and strawberry pieces on top.

Makes 10 portions (10*5 choux)

Choux pastry

125ml water

60g butter

a pinch of salt

130g flour

4 eggs

Filling

2 eggs

330ml milk (+3-4 tbsp milk)

120g sugar

50g flour

a drop of vanilla extract

2 sachets vanilla sugar

Chocolate sauce

200g dark chocolate

30g butter

500ml milk

20g cornstarch

Éclair – chou – profiteroles. The perfect triad – even my Mom had them written down one after the other. I had baked the first two; so, profiteroles were still on the list. Marcel is crazy about this dessert, so I made it today and…

To make the shells, add the water, the butter, and the salt into a pan and place it on low heat. When the mixture boils, add the flour at once, stirring fast with a wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and let the dough cool. Add the eggs one by one, stirring continuously. Don’t add an egg until the one before was fully incorporated.

I’ve recently read that using a mixer for an extra-airy dough would be a smart trick. Why do we think that mixers should only be used with cold ingredients? J

Fill a pastry bag with a 1-cm nozzle (I still use a cup to make my life easier) and – on a baking tray lined with parchment paper – pipe out small balls, about the size of large sour cherries (says Mom). Leave a 2-cm space between them.

Bake the shells in the preheated oven, at 190°C, for the first 15 minutes, and then at 170°C, with the oven’s door slightly open, for 5 more minutes.

Take them out of the oven, place them on a rack (I also placed aluminium foil underneath the rack).

When the shells cool, by using a pastry bag nozzle, make a hole on the back of the shells and start filling. I usually fill all the shells once, I leave the cream set, and then I fill them one more time.

You need to make the pastry cream. Mix the yolks with 2/3s of the sugar amount until you get a foamy cream. Add 3-4 tablespoons of milk and mix again. Add the flour and immediately pour into the milk (simmering with the vanilla extract). Stir continuously until it boils. Remove from heat and add the egg whites beaten until stiff with the remaining sugar. Finally, add the vanilla sugar for that extra touch.

I ate profiteroles often in Turkey. They use a pretty gooey sauce there – and I’m still researching the recipe. However, at the end of 2020, in Egypt, I found a delicious chocolate sauce while having one of my breakfasts. I ended up talking with the chef and he told me the ingredients used.

Inspiration for the chocolate sauce came from these two sides. Melt the chocolate and the butter on a steam bath, add the milk; when the mix is hot, stir in the cornstarch. Continue stirring until it boils and you’ll get a wonderful chocolate sauce.

In the end, put 5 choux into a cup and cover them with chocolate sauce. You’ll probably ask for a refill.

...the wait was worth it.