Persimmon Pudding Cake

After the success of the persimmon bread I made I decided to try out a persimmon dessert recipe: persimmon pudding cake. It's as easy to mix up as the bread was-easier in fact as there are no dates to pit and chop!

Sherlock wanted in on the baking action

I do love persimmons but they are a bit of a pain to work with. Often if I can find persimmons with perfect skin I just chop them into quarters and give them a whir in the food processor. However this last trip to the market didn't result in the nicest of persimmons; they were all fairly heavily damaged so I had to skin them before tossing them in the food processor.

Despite my annoyance with the state of the persimmons; I love the cozy feeling I get from baking in the autumn and winter. Part of it is that the window in my apartment doesn't seal so it's freezing in my kitchen. Strong wind often forces it open, knocking over my electric kettle and making a mess of my (admittedly only sometimes) clean counter. So keeping the oven working, especially when it emanates the rich, warm aromas of cinnamon and clove not only heats up the kitchen but makes the entire apartment feel that much warmer.

Using fleur de sal, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove

This recipe by Simply Recipes is a nice, quick little bake that results in a really moist, slightly spongy cake that I enjoyed not only as dessert but for breakfast. Aside from anything involving bacon, dessert for breakfast is one of my favorite things. I had to use a few short cuts from the original recipe skipping spices that I don't have but it still turned out pretty well, especially when highlighted with fresh whipped cream. Although what doesn't fresh whipped cream improve?

Persimmon Pudding Cake (adapted from Simply Recipes)

• 2 cups Hachiya persimmon pulp (about 4 persimmons)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp fleur de sal (or 1/2 tsp regular salt)
• 2 tsps cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp clove
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the persimmon pulp, eggs, melted butter, milk, and vanilla (I used Tahitian).
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (expect the nuts).
4. In three additions, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet then fold in the nuts.
5. Bake in a square pan for about 50 minutes*.

*My cake ended up more cake than pudding so I think I let it bake a little too long. Maybe check it first at 40 minutes then keep an eye on it.

Persimmon Date Walnut Bread

It's fall! Today it really feels like it; the temperature in Istanbul dropped about 10 (Celsius) degrees overnight. So now it's cold and grey but cold fall weather means fall baking! Fall also means persimmons which I love.

Homemade orange blossom water from Lebanon!

We only get one kind of persimmon here, the hachiya persimmon. For me the trickiest part about working with these persimmons is making sure to not smash them while getting them home! Hachiya persimmons aren't at their full ripeness until they're so soft they feel like they've rotted.

Thank goodness this recipe calls for persimmon puree because there's no way a fruit this soft and delicate is getting sliced nicely! Other than chopping the dates this was a super fast and easy recipe. I ended up using mini loaf pans to bake it and shared it around with my friends-I think this is the most popular thing I've ever made! Everyone went nuts for it. It is really good; it tastes like autumn.

 

Pitting and chopping the dates takes forever, they're so blasted sticky. Between that and the molasses I'm not sure I'll ever de-stick my counter. Brown sugar as we know it in America doesn't exist here so I have to make my own; which I can do thanks to the gift of molasses from a friend in Germany (as regular molasses also doesn't exist here) and the food processor E&M lent me that I kind of never returned. Oops.

The other great thing about fall baking? It warms up the apartment! My building has central heat which is annoying on several levels but it only works in two rooms and the window in my kitchen doesn't quite close so it's always cold in there.

Between the bread's resounding popularity, how blasted easy it is to make, and the warm and cozy feeling I get with the baking aromas wafting out of the oven...yeah I'll be making this again!

Persimmon Date Walnut Bread (adapted from The Little Epicurean)
Makes one 9 inch loaf pan or five mini loaves

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fleur de sal*
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
several dashes of ground clove
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla (I used Tahitian)
4 eggs, room temp and slightly beaten
1/4 cup orange blossom water*
2 cups persimmon puree (about 4 hachiya persimmons)
2 cups toasted, chopped walnuts
2 cups chopped dates

*optional

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Whisk together all the dry ingredients (flour, salts, baking powder, cinnamon, clove, and sugars).
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the melted butter, beaten eggs, and persimmon puree. Whisk until combined. Fold in the walnuts and dates.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan(s) and bake for about 45-50 minutes.

The Ancients of Rome

Over the summer L and I started planning our vacation. It's become our tradition to go somewhere together in the fall and this year we decided on Italy. I was gobsmacked that she'd never been to Rome so that's where we headed-Rome and Florence!

Prior to meeting me in Rome, L had to go to Central America for work so she was fairly exhausted when she arrived. Exhausted and sick having picked up something in Central America. Unfortunately she lost a day but it gave me a chance to do some research I probably should have done before arriving. I also walked around visiting churches so I wouldn't have to drag her into them all!

The day she lost was a Sunday. We were waiting in line at the Palatine Hill to get tickets into the fora when she just couldn't anymore and had to head back to our AirBnB. What we learned that day was:

1. There is no such thing as 'off season' in Rome. I felt so overwhelmed by the people! I don't even feel like in Istanbul (at least not off season).
2. Never try to visit the major sights on a weekend day. We'd been waiting in line for half hour or more when she just couldn't anymore but Monday we just sailed through the lines.
3. Get the OMNIA/ROMA passes! These were awesome. Not only did the price include entry to the Vatican, the Vatican Museum, the Colosseum, and the Fora they also included the use of one of the hop on hop off buses, free public transportation, and discounted entry fees to most of the city's other museums for the three days the cards are valid.

Arch of Constantine (L) & the Colosseum (R)

Arch of Constantine detail

When we finally got out and about to see everything I was so excited. I've been to Rome before but in 2000 when I was a know-nothing, slightly terrified college kid on my first ever trip abroad. Rome was especially exciting for me because last year I took an online course on Roman architecture and going back to the city with even the little that I retained made the city and the ruins so much more interesting. For example, the Colosseum is just an amphitheater but it's called the Colosseum because there were a colossal statue of Nero that stood nearby. The Colosseum has a long and fascinating history eventually being dedicated as a church. In fact it is now tradition for the Pope to lead the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday there.

Arch of Constantine detail

Palatine Hill stadium

The Colosseum from the Palatine Hill

And while the Colosseum might be "just" an amphitheater is it the largest one in the world. Romans have an interesting way of dating everything to the Colosseum as well. If you say that X is older than the Colosseum it's like whoa...

The Temple of Antoninus & Faustina

I was super excited to get off the Palatine Hill and into the Fora...where I was promptly a little disappointed. I love me some ruins and I thought I knew a fair bit of the history going in (from the aforementioned architecture course) but the current on the ground reality is a bit of a confused mess. A picturesque confused mess, but a confused mess nonetheless. With each emperor building his own forum adjacent to/on top of a previously existing one and often using materials from the previous forum what remains today is a jumble of rocks and marble from which, even with the assistance of a really good guide book, it is difficult to extrapolate what each pile of marble was.

Column of Phocas, Arch of Septimus Severus, Santi Luca e Martina

Looking into the Forum West

It didn't help that the Catholics came in and repurposed a bunch of the old temples (even if that did keep them standing). Which segues nicely into my next post about Rome when I explore the Vatican and several of Rome's more impressive churches!

Cappadocia Part Deux

I have had such terrible bloggers block. I don't know what's wrong with me and now posts from here at home and from my recent trip to Italy are piling up and getting later and later! So let's get started!

The same day we arrived, after crawling around Rose Valley for a little while, we hiked in the opposite direction to Görkündere Valley. Unlike the last time I was in Cappadocia when there were no penises for me, this trip they abounded. Geologically speaking. Over the few days of our trip we saw rocks of all shapes and sizes: the infamous penis shaped rocks in Görkündere Valley and Big Love Valley, camels in Imagination Valley, and mushrooms in Ağçaltı Valley.

Görkündere Valley

Imagination Valley

Ağçaltı Valley

Despite the up and down weather we had all weekend it was a great trip. We managed to mostly avoid rain and while the temperature ended up dropping somewhat significantly during our last tour day we were able to go back to the hotel and warm up. Because I wanted to give us as much time as possible in Cappadocia I booked the early morning flight in on Friday and the last flight out Sunday night-which leaves at 11:30 PM. Luckily for us, the owners at Emily's Cave House were awesome and let us keep our room, free of charge, until the shuttle arrived to pick us up.

Puppy in Ağçaltı

Big Love Valley

Aside from a few hiccups it was a great trip. I loved showing my brother Turkey. He liked Istanbul okay, I think really enjoyed Ephesus, but loved Cappadocia. I wish my work schedule would have allowed us to stay longer but I suppose leaving him wanting more is a good way to get him to visit again! He took some amazing pictures and you should visit his Igknight Photography Facebook page to see them.

That's big love alright

The Three Beauties

It was also an exhausting visit. We crammed a lot into two and a half weeks and those side trips to Ephesus and Cappadocia come with early wake up calls. I think we got up at 4:30-5:00 am for both of those. His flight home also came with a pretty early wake up call. We got up at 4:00 am and headed to Ataturk where I happily was able to get him an emergency exit row seat. After all our airport trips during this visit I learned really fast how to ask in Turkish if there were any emergency row seats available! After I saw him through passport control my plan was to come home, do some errands/work for a few hours then take a nap. Well the nap never happened but around 7:30 am I looked up from cleaning to see that dawn had happened so I grabbed my camera and ran up to the terrace to capture this gorgeous Istanbul sunrise.

I prefer to not be awake at this time of the day but seeing the pinks and purples of dawn over the Bosphorus and Sultanahmet reminds me of the magic this city has and what drew me to it.

Cappadocia Redux

In October when my brother came to visit me we took several side trips out of Istanbul: Ephesus (of course) and Cappadocia. I was happy to make a return to Cappadocia especially knowing how much my brother, creative genius behind the photography at Igknight, would (and did) love it.
 

Immediately when we arrived at Emily's Cave House, I knew we were going to have a good trip. The weather in Göreme is iffy in October and the weather reports were promising rain, rain, and more rain. And wind which was even worse because high winds means no balloon flights. We'd booked (through Emily's Cave) a flight for Saturday morning but they were concerned flights would be cancelled because of the weather. After sitting us down with tea they spent a half hour calling various balloon companies trying to find one that had spaces open for a Sunday flight. Which only goes to show that you need to book these things early regardless of tourism season or not.

Since we arrived too late on Friday to do a tour, my brother and I set off on our own to do some exploring. To get to some of the less frequented valleys you need a car but there are still more than enough places to go that are within walking distance. We started in Rose Valley which can be accessed from Museum Road. From the air it's one of the more boring valleys but from the ground there are some pretty interesting cave houses. Some of which are still lived in. There's perhaps nothing odder than seeing one of these ancient cave houses with a satellite attached to it.

During our explorations we spotted something off in the distance that at first seemed like another cave house. But a zoom lens proved that this was a cave house like no other we'd seen. Someone either tiled or carved the natural rock to look like tiles resulting in what could only be described ... as a Hobbit hole. New Zealand, meet your Turkish counterpart.

The next morning we were glad that, with our hotel's help, we'd cancelled our Saturday balloon flights and booked a flight for Sunday as the morning weather did indeed keep all flights grounded. After a marvelous breakfast at Emily's we headed off on a day tour with Bridge of the World travel agency. I'd done the Green tour on my last trip but was happy to do it again as our guide for this, Yucel, was amazing. I would definitely recommend this company if you want to do a tour (they offer a variety) and if you do try to get Yucel. I don't think he stopped talking for 80% of the tour giving us information about the sites, local history, culture, agriculture...I learned a lot.

Revisiting the Selime Monastery

The Cathedral at Selime Monastery

The following morning was a huge debacle. We were told our pick up for the balloon flight would be at 5:00 AM so I set my little Nokia phone alarm for 4:30. When it went off my brother somewhat grumpily complained that he thought I said 4:30. Yes I said 4:30 and showed him my phone and he then showed me his which said 3:30. After 10 minutes of Googling we learned that while the rest of Europe had implemented its Autumn time change during the evening, Turkey elected to push its back two weeks. So we got up and got ready and waited for a pick up. And waited, and waited. I had the number of the balloon company so I called and was all, what the hell dudes? Because everyone these days lives and dies by their smart phones, all of which automatically changed time, everything was an hour late.

While that I suppose is forgivable, the company's general lack of organization and customer service was not. After we finally got picked up we were taken to a Korean restaurant (not kidding) where everyone was checked in. That process took probably another hour. We were supposed to be in a balloon with I think maybe 20 people max? They shoved 26 in ours. I complained to several staff members but was just shrugged at, told that no we weren't late we were supposed to not see the sunrise (despite that being the point of a 5AM pickup), etc etc. Avoid Cihangiroglu Balloons. Avoid avoid avoid.

At least we got off the ground that morning so I'm thankful that my brother got to do this. And we still had the Red tour to do so the day wasn't over yet!

Turkish Wine of the Week - Yazgan 2013 Boğazkere

Recently, my favorite wine blog, Winefolly, posted 99 Reasons to Drink. As much as I revere Winefolly, I think she missed a few so I thought I'd add my 2 cents!

100. You got fun new wine glasses.
101. You got a new book about wine.

102. You actually read the new book about wine.
103. You have cheese.
104. You found a new winery.
105. Because it goes well with classic black & white films.
106. Because it improves the view.

107. Because you need space on your wine wrack.
108. Because red is your favorite color.
109. Because white is your favorite color.
110. And lest we forget...because it's scrummy!

Now for the Yazgan Boğazkere.

Unfortunately this is one of those wines that I drank ages ago but it got back burnered for a post because I was doing all whites over the summer. My notes were pretty sparse and I don't remember it very well...but I do remember that I did not like it well enough to buy another bottle and do a tasting refresher.

Dark fruits, cherries, and spice lend the nose characteristics as dark as its garnet color. On that palate it did have the nice tannins I expect from a Boğazkere which is always nice. One of the reasons I love Boğazkeres is the medium high tannins they usually have so the odd time I get a bottle that doesn't have those is very disappointing.

A little sour (yeasty maybe) at first but it softened as it opened and the tannins smoothed out, becoming round and velvety.  Flavor-wise though my overwhelming impression was cherries: dark cherries, sour cherries, just lots and lots of cherries. Not, however, in a fruit-wine way.

While not a huge winner with me and unlikely to reappear on my wine rack (I just went to Ikea again to get another one) again, the Yazgan 2013 Boğazkere was still a decent wine. I don't remember how much I paid for it but I think you're better off going to the Suvla shop for their Boğazkere (under 30TL).