Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins / Tam Tahilli Yaban Mersinli Muffin

Let's kick-off this week with a healthy start: whole wheat blueberry vegan muffins!

One of the reasons why I strongly dislike white flour muffins is how heavy they make me feel afterwards. I personally start to feel like a  puffy muffin myself with the load of fat and sugar. Not to mention the blood sugar spikes and usually the over-sweet aftertaste. 

Whole wheat muffins, on the other hand, are great for your daily fiber intake. Add some fruit and nuts to increase the energy benefits. Easy to fix with two bowls and a mixer. Have them in the morning for breakfast or enjoy for a afternoon snack. The original recipe is from King Arthur website but I altered it to be dairy-free with some more spices.

• 2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. coconut (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil -- I used hazelnut oil
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk -- To go dairy-free, I curdled 1 1/2 cups of soymilk with 3 tbs. lemon juice for 5 minutes 
• 1 cup of blueberries -- fresh, frozen or dried

1. Set the oven to 400 F/ 206, grease your muffin pan. 
2. If you are using dried blueberries, soak them in hot water for 15-20 minutes. If you opt for dairy-free buttermilk alternative, add 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to soymilk. Let it stand for 5 minutes and the soy milk would be curdling
3. Mix all dry ingredients, add the blueberries
4. Whisk vanilla, oil and (soy) buttermilk in a separate bowl
5. Combine the mixtures together
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan. This recipe gets 12 medium-sized muffins
7. Bake for 15 minutes. I'd recommend to keep an eye on them, my batch baked very quickly

Bu haftaya saglikli bir tarifle baslamak istedim: tam bugday unuyla yapilmis yabanmersinli vegan muffinler!

Vegan demek hic bir sekilde hayvansal bir urun tuketmeyen beslenme bicimi demek. Yani vejeteryanligin uzerine bir de sut, peynir, bal, yumurta gibi hayvandan elde edilen gidalardan da uzak durmak, sadece bitkisel kaynaklardan beslenmek demek. Sadece bitki bazli bir diyet oldugu icin oldukca saglikli. Aklima gelen bazi populer veganlar eski ABD Baskani Bill Gates ve talkshowcu Ellen DeGeneres.  Ben vegan yada vejeteryan degilim; sadece degisik seyler denemeyi seviyorum, bir de allerjen kuzenim hatrina sut urunleri olmadan pisirmeyi...

Beyaz unla pisen muffinlerin yerine tam bugday unuyla ve esmer sekerle yapinlari tercih etmek cok basit ama oldukca faydali bir secim. Beyaz unla yapilanlar benim damak tadima gore fazla yagli, fazla tatli ve fazla agir kaciyor. Kan sekerimi ziplatmalari da cabasi!

Bir minik not, kepekli un ile tam bugday unu ayni sey degiller. Tam bugday unu fazla islem gormeden, bugdayin islenmeden onceki "tam" halinden ogutulup meydana gelir. Bugday tahilinin vitamin, mineral ve lifler gibi besleyici ozelliklerini tasir. Kepekli un ise islenmis beyaz un ile bugday kepeginin karisimindan meydana gelir. Son olarak, beyaz un ise bugday tahilinin cekirdek kismindaki ogutulmus nisastadir ve besin degeri minimaldir. (Ayni sey esmer pirinc- beyaz pirinc arasindaki fark icin de gecerlidir fakat o baska bir konu, baska bir tarife!)

Bu muffinler ise gunluk lif ihtiyaci icin de ideal. Biraz meyve ve badem eklenince iyi bir enerji kaynagina donusuyorlar. Yapmasi cok kolay, buzlukta dondurup ihtiyac anlarinda cikarilmasi uygun.
Tatli bir kahvalti alternatifi veya gun icinde ara ogun. Afiyet olsun!

• 2 1/4 su bardagi tam budgay unu
• 1 su bardagi esmer seker
• 1 cay kasigi kabartma tozu
• 1/2 cay kasigi karbonat
• 1/2 cay kasigi tarcin (istege bagli)
• 1/8 cay kasigi muskat (istege bagli)
• 1/2 cay kasigi hindistan cevizi (istege bagli)
• 1 cay kasigi vanilya
  
• 1 cimdik tuz
  
• 1/3 su bardagi sivi yag -- Ben findik yagi kullandim 
• 1 1/2 su bardagi kefir -- Eger sut urunsuz bir deneme yapmak isterseniz, 1 1/2 soya sutunu 3 yemek kasigi limonla mayalabilirsiniz
• 1 su bardagi yaban mersini --taze, donmus yada kurumus

1. Firini 206 dereceye getirip, muffin kaplarinizi yaglayin
2.  Eger kuru meyve kullaniyorsaniz, 15-20 dakika kadar sicak suda bekletin. Ve normal sut yerine soya sutu kullanmak icinde, 1 1/2 su bardagi soya sutunun icinde 3 yemek kasigi limon koyup, 5 dakika bekletin. Sut mayalanmaya baslayacaktir
3. Kuru malzemeyi bir kapta karistirin, yaban mersinlerini ekleyin
4. Ayri bir kapta vanilya, sivi yag ve kefir yada soya mayasini karistirin
5. Kuru malzemeleri bu karisima ekleyip, karistirin
6. Muffin karisimini kaliba dokun. 12 tane orta boy kekiniz olucak
7. 15 dakika pisirin. Benimkiler bekledigimden cabuk oldu, o yuzden dikkatiniz firinda olsun

Apple Stack Cakes/ Elmali Minik Kekler

It's been quiet on the blog for a while. First, it was summertime. Then I had a feet surgery which required some quite endless bed rest. As my life is going back to (closer) to normal and I'm getting back onto my feet, I promise to post more.

Bir suredir blog'um sessiz kaldi. Once araya yaz girdi; sonra ayagimdan gecirdigim bir operasyon sonucu bitmek bilmeyen bir istirahat donemi... Hayatim (kismen) normale donmeye basladi artik, bir suru de okunmus, isaretlenmis tarifim var yatarken sectigim. Mujdemi isterim, daha cok yazacagim!

 

It is now fall time; shorter days, a bit colder and darker. The autumn leaves change color and turn into beautiful shades of earthy tones. An orange leaf on the pavement, a bright red one stuck in the wipers of my car, oh, here is a pinkish brown one dancing out of the window as I write this. I am in Istanbul for a while, it is mild change of seasons we have here.

Hues of terra have also arrived to the produce section of markets; pumpkins, beets, parsnips, carrots, different kinds of squash... And apples! Yes, apples do have a season and fall is the best time of apples. So many varieties of apples with different tastes and texture representing every tone of yellow-brown color scale.

I wanted to bake something different with apples. Another "grandma's apple pie" recipe is the last thing everyone needs, though I have to admit that my grandmother potentially bakes the best apple pie. So here is a new baking alternative for the best apples of the season, as cute and tasty as it gets. (Via GourmetLive)

 Sonbahar geldi; gunler kisaldi, karardi, sogudu. Mevsim yapraklari renk degisitirip, en guzel kahve tonlarina donmeye basladi. Kaldirimlarda sararmis turuncuya calan yapraklar, arabamin sileceginde hergun karsilastigim kipkirmizi bir tane, hatta suan onumde ucusan koyu pembe bir tane daha! Cok uzun zamandir ilk kez Istanbul'da bir sonbahar geciriyorum, bir mevsim bir sehre bu kadar mi yakisir...

Toprak renklerinin farkli tonlari mevsim sebze ve meyveleriyle ile tezgahlara da ulasti: turuncu havuclar, kirmizi turplar, sapsari avya, armut, rengarenk kabak cesitleri... Ve elmalar! Aslinda cogumuza elmanin mevsimi yoktur gibi gelse bile farkli tatlarda degisik turlerde rengarenk elmalarin asil sezonu tam su aralar.

Elmalarla farkli bir tarif denemek istedim. Aslinda anneannemin elmali turtasi muhtesemdir ama heryer fazlasiyla elmali turta tarifi dolu. Degisik ne yapabilirim diye bakip ararken, bu elmali minik keklerlerle karsilastim. Mevsim meyveleriyle bir tatli yapmak icin degisik, sirin ve lezzetli bir alternatif. (GourmetLive'dan)

The cake is aromatic with ginger and perfurmed with spices. The texture is velvety; soaked with the flavors of the jam but not mushy. The apple jam is blanketed in the middle bursting out the combined flavors of apple juice and dried apples. Assembling the cakes are "as easy as a pie."

Bu kekler zencefilin verdigi degisik bir aromaya sahip, icine eklenen baharatlarin kokusu da lezzetini arttiriyor. Ortasindaki elma puresi hem kuru elma, hemde elma suyu icerdigi icin yogun bir elma tadi tasiyor. Uzerinde elma puresiyle bekletilmesine kekler ragmen dagilmiyor, ezilmiyor. Tadi kadar sunumu da degisik.

For filling:

• 2 cups of dried apples
• 2 cups of apple juice
• 1.5 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• A couple of cloves, one stick of cinnamon

For cakes:

• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses (not robust or blackstrap)
• 1 large egg

1-  For the filling, simmer all the ingredients with a pinch of salt. Cook for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally and mashing the apples as they soften. It should be a thick puree form, let it cool completely. 2- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour the muffin cups. 3- Stir together the milk and vinegar, let it curdle for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cloves. 4- Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer for 3 minutes till it gets fluffy. Add molasses and eggs.  5- Speed down the mixer to low setting. Slowly in 3 batches, add flour mixture and the curdled milk switching alternately. Start and end with the flour mixture. 6- Place 1 tbsp. of batter into the muffin cups. Bake around 11-13 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then cool on racks. 7- To assemble the cakes, spread 2 tbsp. on top of a cake and place another one on top. You'll have 12 cute, little cakes. Keep the cakes in an airtight container for flavors to develop and deepen for 2-3 days. You can use the rest of the filling as a apple jam/ butter.

Elma puresi icin:

• 2 su bardagi kurutulmus elma/ elma kurus
• 2 su bardagi elma suyu
  
• 1.5 su bardagi su
  
• 2 yemek kasigi esmer seker
  
• Bir kac tane karanfil, bir cubuk tarcin

Kek icin:

• 1/2 su bardagi sut
  
• 1/2 yemek kasigi elma sirkesi
  
• 2 su bardagi un
  
• 1/2 cay kasigi kabartma tozu
  
• 1/2 cay kasigi tuz
  
• 1/2 cay kasigi toz zencefil
  
• 1 cimdik toz karanfil
  
• 6 yemek kasigi yumusatilmis tereyag
• 6 yemek kasigi esmer seker
• 1/2 su bardagi pekmez
  
• 1 yumurta, buyuk

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Dried-Apple-Stack-Cakes-241218#ixzz2DMFfGiFh

1-  Elma puresini yapmak icin butun malzemeleri genis bir tencerenin icinde bir tutam tuzla kaynatin. 1.5- 2 saat boyunca arada karistirarak pisirin. Elmalar yumusadikca pure haline getirmek icin patates ezici gibi bir mutfak gereciyle ezebilirsiniz. Pisen elmalarin yogun bir pure kivami olmali. Pure olduktan sonra kenarda sogumaya birakin.

2- Firini 175 dereceye getirin. Maffin kaplarini yaglayin.

3- Sut ve elma sirkesini karistirin, 10 dakika kadar dinlenmeye birakin. Sirke sutu hafif mayalayip, kesilmesini saglayacaktir.  Baska bir kabin icinde un, kabartma tozu, tuz, zencefil ve karanfili karistirin.

4- Elektirikli mikserle tereyagi ve sekeri 3 dakika kadar kabarana kadar cirpin. Pekmez ve yumurtayi ekleyip, cirplaya devam edin.

5- Mikserin ayarini dusurup, yavasca -- 3 kerede --  un ve sut karisimlarini ekleyin. Unla baslayip, unla bitirecek sekilde iki karisimi da sirayla degistirerek eklenmesi gerekiyor.

6- Maffin kaplarinin icine 1 yemek kasigi kek karisimindan koyup 11-13 dakika kadar pisirin. Firindan ciktiktan sonra 5 dakika kadar kalibin icinde bekletip, sonra kaliptan cikartip sogumaya birakin.

7- En son olarak, iki kekin arasina 2 yemek kasigi kadar elma puresi koyarak keklerinizi hayata getirebilirsiniz. 12 tane civari minik kek elde edeceksiniz. Isterseniz, hava gecirmeyen bir kabin icinde kekleri 2-3 gun bekletebilirsiniz boylece elma puresinin sosu ve kekin aromalari birbirine karisicaktir.

Kalan elma puresini recel gibi kullanabilirsiniz.

My First Vegan Cake

Whenever I bake, I try to make small modifications to make a "healthier" version. I reduce sugar, I substitute white flour with whole wheat flour, I experiment with non-dairy milk, but never in my life I have gone completely vegan before -- I guess my previous attempts of vegan oatmeal bars wouldn't count since they were not baked and it does not involve any risks to mix oatmeal, raisins and almonds.

The challenge to bake vegan was not only to produce a successful edible piece of pastry without butter, eggs or milk. My real challenge was to get it tasted (and approved) by the thoughest jury known to every young aspiring baker: the grandmother and the grandaunt. 

In my family, these two amazing women has the best culinary capabilities. Staying strong to their Balkan roots, their recipe index can easily beat Julia Child's repertoire. The way they criticize food  would make Gordon Ramsey appear like an innocent child. Okay, fine, I am exaggerating but seriously, they are the masters of kitchen arts. From Cafe de Paris steaks to homemade flavored vodka, there is nothing they cannot cook.

Why did I dare to prove them my baking with a vegan cake I don't know. Did they like it?

A BIG YES.

And they never say they like it unless they mean it. Having close kinship doesn't matter -- if you don't qualify, you are banned from the kitchen. Here is the recipe, very much modified from veganlogy.com : 

4 rmashed bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp coconut (optional)
2 tsp raisins (optional)
1/3 cup chopped plums
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
2  tbsp vinegar


1. Mix the dry ingredients and set aside.
2. With a mixer, beat the mashed bananas and sugar for 5-8  minute slowly until it gets a thick creamy-like texture.  Add in orange juice and  the rest of the dry flour ingredients.
3. Mix in the plums, walnuts and raisins. Mix well, avoiding over beating.
4. Add in  the 2 tbsp olive oil.
5. Add the vinegar right before you are ready to bake.
6. Flour a 8 inch long cake pan.
7. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Whole wheat flour, lack of butter and eggs is the reason of rather long baking time. This is not a quick bake cake. Make sure it is thoroughly baked before you take it out. Test with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean.
8. Let it cool down before you remove your cake from the pan.

Yazlik evin halleri / Summerhouse times

Salt in the air, sand in my hair, barefoot lazy summer days...

 

Almond Milk/ Badem Sutu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My initial reaction to the almond milk in the fridge was: oh, make-up remover! But, wait, why in a carton and in the fridge? Coming from a very dairy-centric culture and a pastoral society ("yogurt" was named by Turks, one of the biggest contributions of my ancestors to the world), I grew up consuming a lot of dairy. I remember the milkman from my childhood -- literally we would get "fresh" milk from a cow every day.  Where I come from, we use almond milk to remove make-up. It is sold as a lotion at the pharmacy, not as a drink. Sut ve sut urunlerinden nerdeyse korkan is arkadaslarim son gozdesi: badem sutu. Ofis buzdolabimizdaki soya sutleri yeteri kadar saglikli bulunulmadigi ve herkes protein agirlikli beslendigi icin verilen bu karar sonucu artik ofisimizde hindistancevizi suyuna ek olarak birde badem sutu alternatifi var. Buyuk hizmet... (Hep soylerim,  su ofisin tek ihtiyaci olan bir caydanlik birde turk kahvesi makinesi diye ama henuz ust yonetimi ikna edebilmis degilim.) Zira yogurt, peynir, ve sut urunlerini bolca tuketen bir toplumunda buyuyen benim cocuklugum Cesme'de sutcu Fatma teyzeden alinan sutlerle gecti. Fatma teyzenin sonradan actigi apart otele katkimiz ailece buyuktur.

Back to the almond milk... Not until Erdem was born, I was aware of many dairy-free alternatives. I have seen  ricemilk or almond milk at the grocery store, but never had the urge to taste it until the almond milk appeared in the office. I eat almonds as a snack a lot knowing that they are very high in protein, vitamins and good fat. Almonds are particularly good for your skin, hair and nails because of their high Vitamin E content. Once I tried the "drinkable" almonds, of course, I had to do my own almond milk at home from scratch. / Badem sutune geri donelim. Benim Erdem dogana kadar badem sutu ile tek tanisikligim bildigimiz yesil kapakli makyaj cikartici losyon olan badem sutuydu. Soya sutunu severek icmeme ragmen, badem sutunu merak bile etmemistim. Yuksek proteinli, bolca vitamin ve saglikli yag iceren bademi cok sevmeme ragmen ustelik.  E vitami iceriginden cok zengin olan badem cilt, sac ve tirnak guzelligi icin bir numara. E madem icilebiliyor, bir kere tadina baktiktan sonra tabiki evde denemek de gerekti :)

Badem sutu normal sute gore daha tatli. Keskin ama rahatsiz etmeyen, yumusak bir aromasi var. Ofisteki fabrika yapimi olani aci buldum ve sevmedim acikcasi ama evde yaptigim lezzetli oldu. Badem sutu inek sutu tercih etmeyenler yada laktoz hazimsizligi yasayanlar icin ideal cunku cok hafif. Amerika'da ozellikle cig besin diyetlerinde oldukca kullaniliyor. Ben cok muz, tarcin, bal (hatta hurma) ile blenderdan gecirip 'smoothie' halinde seviyorum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is how to do it:

 

1 cup of almonds

2 cups of water (Make it 3 cups if you don't peel the skins off)

1 tablespoon honey

 

1- Soak the almonds overnight

2- Drain the almonds. Completely optional: remove the skins if you want to. You can keep the skins but keep in mind that it'd some bitterness to your milk.

3-  Blend the almonds with honey and water until smooth. 

4- Strain the mixture through a cheese cloth.

 

1 su bardagi kadar badem

2 su bardagi su (Eger bademleri kabuklu kullanicaksaniz, 3 su bardagi su ekleyin)

1 yemek kasigi bal

1- Bademleri bir gece onceden su icinde beklemeye birakin.

2- Ertesin gun suyunu suzun ve kabuklarini soyun. Kabuklarindan ayiklamak biraz mesaketli isterseniz soyulmadan kullanabilirsiniz, sadece biraz daha tatlandirici kullanmanizi oneririm)

3- Bademleri, bali ve suyu putursuz bir halene gelene kadar blenderda karistirin.

4- Tulbent yardimiyla badem sutunu suzun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dairy-free cupcakes/ Sutsuz cupcakeler

My aunt is really busy in the kitchen, working her magic on dairy-free recipes. Drum roll please... I know it may sound impossible, but trust me it tastes impossibly good, here I proudly present her dairy-free boston creme cupcakes! You can can make amazing vanilla cupcakes with this recipe, if you want more, add the boston creme filling for a real treat. /Ayiptir soylemesi ben su aralar biraz gezme tozma pesindeyim ama fedakar anne teyzem mutfakta sut urunsuz tatli denemeleri pesinde! Tereyagi ve inek sutu olmadan yaptigi cupcakeler alerjik olmayan ev halki tarafindan inanilmaz talep gormus ve cok lezzetli olmus. Bu cupcakeler sivi yag ve soya sutu ile yapildi. Isterseniz  sadece hafif bir vanilyali cupcake olabilirler, isterseniz ozene bezene yapilmis ici boston creme/muhallebi dolgulu cukulata kapli cupcakeler...

 

Cake batter:

 

2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sunflower oil

3 eggs (hint: room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup soy milk

Boston creme filling:

5 cups of soy milk

1 cup of rice flour

4 tablespoons of sugar

Chocolate frosting:

2 cups of (dairy free if you can) chocolate chips

3 tablespoons of soy milk

1- Heat oven to 350 F. Place baking cups to regular sized muffin pan. This recipe should be good for 24 cupcakes. Grease - with sunflower oil- and flour the muffin cups.

2- Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

3- In another bowl mix the sunflower oil, add sugar gradually while beating with an electric mixer. Make sure everything is mixed well.

4- Add the eggs one at a time while still beating the cake batter.

5- Add the vanilla and pour in the flour mixture slowly. Do not over beat the flour, this cake is supposed to have a spongy texture. Flour protein gets stiff when overbeaten, no, we don't want that. 

6- Add the soy milk and beat until all the ingredients are blended with each other.

7- Pour the batter in to muffin cups until about 2/3 full.

8- Bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan, place it on a cooling rack. You can leave them as is -- just spongy, delicious cupcakes.
9- To make the boston creme pudding, mix rice flour and sugar in a cup. Pour the mixture to a pan and add soy milk. Keep stirring as it cooks to boil. The mixture will thicken and come to a pudding consistency. Let it cool.

10- With small spoon poke holes in the middle of the cupcakes. Take the cake out of the holes and fill the holes with cooled pudding.
11- For the frosting, melt the dairy-free cholcolate in a cup. Add 2-3 tablespoons of soy milk to ensure frosting consistency. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, and spread over the cupcakes smoothing with a knife.

Kek icin:

 

2 1/3 su bardagi un

2 1/2 cay kasigi kabartma tozu

1/2 cay kasigi tuz

1su bardagi sizi yag

3 yumurta (oda sicakliginda!)

1 cay kasigi vanilin

2/3 su bardagi soya sutu

Boston creme dolgusu icin:

5 su bardagi soya sutu

1 su bardagi pirinc unu

4yemek kasigi seker

Uzerindeki cukulata icin:

2 su bardagi (bulabilirseniz sutsuz yada soyali) cukulata parcalari

3 yemek kasigi soya sutu

1- Firininizi 175 dereceye ayarlayin. Maffin/cupcake tepsisinin icine maffin kagitlarini dizip, iclerini sivi yag ile yaglayin ve unlayin. Bu tarifle yaklasik 24 tane civari minik kekiniz olucak.

2- Un, kabartma tozu ve tuzu bir kapta karistirin, havalansinlar.

3- Baska bir kabin icinde sivi yagi elektrikli mikser ile cirpmaya baslayin. Yavasca sekeri ekleyipn, herseyin iyice karismasi cok onemli.

4- Teker teker ve iyice cirparak yumurtalari ekleyin.

5- Vanilyayi da koyup, unlu karisimi yavas yavas ekleyin. Bu sirada cirpmaya devam. Ama unu cok cirparsaniz kekiniz sert olur. Bu yumusacik sunger kivamindaki pastaciklar icin sadece iyice karistigindan emin olmaniz yeterli. 

6- Soya sutunu ekleyip, iyice karistirin.

7- Kek hamurunuzu maffin kaplarinin icine, her biri 2/3 doldurucak kadar paylastirin.

8- 20-25 dakika kadar kurdan temiz cikincaya dek pisirin. Firindan cikinca bir 10 dakika sogusunlar. Sonra tepsiden cikartip, sogumaya birakabilirsiniz. Bu asamanin sonunda zaten cok basarili maffin/cupcakeleriniz olmus olucak. Ben zahmet severim derseniz, asagiya devam :)

9- Boston cream, muhallebi kivaminda tatli bir karisim. Yapilisida cok benziyor. Pirinc unu ve sekeri karistirin. Bir tencereye koyup, uzerine soya sutunu ekleyin. Kaynayana dek karistirin, kivami koyulunca sogumaya birakin.

10- Kucuk bir kasik yardimiyla keklerinizin ortasinda kucuk delikler acabilirsiniz. Ortasindaki keki boylece cikartabilirsiniz. Cok derin olmayan bir delik acmaya ozen gosterin ve iclerini boston creme karisimi ile doldurun.

11- Turkiye'de sutsuz cukulata parcasi bulmak zor. O yuzden eger alerjisi olan biri yemicekse burda normal cukulata kullanabilirsiniz. Cukulata parcalarini benmari usulu eritip, uzerine soya sutunu ekleyin. Boylece erimis cukulata biraz daha yumusayacaktir. Bir bicak yardimi ile keklerin uzerine surun.

Happy Birthday Isil/ Dogumgunun Kutlu Olsun Teyzos

I find it amazing to have people in my life whose birthday makes me really really happy. You know, like you feel blessed because they were born and became a part of your life. I spend the birthdays of my really loved ones with a big smile on my face. I (almost) get as happy as my own birthday on my mom’s, dad’s, siblings’ and my best friend’s birthdays. Thank God, they found me.  / Ben kendi dogumgununum disinda cok sevdiklerimin dogumgununlerinde de cok mutlu olurum. Hani gercekten iyi ki dogmuslar, iyi ki hayatima girmisler diye sevinirim. Onlar dogumgunlerini kutlarken, bende onlarin benim hayatimda olmasini kutlarim. Canim annemin, babiskomun, kardeslerimin, en yakin arkadasimin dogumgunleri hep yuzumde koca bir gulumsemeyle gecer.

Last week I had such a day, it was my aunt’s birthday. These are her dairy- free state-of-art cakes. / Gecen haftada oyle bir gun vardi: teyzosumun dogumgunuydu. Bu resimlerdeki pastalarirn hepsi teyzemin marifeti. Onun serefine gelsin bu post!

 

 She bakes these cakes in her own kitchen which she painted (and made me carry all the wallpaper from Chicago to Ankara with a stopover in Paris!) herself. Not only she is super talented in handcrafts but she is also a full-time working mom of two boys aged 17 and 3.5. The ultimate multi-tasker; she plays tennis, does yoga, travels, reads, takes care of herself and her family. She is truly aspirational and magical in making everything prettier.

 Bu pastalar, kendi boyadigi (ve duvar kagitlarini bana burdan tasittigi!) mutfaginda yaptigi, sut alerjisine uygun pastalari. Belirtmeden gecemicem, teyzem ayni zamanda biri 17, biri 3.5 yasinda iki cocuk annesi ve full-time calisan bir muhendis/yonetici. Butun bu yaptiklari gunluk yasamina ek yani. Bir donem yazligimizin alt katini tahta boyama atolyesine cevirmisti ki gecen yaz fikir degisitirip butun kati bastan yikip yaptirdi. Seneye heran hersey olabilir. Bulasmadigi bir siyaset kaldi zira, yakinda yerel secimlerde adaylik bekliyoruz kendisinden.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed and tired, she is my motivation to hang on. I know she is my aunt and this is biased but seriously – she is really beautiful, smart and funny. One of the most inspiring woman I have ever 

seen in my life, she is my muse to explore, try and achive. If you really want it, no excuses apply. / Elini degdigi herseyi guzellestirir Teyzosum. Ne zaman vaktim yok diye sizlansam ona bakip guc bulurum. Dunyalar guzelidir, akillidir, cok komiktir. Kalp kirmaz, kotu dusunemez. Bana ilham veren kadinlardan birdir o, insanin istedigi herseye vakit yaratabilicegine dair yol gosterenimdir. Yorulup, bahane bulmak yerine  (vallahi anlamiyorum nasi yapiyor, ben isten eve gelip parmagimi kipirdatamiyorum, nerde kaldi pasta, nerde tenis, coluk-cocuk!?) korkunc enerji ile etrafindakii mutluluk sacar Isil'cigim.

Happy birthday darling, I would be incomplete without you. / Iyi ki dogmussun caniminici. Ne guzel olmussun hayatimda.