Flecked with fennel, nigella, and sesame seeds, these pale buns bear the teeniest whiff of cinnamon just enough to make me wonder what I was tasting the first time I tried them at Antakya’s Yıldız Fırın bakery.
The dough must be stretched paper-thin before it’s rolled up and coiled, but it’s an easy process because the buns are shaped on an oiled work surface (no sticking!). Do not skimp on the oil for your hands and your workspace—you won’t notice it in the buns, which are light, chewy, and a bit crusty.
These are the perfect breakfast bread—good enough to eat on their own but not so aggressively flavored that they don’t work well with eggs, cheese, honey, or preserves. They make great dinner rolls too. To serve them in the morning, let the dough rise for 45 minutes and then place in the refrigerator overnight. Bring to room temperature before shaping the buns.
These are best the day they’re made, but they freeze wonderfully.
Preparation time: 1 hour, plus 1½ hours rising time
Makes 8 buns
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (16 ounces) bread flour
- 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon nigella seeds
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1¼ teaspoons untoasted sesame seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed
1. Make the dough: To mix in a stand mixer. Put the water in a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over.
Whisk together the flour, spices, and salt in another bowl. Stir the milk into the water. Pour the flour over the liquid mixture and use your hands or a dough scraper to mix and cut the ingredients together. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.
2.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.
3.
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F.
4.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let relax for 10 minutes.
5. Form the buns: Put the oil into a shallow bowl or lipped plate. Generously oil your palms, fingers, and your work surface. Place one dough ball in the middle of the oiled work surface and flatten it with your hand. Use the tips of your fingers and/or the heel of your hand to stretch the dough, starting in the center and moving outward toward the edges in concentric circles. You want to stretch and push the dough into a rough circle 8 or 9 inches in diameter; re-oil your hands as necessary, and don’t worry if you don’t have a perfect circle, but be sure that the edges of the dough are not thicker than the center. The dough may tear; this isn’t a problem as long as the tears aren’t large or at the edges.
6.
Carefully lift up the edge of the dough farthest from you from the work surface (if the dough sticks, you did not apply enough oil to your work surface). Move the dough away from and then back toward your body as you lower it onto itself in accordion-like folds to form a 1- to 1½-inch-wide ribbon. Dip your thumbs and fingertips into the oil and line up your fingertips across the center of the dough ribbon. Move your hands away from each other, pressing a horizontal furrow into the dough’s length as you gently stretch it. You can use your thumb to guide your fingers by keeping it pressed against the bottom edge of the dough rope. Repeat this motion two or three times—gently, you don’t want to rip the dough—pressing along the same furrow. Be sure to press both ends of the dough ribbon as thin as possible.
7.
Keeping the ribbon flat on your work surface, form it into a loose coil. The furrow you’ve created with your fingertips should remain at the top—do not allow the dough rope to turn onto its edge as you form the coil. And do not stretch the dough into the coil; keep it loose, so that the concentric circles of the coil just touch each other. Tuck the outer end of the dough ribbon under itself and press the coil gently. Transfer it to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, placing the buns about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet and replenishing the oil in the bowl as necessary.
8.
Bake the buns until they begin to color, 10 to 12 minutes. Flip and gently press them onto the baking sheet with a spatula, then bake until they are pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Oven-Caramelized Pumpkin with Tahini & Walnuts:
This easy dish is a winner: soft pumpkin with touches of caramelization on the surface, bathed in a syrup whose sweetness is balanced by nutty tahini. This dish is traditionally cooked on top of the stove, but oven-roasting is easier and intensifies the flavor of the pumpkin.
This recipe calls for a lot of sugar. Resist the temptation to cut back; you need it to pull liquid from the pumpkin, which will then cook into syrup. This dessert isn’t mean
t to be eaten in pumpkin pie–sized wedges. Just a few cubes of pumpkin per diner—three or four little bites of caramelly, nutty sweetness to end a meal—will do.
Don’t cut the pumpkin into smaller pieces than the recipe calls for, or it will turn to mush before it caramelizes. This recipe can be doubled, halved, or cut into thirds—just maintain the ratio of 1 part sugar to 2 parts pumpkin. Leftovers keep well in the fridge. Start the dish ahead of time—the pumpkin must “soak” in the sugar for 8 hours (or overnight) before baking.
Preparation time: 1 hour plus at least 8 hours to rest in sugar
Serves 8
- 1½ pounds peeled pumpkin or winter squash, such as butternut or kabocha
- ¾ cup sugar
- ½ cup tahini, at room temperature and whisked to remove any lumps
- ½ cup coarsely chopped untoasted walnuts
1.
Cut the pumpkin into 3- to 4-inch chunks and arrange in a baking dish just large enough to accommodate them in a single layer. Sprinkle the sugar over the pumpkin, cover the dish with plastic wrap, and let sit for 8 hours or overnight at room temperature. Turn the pumpkin pieces occasionally—once every few hours, or once before bed and once after you get up—to expose all sides to the sugar.
2.
Place a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F.
3.
Turn the pumpkin pieces one last time. Bake, gently turning the pumpkin pieces and basting with the syrup once or twice, for 35 minutes.
4.
Check the pumpkin for doneness by piercing with a sharp knife; there should be no resistance. Baste or turn once more, then raise the heat to 425°F and continue to bake the pumpkin until it shows bits of caramel brown in some spots and the syrup bubbles, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the pumpkin cool in its baking dish. Serve drizzled with a bit of sugar syrup, 1 tablespoon tahini per serving, and a small sprinkling of walnuts.
Cheese-Filled Kadayıf Cake :
Buttery and crispy, this golden brown cake of kadayıf, the thin wheat noodles used for desserts in Turkey and across the Levant, oozes mildly salty white cheese, which plays beautifully off the syrup the cake is soaked with after it’s baked. It makes a showy presentation when served directly from its pan, yet it’s very easy to make.
Fresh kadayıf is sold in 1-pound boxes. After making this cake, you’ll have half a pound left over, enough for Hazelnut Kadayıf Cake. Wrap unused kadayıf tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 months. Defrost frozen kadayıf overnight in the refrigerator.
Although cooks in Hatay use unsalted cheese for this dessert, I prefer a good-quality firm mozzarella. If you use unsalted fresh mozzarella, sprinkle over a touch of salt; the sweet sugar syrup needs it. Serve the cake hot.
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
- For the syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- For the cake
- 8 ounces kadayıf
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 ounces firm mozzarella, grated, or 4 ounces unsalted fresh mozzarella, drained and cut into small pieces
- Fine sea salt (if using unsalted mozzarella)
- ¼ cup ground or minced unsalted pistachios
1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Make the syrup: Stir the sugar and water together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
3.
Make the cake: With a knife or kitchen scissors, cut the kadayıf into 1 to 1½-inch lengths and place the shreds in a large bowl. Melt the butter in an 8-inch ovenproof skillet or round cake pan. Pour the butter over the kadayıf and toss with two forks to coat it with the butter.
4.
Press half of the buttered kadayıf into and ¼ inch up the sides of the skillet or cake pan in which you melted the butter. Distribute the cheese evenly over the kadayıf, leaving a ½-inch border all around. If using fresh mozzarella, sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt. Spread the remaining kadayıf over the cheese and all the way to the edges of the skillet or pan, leaving no gaps. Gently press to “seal” the cake.
5.
Bake until the cake’s surface is deep golden verging on brown and there are no visible pale uncooked strands, 30 to 35 minutes; rotate the baking pan occasionally if necessary for even baking.
6.
Remove the cake from the oven and pour the cooled syrup over it. Sprinkle with pistachios and serve immediately.
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