Berlin " Yummy yummy I've got veggies in my tummy"

As a food lover, a part of my trip has to contain that passion of mine of finding new ingredients I can't find at my local organic markets, and obviously enjoy good food. In my case, when I say good food I mean fresh, vegetarian, preferred organic that fits my budget. In recent years I haven't done those food researches I'm doing right before I'm flying somewhere and therefore found myself being forced to eat at places that didn't serve my kind of food. But believe it or not, I found my way in Berlin, among its massive sausages industry and creamy unfamiliar mashes. There is something reassuring in finding fresh quality food ahead. Now I'm not talking about fancy gourmet quality food, as I simply enjoy a bunch of seasoned vegetables lying happily on my plate.
Give me any fresh veggie and I'm a happy camper! :) I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the organic German veggies I found in my big colorful salads everyday. They were so vibrant and fresh that the colors just shown through. I've never seen a lettuce in such bright green before. Do I sound deranged while talking about vegetables? Perhaps. But I realized that is how I should always eat them. That is how they're supposed to look, taste and smell. And sadly enough I'm not used to this kind of fresh products back at home.

If you plan on visiting Berlin any time soon, here is a short list of some nice food places where I found my desired simple and comforting vegetarian food:
Seerose - a very cute buffet and salad bar, where I only chose the cold combination with salads and whole grains, as the warm dishes looked a bit heavy on the creamy side (though I think it was all vegan). Mehringdamm 47. Open Mon-Sat 8.00-24.00, Sun 12.00-22.00
Einhorn Mommsenstrasse - a delicious buffet of warm dishes and cold interesting salads. Mommsenstr 2.
Weilands Wellfood - organic and health food restaurant. Not all the menu is vegetarian but everything is organic, fresh and well made. I got a hugeee fresh looking salad along with spelt penne in carrot sauce. Very interesting. Marlene-Dietrich-Platz 1, the second one in Platz vor dem Neuen Tor 5.
There are loads of other bio supermarkets and organic stores with prepared food such as Fresh N Friends Foodstore and Gorilla chain.

I also managed to find a few interesting stuff in many of those bio organic stores they have there (lucky them!). I finally put my hands upon a nice looking walnut oil! It's not that rare, but at least where I come from, it couldn't be found ANYWHERE. And my summer salads pleaded for a fresh drizzle of that nutty flavor that surprises your taste buds in every bite. I love it.
A much heavier product I found is a basket full of the loveliest kinds of pumpkin I have ever seen! Cute aliens look alike. I suspect they're more for decoration rather than for cooking as it appears a month before Halloween. But still, gorgeous crops! No matter it took half of the place in my baggage, it was a nice surprise for my mom who agreed I was crazy and LOVED it.

I almost forgot about the delicious doughnuts... (Below the donuts lady)

Organic Fresh-Old-Fashioned Apricot Cake

I'm usually not a huge apricot fan, but I thought their over-ripeness and sweetness would be milder after baking, and I was right.
The fact that I had half a kilo of apricots lying in my refrigerator also made a good excuse to get rid of them (I sound cruel).
And what a better way to do that than to bake a homemade cake, and in this case, quite healthy, organic and fulfilling.
I was looking through old cooking books in order to find a nice and simple recipe for my cake.
And there it was- the simple, rustic recipe I was looking for, found in "Cakes for all seasons by Nira Scheuer", which looked like the old-fashioned homemade cakes from the 70's…
Since it wasn't interesting enough, I made changes and refreshed it by choosing healthier ingredients like organic white whole wheat flour with a touch of quinoa flour, which added a nutty flavor and a nice crumbly texture to the cake.
I also used a bit of date molasses along with natural cane sugar, which made it not too sweet, and added this unique complex taste.
As for the added fat amounts, I know real pastry chefs would want to hunt me down for this, but there are times I just cut it almost in half. And believe me, my baked goods don't turn out dry at all. Sometimes I add just a bit more yogurt to the batter to keep it moist.

For this cake I chose ripe and turning-a bit-mushy apricots, so I found it unnecessary to cook them beforehand.
Although I sprinkled some sliced almonds on top of the cake before baking, I suspect it would be wonderful with sugar crystals sprinkled on top, to give it a nice crunch and a bit of sweetness to compliment the tart apricots.

Organic Fresh-Old-Fashioned Apricot Cake

1 1/2 cups organic white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of fine grain sea salt
3/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
About 1 1/2 tbsp date molasses*
50g soft unsalted butter (3 1/3 tbsp butter)
2 organic free-range eggs
1/4 cup yogurt (I might add a bit more)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
500g ripe apricots, pitted and halved

Sliced almonds or sugar crystals (optional)
Apricot jam (optional. I used Nectarine jam)

*I believe it also works well with honey if you prefer

* * *
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350F) and grease a 26 cm (10-inch) round cake pan.
In a large bowl combine together the flours, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter, date molasses, lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract, eggs and yogurt, mix until combined, but avoid over mixing the batter.

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth as needed. Place the halved apricots nicely on top, close to each other, round side up.
Sprinkle some sliced almond on top, or some sugar crystals (optional) and bake for about 40-50 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Optional: Before serving, glaze the apricots with the jam mixed with a bit of water to give it a nice shine (and make them look happy..).

Vanilla ice cream. Enough said.

I'm sending this recipe to Mansi's Healthy Cooking event. You should have a look at her lovely blog about healthy eating.