Melomakarona: Honey & Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of sunflower oil

1 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of fresh orange juice

1/4 cup of brandy

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of fine-ground semolina

1 teaspoon baking soda

grated peel of 1 orange

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of grated cloves (or ground cloves)

Preparation:

To make the cookies

Preheat the oven to 320F (160C) with a convection oven, or 350F (180C) with a conventional oven.

Dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice.

Put all the dry ingredients (flour, semolina, sugar, spices) in a bowl and mix until blended with a whisk. In the middle, create a well and add the liquid ingredients (oil, brandy or flavoring, orange juice). Knead the dough until it sticks to your hands.

To shape the cookies (see photos), take a fistful of dough and make it into a log. Press the dough gently with your fingers on one side to flatten slightly. The shape of the cookies can be rounded, oval, or a small log shape.

Place the cookies well spaced in a greased cookie sheet (or on parchment cooking paper, or on a non-stick cookie sheet), place on the middle rack in the oven and bake until browned (about 15-20 minutes}. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking racks.

For the Syrup and Topping:

2 cups of water

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of honey

1 stick of cinnamon

3-4 whole cloves

2 cups of finely chopped walnuts

The cooled cookies will be dipped in the hot syrup, so don't start the syrup until the cookies have cooled.

Put the water, honey, sugar, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a wide pot (like a deep frying pan) and bring to a boil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat down to low. (As soon as it starts to boil, a foam rises to the top - scoop this off and throw it out.) Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves.

Put in cookies (as many as will fit on the bottom) into the hot syrup and use a spatula to hold them down for about 45 seconds to a minute, depending on how syrupy you want them to be. Once the cookies have been soaked, remove them with a slotted spoon, letting some of the syrup drip, place on a large serving plate in layers, sprinkling each layer liberally with the finely chopped walnuts before adding another layer on top.

Melomakarona are not refrigerated. Cover them well with plastic wrap or store in tins so they don't dry out, and they'll last for several days - if they aren't eaten by then.

Copenhagen

 

Ingredients for the base:

Flour: 340 g.

Butter: 220 g. and a little extra for the pan

Cornflour: 6 tablespoons

Baking powder: 1/2 teaspoon

Sugar: 165 g.

Vanilla: 1 package (capsule)

Ingredients for the filling:

Eggs: 7 large

Sugar: 1 cup

Raw with paring and moderate grated almonds: 1 cup

Toast: 1 1/3 cup

Baking powder: 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon

Clove: 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger powder: 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Ingredients for the topping:

Crust: 6 sheets

Melted butter: 80 g.

Ingredients For the syrup:

Sugar: 3 cups

Water: 3 cups

Glucose: 1/2 cup

Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Butter a baking dish 30CH40 m..

2. Mix in a bowl the base materials, adding butter cut pieces. Rub the dough with your hands to become like psichoulakia. Spread evenly on the pan, the press and gently cook for 10 minutes. To remove and allow to cool off until you prepare the filling. Lowers the temperature of the oven at 165 degrees.

3. Beat eggs with sugar filling, frothy well. Mix all the other ingredients of the filling and add the eggs, stirring gently. Pour the filling into the pan and spread evenly.

4. Spread the filling over a sheet and grease it. Continue thus until all leaves. Butter and the last card and with a sharp knife, carve the leaves into strips and cut off what is left over of the pan.

5. Bake the cake at 165 degrees for 50-55 minutes, to brown the surface. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup, boil all the ingredients together for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool off until cooked sweet.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and syrup with warm syrup. Leave to cool uncovered not to soften the sheet.

Baklavas

Ingredients:

1 packet Philo pastry

500g. butter

500g. pistachios or almonds 

1 cup. sugar white

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves. 

For the syrup

1 cup. water

2 cup sugar

teaspoon ground cloves

2k.gl cinnamon or 2 sticks cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Mix the nuts with 1 cup. sugar, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 tsp ground cloves.

2.melte butter.

3.Cut leaves in half, so each sheet to fit the pan.

4.Brush well the pan and sides with butter.

5.Lay sheets one at a time in the pan.

6.We brush each Philo with melted  butter in each sheet as it is put into the pan.

7.Every 6-8 leaves spread a layer of the mixture of nuts.

8.continue until all our materials are done

9.Pore the remaining butter over the baklava.

10.With a sharp knife cut the baklava diagonally to get out the pieces shaped diamond. And put a clove in every piece of the baklava  

Preheat oven to 180.

11.Bake baklava for 40-45 minutes or until golden.

12.remove from heat and let cool. 

For the syrup

1. In a saucepan put the ingredients for the syrup and simmer for 10-20 minutes

2. Pour the hot syrup in cold baklava and let cool.

The secret to good fluffy baklava is spreading each sheet with butter enough to not stick the sheets together.