You can enjoy kolokotes as snack, complemented with yogurt, labne, or fresh cheese; drizzled with honey, date or any fruit molasses they become a lovely dessert. 

Marilena Ioannides’ recipe is by far the best I have tried –and I did try lots over the years. She bakes the pies on camera –speaking Greek with no subtitles, unfortunately; but consulting my recipe below you can easily follow and understand how to make these simple, exquisite pies.

To collect the old, traditional dishes she included in her book Cyprus Food Treasures, Marilena traveled all over the island, even to the remotest villages, and managed to find some incredible dishes! Often they are the missing link between age-old foods we read about in old manuscripts and the more recent variations we still encounter in parts of Greece or in other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean.

NOTE in the video as she prepares the pies leisurely, in real time, she weighs all ingredients –even the olive oil and water– as she adds them, one by one in the bowl of the mixer, zeroing her electronic scale just before adding a new item. This is a wonderful trick that helps cooks use a minimum of  bowls and other measuring utensils. 

My recipe is adapted from Marilena Ioannides’ Kolokotes. I have increased the amount of raisins and doubled the pepper; also substituted fennel seeds for the fresh wild fennel she suggests.

Makes 6 large pies

For the DOUGH:

1 pound bread flour or a combination of pasta flour and all purpose flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

70 grams olive oil

250 grams very hot or boiling water —the secret to make smooth, elastic dough

For the FILLING:

2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded

1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

100 grams bulgur (medium not fine)

150 grams raisins

30 grams olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 -1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I like it peppery)

1 teaspoon coarsely ground fennel seeds

Make the dough tossing the flour, salt, and olive oil in the bowl of a standing mixer. With the motor running pour in the hot water on the side, and work to obtain a soft, slightly sticky dough. Wrap in oiled plastic wrap and set aside. You can make the dough the previous day, refrigerate, wrapped, and bring to room temperature before proceeding further.

For the filling cut the squash in very thin slices, then in small cubes, matchsticks, or any kind of tiny bits. Add salt, olive oil and the raisins, then work with your hands to somewhat soften the squash.

Stir in the bulgur, cinnamon, pepper, and fennel seeds, and toss well to mix. 

Divide the dough into 6 pieces. (Marilena makes 7 pies but I find it difficult to divide the dough into an even number; I only use the scale for the filling).   

Preheat the oven to 150C  (about 300F) in convection mode. 

Roll each piece into roughly a 25 cm round, and place one sixth of the filling in the center, weighing all the filling  dividing the number into 6, then portioning and weighing 1/6th for each pie. Stir the filling each time before you take a portion as the moisture tends to go to the bottom.

Fold the round of dough to cover the filling; seal and crimp the edge, making sure the pie is completely closed so that the squash, bulgur etc. bake and steam inside the crust. Place the pies carefully on baking trays lined with parchment paper, and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 min to 1 h –until lightly colored on top and bottom.

If you bake both pans at the same time, change positions after 30 minutes, turning also the pans back to front.

Let the kolokotes cool on a rack or on thick kitchen towels before cutting to eat.

The flavor is infinitely better after they are completely cold, and I find that it is even better the next day! 

Keep on the counter for 2-3 days, if you manage to resist devouring them. You can also freeze and slowly reheat any leftover pies. 

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For the New Year I decided to dress it up, sprinkling with diced, caramelized citrus peels and pistachios; I also cut the year’s numbers on tangerine peels that I simmered in syrup before placing on the cake. 

See more New Year’s Cake recipes HERE and HERE. 

Bake the cake at least a day before you plan to serve it so the flavors  have time to develop. Cakes are best the day after!  

In our family it was simply called Tou Yiaourtiou (the one with yogurt), to distinguish with another, more elaborate festive dessert my mother and aunts prepared with store-bought lady-finger cookies and a heavy margarine-based cream –butter and heavy cream were not a common ingredient in Greece in my childhood years. 

Only recently I realized that this, ubiquitous urban Greek dessert is the Gateau aux Yaourt the simplest French cake, the first one kids bake as the portions are measured in the yogurt pot. Obviously my family, as most other bakers in Athens, got the recipe from Tselementes’ book. He obviously copied the French cake, but substituted margerine (!) for the olive oil, calling it Yiaourtopita (yogurt pie) a name that many bakers use today.  

Whenever I have, I use lemons from my garden, or our local tangerines and oranges that are wonderfully aromatic. I suggest you seek organic fruits for this and my other recipes. 

See also my Orange, Lemon or Tangerine Olive Oil Cake which I make pulsing the whole citrus fruit, not just zesting it.  

For a 9-inch (23 cm) round or square pan

THE CAKE

2/3 cup light olive oil, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons for greasing pan

2 1/2 cups cake flour

2 1/2  teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

Fine zest of 4 lemons –fresh, preferably organic– OR 2 large Oranges and 2 Tangerines 

1 1/2 cup full-fat strained yogurt (Greek)

1/3 cup lemon or orange juice

THE SYRUP & TOPPING (optional)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice

1/3 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup home made Lemon Liqueur or any citrus-flavored liqueur

1 cup home made Lemon Marmalade or any citrus fruit marmalade you have at hand

1/2 cup toasted almonds or pistachios, coarsely ground

MAKE THE CAKE: Preheat the oven to 375°F (200 C)

Line a round or square 9-inch (23 cm) pan with parchment paper and very lightly brush with oil. 

In a large bowl stir together the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Set aside.

Using a standing mixer, or hand-held mixer and a stainless-steel bowl, beat the eggs and the sugar for about 4-5 minutes, until creamy. Add the olive oil, the lemon or orange zest and the yogurt, and beat until incorporated.

Add half of the flour mixture and work very briefly to incorporate then add the remaining flour and the lemon or orange juice. Just incorporate the last ingredients and don not overwork the batter.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the beaten egg whites into batter, working until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and even the top with a spatula.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a knife or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool 15 minutes on a rack.

Make the Syrup: While cake bakes, in a small saucepan combine the lemon or juice, the water and the sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved.

When the cake is cool enough to handle but still warm, invert it onto a serving platter, peel off the paper and prick the surface all over with a toothpick. Using a spoon, douse the cake with syrup, making sure you cover the entire surface evenly.

Sprinkle with the liqueur, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let stand until it is completely cold.

Spread the lemon marmalade over the cake, and, if you like, sprinkle with toasted almonds or pistachios. Cover and let stand at room temperature a few hours or overnight before cutting to serve.

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See also my previous recipe.

Frosso gave me the recipe she had gotten from Mrs Dandoura, mother of her class-mate and best friend Chrysouli who recently passed. Mrs Dandoura had learned to make kourambiedes from her mother and grandmother. They came from a wealthy, shipping Galaxidi family, a town 15 klm southwest of Delphi that had flourished in the 18th and through the 19th century as a result of maritime trade and commercial exchanges with the West due to its exquisite natural port.

Calculating the generations that baked these festive cookies, we concluded that the recipe must be at least 200 years old.  Thus kourambiedes were not, as the Greek version of Wikipedia cites “brought by prosfyges (refugees),”  the Anatolian Greek population who fled after the defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) from Smyrna (Izmir) and other parts of Turkey. Prosfyges did, indeed, introduce quite a few special foods to Palaioelladites —the local Greeks– but certainly kourambiedes were already part of the local festive table in many parts of the country.  

Probably the word kourabies (plural kourabiedes) derives from Qurabiya a Persian and/or Arabic word with many variations, used for similar short-bread cookies throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and north Africa. Often sprinkled or with the addition of rose or citrus-flower water, I have not seen any version of these cookies that contained so many spices, and I just imagine that the cosmopolitan Galaxidi merchants were maybe inspired by the festive European/Grerman cookies. But this is my assumption, as I am also baking Pfeffernüsse and Lebkuchen these days…

Paula Wolfert in her wonderful 1988 book ‘Paula Wolfert’s World of Food‘ has a version of kourabiedes she calls ‘Greek Butter-Almond Cookies’ and over the years she kept telling me how amazing they were. As she wrote in the headnote she served them in her wedding, as many Greek families do.  

Makes about 30 large or 40 small cookies.

1 1/3 cup butter, or a combination sheep’s milk and regular butter, oftened

 1/4  cup confectioner’s sugar, plus about 2 cups to coat the baked cookies

1  egg yolk

2  tablespoons mastic-flavored liqueur, ouzo, Pernod, or any anise-flavored liqueur 

1  cup un-skinned almonds, toasted in the oven for about 20 minutes and coarsely chopped 

2 1/2 -3 cups unbleached cake or all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (optional)

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

About 1/4 of a nutmeg, freshly ground

1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

About 1/4 cup citrus-blossom water to sprinkle the cookies

In a food processor or electric mixer, beat the butter for about 6 minutes until very light and fluffy. Gradually add the sugar and the the egg yolk, and continue beating, then add the liqueur or ouzo and process for 2-3 minutes more.

Sift the flour with the baking powder, and the spices.

Fit the processor with a dough hook and gradually add the flour. Process the mixture for just a couple of minutes, until a soft dough forms. Add the almonds and process until the dough is smooth again, about 1 minutes more.

Preheat the oven to 350º F (180º C).

Shape tablespoons of dough into round, oval, or crescent-shaped cookies, and place on a cookie sheet, leaving about 1 inch between the cookies so that they won’t stick together as they expand.

Alternatively flatten the dough on the work surface making about 1/3 inch thick squares, and with small cookie cutters cut rounds, squares or crescents. Collect and flatten the leftover dough, then cut into shapes again.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until pale golden. Cool for 5 minutes then sprinkle with the flower water.

Spread 2 cups confectioners’ sugar on a large serving plate. Very carefully, because they break easily, roll each cookie in the sugar, and place on a rack to cool.

Proceed with all the cookies, adding more sugar to the plate as necessary.

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The mild taste of this unusual sweet is certainly a wonderful complement to the spicy Indian dishes; for my version I love to add crystalized ginger to give it a slight kick.

Mayukh Sen notes that Mr. Sharma riffs on a traditional dessert from the Indian state of Goa, using a base of coconut milk, eggs and sweet potatoes that are roasted and then puréed, perfumed with nutmeg. “…the addition of maple syrup is a distinctly American touch. (Mr. Sharma likes to make this for Thanksgiving.) Be sure to leave time for the bebinca to cool and set — at least 6 hours in the refrigerator, but preferably overnight,” Sen writes.

Yield: 8 servings

2 to 3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds (750 gram)

5 tablespoons light olive oil or sunflower oil, plus more for the pan

6 large eggs

1 cup/200 grams grated jaggery or muscovado sugar

¼ cup/60 milliliters maple syrup

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ -1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

1(13.5-ounce/400-milliliter) can full-fat coconut milk

1 cup/130 grams all-purpose flour

Crystalized ginger, sunflower seeds or pistachios for decorating (optional)  

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the sweet potatoes to remove any dirt, pat them dry with paper towels and poke several holes in them with a fork. Put the potatoes on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast until completely tender, 35 to 45 minutes. Cool completely before handling. Peel the sweet potatoes, discard the skins, and purée the flesh in a food processor. Measure out 1 ⅔ cups/400 grams and set aside, saving the rest for another purpose. (The sweet potatoes may be roasted 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.) 

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (180 C). Line the bottom of a 9-inch round or square baking pan with 2-inch sides with parchment paper and grease lightly with oil. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cooled sweet potato purée, olive oil, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, nutmeg, turmeric, minced crystalized ginger and salt until well mixed. Add the coconut milk and flour and whisk until the mixture is smooth, with no visible streaks of flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put the pan, still on the baking sheet, in the oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through. The pudding should be firm to the touch in the center and light golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate to set for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Once the bebinca has set, run a sharp knife around the sides of the pan, flip the pan onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and tap gently to release. Peel the parchment off the top. Invert onto a serving dish, and peel off the second sheet of parchment paper. Decorate with crystalized ginger, pumpkin seeds or pistachios, if you like.  

To serve, use a sharp serrated knife to cut the chilled bebinca into wedges. Store the leftover bebinca, wrapped in plastic wrap, in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

The post Bebinca: Indian Sweet Potato Pudding/Cake appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.

My mother used to bake a cake similar to this during Lent. We were not so religious as to follow the rules of the Church, which prohibited eating any food derived from animals during the forty days before Christmas and before Easter (and on many other occasions). We were simply continuing a family tradition which dictated that various foods or sweets should be made at a particular time of year.

The caramelized ginger, my recent addition to the recipe, enhances the rich flavor of this cake that has a dense texture, somewhat like an English fruitcake. 

Makes one 12 X 5 inch (30 X 12cm) cake

3 1/2     cups all-purpose flour

4   Tablespoons corn starch       

1    tablespoon baking powder

Pinch of salt             

1 1/2            teaspoons ground cinnamon     

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1     tablespoon grated orange zest

1/2 – 2/3  cup sugar –depending on how sweet you like your cakes

1     cup light olive oil, or a mixture of olive and safflower oil

1  teaspoon baking soda

1/2  cup brandy       

1  2/3    cups freshly squeezed orange juice         

1/2 cup golden raisins

10-12  dried apricots, chopped, about 2/3 cup         

1/2 cup  chopped crystalized ginger 

2/3 cup   coarsely chopped unsalted pistachios                         

Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180 C).

Line the deep loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly oil it. This will make removing the fragile cake from the pan easier.

Toss together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl.

Stir the sugar with the orange zest, rubbing with your fingers to mix and release the orge flavor. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil and sugar until well combined.

In a cup stir the baking soda with the brandy and add it to the oil-sugar mixture. 

Make a well in the flour mixture and stir in the oil and sugar, as well as the orange juice, stirring  just until smooth. Add the dried fruits and nuts and stir just until evenly distributed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for ONE hour or more, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out almost clean.

Transfer to a rack and let cool 10 minutes before carfully removing from the pan, lifting the parchment paper. Let the cake cool completely before cutting, and better show restrain and only cut after a few hours, or the next day…

If you like, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Slice and serve.

The post Dried Fruit, Pistachio, and Orange Olive Oil Cake appeared first on Aglaia's Table οn Kea Cyclades.

Make the mousse a day ahead, or even a couple of days before. When you are about to serve the dessert, assemble the pre-baked puff pastry and serve the mousse on the side.  

Serves 6-8  

About 15 -20 apricots, halved, pitted and roasted in the oven until soft. If they are unripe and sour, sprinkle with some sugar, if you like.

Pre-baked Puff pastry

1 1/2-2 cups  apricot jam, preferably homemade or good quality store-bought

The Mousse

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sugar

6-10 rose geranium leaves or more, to taste, or use a few teaspoons store-bought rose geranium syrup, to taste

1 1/2 cups full-fat Greek yogurt

3/4 cup chilled heavy cream

Apricot Jam for serving

Coarsely chopped pistachios for serving

Make the Mousse: Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl and let stand for 2-3 minutes to soften.

In a saucepan, over moderate heat, bring the remaining milk, the rose geranium leaves and all the sugar to a boil. Simmer and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the gelatin mixture and turn off the heat. Stir vigorously on the stove until the gelatin dissolves completely. Pour the mixture into a metal bowl, add place it over an ice-water bath to cool rapidly.

Let cool for 15-20 minutes, stirring often until cold. Remove the leaves, if you have used them, add the yogurt and whisk to incorporate. Taste, and if you had not geranium leaves, add a couple of teaspoons rose geranium syrup, to taste.

Whip the heavy cream with a hand-held mixer until it gets a good amount of body. Fold the cream into the cooled milk-yogurt mixture. It must be completely incorporated. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until it starts to set.

You can let the cream set overnight in the bowl. Take out of the refrigerator and stir the cream a few times before assembling the mousse.

The Tart: On a square or rectangular plate place a piece of the pre-baked puff pastry. Spread generously with apricot jam and place one more piece of baked puff pastry on top. 

Spread generously with more apricot jam and arrange the roasted apricots on top. 

Sprinkle generously with pistachios and serve with the mousse.  

Assembling the mousse:
Add 1-2 tablespoons of apricot jam at the bottom of each serving glass and then divide the chilled mousse evenly among them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.

Serve sprinkled with pistachios, if you like.

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Two pieces 13.5-inch X 11.5-inch (34X30 cm)

1 package (500 grams) good quality frozen puff pastry

About 1/2 cup or more coarsely ground almonds (optional) 

Take the frozen pastry out of the freezer and let on the counter for about 20 minutes, just to soften somewhat, but not completely.

Preheat the oven to 200 C (375 F). 

Line a baking dish with parchment paper, and if you like, sprinkle with half the almonds.  Carefully unroll the pastry but still hold it with the plastic it is rolled with, as you lay it carefully on the parchment-lined baking sheet, then unpeel and discard the plastic. 

Place a sheet of parchment paper over the pastry and gently press with your palms to even it and help the almonds stick to the bottom of the pastry. If you like, sprinkle more almonds on top of the pastry, before covering with the paper.  

Cover with a baking sheet that fit right on top of the parchment-topped pastry and place the two baking sheets in the middle of the heated oven.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes of more, until the puff pastry is golden brown and fully baked. 

Uncover and let cool, then cut in half and use as base and/or a layer to make seasonal fruit or pastry cream sweets in minutes.

STORAGE: When completely cold, wrap the baked pastry in parchment paper, and keep in a cupboard, sealed in a plastic bag. Keeps for a month or more.

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I got the recipes from my mother and grandmother and I only slightly tweaked  them.

Both most favorite cookies –the Koulourakia with Orange, and the dark deep-flavored Moustokouloura Cookies, were baked using olive oil and no eggs.

Americans and northern Europeans are not the only ones loving their crunchy, fragrant cookies. Greeks usually accompany with cookies their coffee in the morning or afternoon. Home cooks, who used to make them all year round, kept them in a jar or tin box and we enjoyed them any day of the year, including the lengthy Lenten periods, like the days before Easter when all kinds of foods deriving from animals were avoided.

The recipes didn’t change, and our most favorite cookies –the Koulourakia with Orange, and the dark deep-flavored , Moustokouloura Cookies, were both baked using olive oil and no eggs.

These days more and more people have started to bake with olive oil;  it is not just me any more. Cooks all over the world bake lovely, moist olive oil cakes, and I hope soon they will also make variations of these traditional Greek cookies that I have learned to make, or at least help shape since I was a child, together with my grandmother, and my mother.

Try also my older recipe for the traditional Easter, yellow Saffron, Allspice, and Pepper Biscuits, from the island of Astypalaia. They are neither vegan –they have yogurt and cream– and they are savory, perfect to serve with drinks and meze, especially with fresh, creamy cheese.

I am sure you will love them!

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The cookies are deep-flavored and delicious. The grape must is boiled down to become thick petimezi (grape molasses) an pantry item in most traditional homes. Syrupy petimezi is diluted with an equal amount of water to make the cookies.

Grape must cookies, right, and Orange Koulourakia, left. 

The sweetness of the petimezi determines their taste, as moustokouloura have no additional sugar.  Commercial moustokouloura are usually large, but the homemade ones are smaller.

See also the Ginger and Grape Molasses cookies, my variation of the Ginger Snap ones.

To get 2 1/2 cups traditional petimezi (grape molasses) you need to simmer for about 1 hour or more 2 ½ kilos (5 pounds) grape juice. But to achieve the taste of my favorite island moustokouloura, made in August with the local fresh grape must, or with thinned down petimezi (grape molasses), I boil ordinary grape juice with sultanas and/or currents, and the result is great (see Note).

Makes about 3 dozen large cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour or more, as needed

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

 1 1/2 cups fresh sweet grape must (see note)

 2/3 cups olive oil

 1/3 cup brandy

  1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix 4 cups flour with the salt and the spices. Make a well in the centre and add the grape must and olive oil. In a small bowl stir the baking soda into the brandy and stir the bubbly mixture into the flour. 

Knead, briefly to form a soft dough. If it is too sticky, add more flour.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Cut pieces of dough and roll to make 1/3-inch thick and 5- or 6-inch-long ropes, or shorter. Stick the two ends together or tie a knot or roll, snail-like the dough ropes, to form moustokouloura.

Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes or more, until firm.

Let the cookies cool completely on a rack, and store in airtight boxes.

NOTE:

To make petimezi (grape molasses) juice fresh grapes to get 4 cups of juice, or use 4 cups commercial grape juice. Add 2 cups currants or sultanas and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Process in the blender and pass the liquid through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Tie the end of the cheesecloth and squeeze the pulp to extract all the juices.

Measure to get the amount needed and freeze the rest for future use.

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We don’t need to substitute and invent intricate vegan cookies, as the most common ones we make at home, or buy at the bakeries all over the country, are usually baked with olive oil instead of butter.

Makes about 65 pieces

1 ½ cups light olive oil

1 cup sugar

650 grams cake flour or more, as needed

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of Salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup brandy

3 packed tablespoons orange zest (from 3-4 large oranges, zested with the microplane)

1 cup fresh orange juice

Toasted sesame seeds, or rosemary leaves (optional)

In the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the balloon attachment, beat the oil and sugar for about 5 minutes, until milky-white.

In a separate bowl toss the flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a cup add the baking soda to the brandy and stir to mix. Add the orange zest, orange juice and brandy-soda to the oil-sugar in the mixer, and stir a few times to mix.

Add gradually the flour to the liquids, in 2-3 additions, until just incorporated. You will end up with a very oily soft dough. If too soft, add a bit more flour, and transfer to the working surface. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before shaping.

Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the convection oven to 160 C (320F).

Shape walnut-size pieces of dough into a rope, then join the ends to create a koulouri (crown) pressing it lightly on the sesame, if using.

Alternatively you can shape small sticks, or press pieces of dough to a ¼-inch square and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter.

Sprinkle with sesame or rosemary if you like.

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