Almonds

Throughout history, almonds have been enjoyed not only for their delicate flavor, versatility and great crunch, but also their legendary nutritional properties.

It’s been a while since my last post and I just wanted to keep you updated as I will continue my break indefinitely, until I am ready to come back.  I hope that you have missed me as much as I have missed all of you. I am really sorry I haven’t been visiting your …

Pastitsia, are the Cypriot Almond coookies, also called amygdalota. They are made with almonds and meringue, similar to macaron but they are crunchy outside, soft inside and chewy.

This Christmas Chocolate Wafer Coconut Roulade is made with a biscuit base crust and is filled with pastry cream, topped with chocolate ganache.

 
Daktyla, also called daktyla kyrion (meaning ladies fingers) is the most popular Cypriot dessert made with phyllo which is very crisp and very juicy, filled with almonds, cinnamon and sugar.  They are fried and then drenched in syrup, scented with anthonero (orange blossom water), which make them irresistible.

Amygdalota, take their name from amygdala, which mean almonds in Greek and are no bake  Greek cookies from the Greek islands made with blanched almonds and sugar.  They are dipped in rose water and then coated with icing (confectioners’)  sugar.

These Kourabiedes by Parliaros are Greek Christmas cookies, similar to shortbread cookies which are flavoured with real vanilla pod, filled with toasted almonds and pistachios and when baked they are coated in icing sugar.

Ever since the British occupation of Cyprus, Christmas cake has been a big part of our holiday celebrations. Many families have a traditional recipe for a Christmas Cake and ours is no exception.

Olive oil is a base for many Greek traditional cookies. There are many kinds of these cookies starting with the famous melomakarona (honey cookies), moustokouloura (must cookies), Sousamokouloura (sesame cookies), krasokouloura (wine cookies) and Ladokouloura (meaning olive oil cookies) , each one having a unique taste according to the ingredients added. Every Friday morning we …

Truffles are bite-sized chocolate confections, usually made from chocolate and cream (ganache) usually formed in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. Their name derives from their resemblance to truffles, edible fungi of the genus Tuber. In Greecek we usually make the truffles with leftover cake or biscuits, which we smash into smaller pieces and also add some toasted nuts or …