Saturday 16 April 2011

Maamoul

Maamoul is Lebanese shortbread pastry filled with dates, walnuts, pistachios or almonds. Our Family Maamoul is stuffed with a mix of pistachio, walnuts and almonds all together! The taste is so distinctive! Also, instead of using the maamoul molds, mum used to make us all help out decorating the maamoul using special brass tweezers.



Ingredients:

Dough:
1kg fine Semolina
½ kg Butter melted
1/2 cup Flour
½ cup mixed Rose Water
½ cup Orange Blossom Water
1 tablespoon of dried Yeast (I used dried instant Yeast)
Nuts filling:
1 cup Pistachios
1 cup Walnuts 
Maamoul molds (only had 2 designs out of 3)
& brass tweezers
 1 cup Almonds
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoon Rose Water
3 tablespoon Orange Blossom Water

Dates Filling:
500g Dates
½ cup Butter
½ teaspoon Miskeh/ Mastic



Mix fine semolina, melted butter and yeast together. Add Rose water and Orange blossom water gradually to make a dough and knead for a minute or two to be sure the dough is well blended. Cover dough and let stand for at least one hour.
Ground together all the nuts. Mix together ground nuts, sugar, rose water and orange blossom water till the mixture is crumbling together. Set aside.
Mix together dates, butter and mistek so that that mixture is like dough. Set aside.
Now we have both fillings ready. You will have enough dough to use  both of these fillings. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 or 400F (200C).
Grease cookies sheet, or line with greaseproof paper.


 Knead dough again briefly, and form into walnut sized balls. Make a hole in the centre using your finger.


Fill the hole with a teaspoon of the nut mixture (or dates mixture), and seal the dough up over the hole.

Gently form into balls. Place into the maamoul mold , press in gently; level it up with the mold. Turn it round and gently tap on the worktop & the maamoul will come out. 


If you don’t have a mold you can make designs with brass tweezers or simply with a fork.  

Maamoul with dates

Maamoul with mixed nuts

 








   
Place it on baking tray, keep spaces between the maamoul.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Dust with powdered sugar while still warm if desired.
Usually we dust the maamoul stuffed with nuts and not the dates ones.
  

Saturday 9 April 2011

Snow Balls

I learned how to make this recipe from Aunt Jessy....I love this recipe because it is easy to make and taste amazingly good!!


Ingredients:
½ cup Powdered Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 cup Ground Nuts (Ground Almonds is my favourite!)
1 ¾ cup Flour
1 tsp Vanilla

Preaheat  oven to  gaz mark 5 (350F).  
Mix all ingredients together till you  have soft dough.


 Pinch a bit of dough and roll it up to a ball between your hands  and then place it on greased or greaseproof paper lined the baking tray. Repeat until the tray is full, leaving some space between the cookies. It makes about 30 balls.  Let it stand for 1hr. Bake on medium heat oven for 15-20 min or until golden. 


Before serving, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

Saturday 2 April 2011

Mum’s Fruit Cake

Mum’s fruit cake is the cake that we used to eat especially on Mother’s Day.
It was mum’s favourite and used to call it “Mums Cake” because it’s rich and full of ingredients.
Since this Sunday it is Mother’s Day... Happy Mother’s Day! 


 
Ingredients:
2 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Butter
½ cup Milk
1 cup diced Apple
½ cup Raisin
½ cup Walnut (chopped)
½ cup Dates (chopped)
2 Eggs
Zest orange or lemon
½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
½ tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Cinnamon

 
Dice the apples, bake it saucepan on low heat with the half of sugar & cinnamon. Leave it to cool.  Mix the flour with walnuts, raisins, dates, baking powder & bicarbonate of soda.  In separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, eggs & zest.   Add the flour mix gradually with the apple & milk to the butter & egg mixture.  With a spatula, mix them all together.

Pour in greased and flour dusted cake tray and bake in medium hot oven gas mark 5 (350F) for 35-40 mins or till the cake is done.  


Done when a toothpick comes out clean. Sahtein!