Truffes aux Dates a la Me’me’ ( Me’me’’s Dates Truffles)

     Christmas Truffles that Me’me’ used to make.

Ingredients:

2 cups Dates pitted & chopped
1/2 cup Walnuts chopped
1/2 cup Rice Crispies (or crushed biscuits)
2 tbsp Butter

A handful of Rice crispies crushed  for coating ( optional)
 

Put dates and butter in microwave for 30 sec, so dates become soft & easier to knead. Add walnuts and rice crispies and mix all together. Using a small spoon, scoop up a bit of the mixture; roll into small ball.

  It can be served as it is, or can be coated with some crushed rice crispies.  

Chill before serving. Sahtein!

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.

  

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!

Saniyet Tamer (Date Cake)

A cake with a layer of dates in middle...A layer of cake, layer of dates & another layer of cake on top, almost like a sandwich.......

Ingredients:

Dough:

2 Eggs

1 cup Butter

1 cup Sugar

5 cups Flour

3/4 cup Yogurt

1 ½ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

½ tsp Baking powder

Filling:

500g Dates (pitted or paste)

1 cup Walnuts (optional)

½ cup Sugar

1 Tbsp Butter

1 tsp Cinnamon

Handful of pine nuts for decoration

Mix all the dough ingredients together.  Let it rest for 10-15 min. As for the filling, chop the dates with a knife into small pieces and then mix them with the rest of the ingredients for the filling to form a compact mass. 
Grease the baking tray and dust with flour. 

Take half of the dough and roll it between 2 cling film or greaseproof papers.

Remove the top cling film & flip the dough onto the baking tray ; then remove the secong cling flim ( as it will hold the dough till you get it in the tray).

  
Repeat above with the filling. Roll the filling between 2 cling film or greaseproof papers and add it on top of the first half of the dough.

 Press it down with your fingers to stick it to the first layer.
Then, repeat the same with the second half of the dough and flop it on top of the filling in the baking tray. Press it down with your fingers.

Score the cake into rows and then diagonal lines inside the rows to form a trapezoid. Top every trapezoid with a pine nut.

Bake in a medium hot oven 350F or gas mark 5 for 30 - 40 min until golden. 

Cool and serve.