kyrimis@Princeton.EDU (Kriton Kyrimis) (12/15/87)
MELOMACARONA(D) USENET Cookbook MELOMACARONA(D)
MELOMACARONA
MELOMACARONA - Traditional greek Christmas cookies soaked in
honey syrup
This is one of the two kinds of confection that are tradi-
tionally consumed in large quantities in Greece during the
holiday season (the other is kourabiedes). I suppose the
name translates to something like "honey macaroons", except
that they are not really macaroons. I got the recipe from a
greek cookbook.
INGREDIENTS (makes about 40 pieces)
1 1/2 cups
olive oil
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 cup beer
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
orange peel (use the grated peel of one orange)
1 cup sugar
2 cups finely ground semolina
6 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar (for the syrup)
1 1/2 cup honey
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
PROCEDURE
(1) Put the olive oil, butter, beer, cinnamon, cloves,
orange peel and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat
until they are thoroughly blended.
(2) Sift about one cup of flour with the baking soda,
baking powder and salt, and blend into the mix-
ture.
(3) Add the semolina, a cup at a time, into the mix-
ture.
(4) Add the enough of the remaining flour, a cup at a
time, until you get a rather firm dough (you may
need a bit more or less than the amount mentioned
in the ingredients list). Use your hands to do the
mixing, as an electric mixer will be useless after
the first two or three cups of flour have been
added.
(5) Roll the dough into cylinders, about two inches
long and one inch in diameter, flatten them with
your hands, and place them on cookie sheets
greased with a little olive oil. Bake at 350 deg.
F for half an hour.
(6) Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them
cool for about half an hour.
(7) Make the syrup: mix the sugar, honey and water,
and bring them to a boil. Cook on low heat for
three minutes and skim off the foam that forms on
top.
(8) Pour the hot syrup over the cookies, sprinkle them
with the chopped walnuts and let them soak over-
night.
NOTES
You can use flour instead of semolina, but only as a last
resort, as you won't be able to get that wonderful grainy
texture which you get if you use semolina.
The amounts given here are for only half a recipe. Consider-
ing that it is very hard to eat only one melomacarono, mak-
ing the full recipe may not be as outrageous as it sounds!
RATING
Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Time: 30 minutes preparation,
30 minutes baking, 30 minutes cooling, overnight soaking.
Precision: approximate measurement OK.
CONTRIBUTOR
Kriton Kyrimis
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
princeton!kyrimis kyrimis@princeton.edu