Namoura

Namoura, the famous Lebanese pastry made with semolina, soaked in sugar syrup and decorated with almonds is a traditional sweet treat that everyone enjoys. This delicious dessert is very popular in the Middle East under different names. In Lebanon it is Namoura, in Egypt it goes under Basbousa. It is also popular in the Jewish kitchens under the name of Tishpishti and is generally made during the Passover holidays. Typically found on trays of arabic pastries alongside Baklava, Namoura is a delightful pastry that you'll definitely love!

Ingredients:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup semolina
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup butter melted
1 cup whole milk
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tbsp tahini
blanched almonds for decoration

For the syrup:
2 cups castor sugar
2 cups water
1 tbsp Orange blossom water

Mix together the flour, the semolina, the ground almonds and the baking powder in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, the melted butter and the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the semolina and mix well.

Grease a 10 in round baking pan with 2 tbsp of tahini and pour the batter in.

Using a knife, score the top of the batter into squares and place a blanched almond in each square.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350ºF (180ºC) for 30 to 45 mn or until slightly brown on top.

Meanwhile make the syrup: mix the sugar and water together and bring to a boil in a saucepan, simmer until it forms a sticky syrup. Add the orange blossom water. Let it cool completely.

As soon as the namoura comes out of the oven, pour the cold syrup over. Let it stand until cool then cut the squares.



Nammoura

Ingrédients:
2 œufs légèrement battus
1 verre de farine
1 verre de semoule moyenne
1 verre de poudre d'amande
1 verre de beurre fondu
1 verre de lait entier
2 càs de levure chimique
2 càs de tahini
amandes blanchies pour la décoration

Pour le sirop:
2 verres de sucre
2 verres d'eau
1 càs d'eau de fleurs d'oranger

Mélangez la farine, la semoule, la poudre d'amande et la levure dans un saladier.

Dans un autre saladier, mélangez le lait, le beurre fondu et les œufs.

Réunissez les 2 contenus et mélangez bien.

Graissez un moule rond de 25 cm avec le tahini et versez la préparation.

Avec un couteau, entaillez des carrés et déposez une amande dans chaque carré.

Faites cuire dans un four préchauffé à 180ºC 30 à 45 mn ou jusqu'à ce que le gateau soit légèrement doré.

Pendant ce temps, faites le sirop: Mélangez le sucre et l'eau et portez à ébullition. Ajoutez l'eau de fleurs d'oranger. Stoppez le feu et laissez le sirop refroidir.

Sortez le gateau du four et recouvrez-le de sirop froid. Laissez-le s'imbiber et refroidir en même temps. Coupez-le en carrés.

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Milk cookies - kaak bi haleeb

As you can probably tell by the lack of posts, I've been struggling a bit with finding the time to blog. I miss my blog and my readers, and I'm sorry for leaving you that long!! Between the family and the friends, I'm hardly sleeping... but I feel GREAT and HAPPY.

I'll share with you in this post, some of the pictures I took on a journey we spent in wadi kadisha (kadisha valley). Kadisha is one of the deepest valleys in Lebanon, it's indeed a whole world apart; a deep gorge carved by the Kadisha river whose source is in the kadisha grotto at the foot of the Cedars. 



Wadi kadisha means the "Holy Valley". Filled with caves and rock shelters inhabited from the third millennium B.C. to the Roman period, the valley is scattered with cave chapels, hermitages and monasteries cut from rock. Since the Early Middle Ages generations of monks, hermits, ascetics and anchorites found asylum here.



Ingredients:
1 kg flour
200 g butter, melted
2 cups milk
400 g sugar
1 ½ tsp mastica
2 tsp mahlab
1 tbsp orange blossom water
1 tbsp rosewater
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp yeast
½ tbsp ground nutmeg

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together except the milk.

Gradually add in the milk and knead well until you form a smooth dough. Leave the dough to rest for at least 6 hours in a warm place.

Divide the dough into small balls and then roll each ball into a long thin cylinder and stick the ends together forming ring.

Transfer the dough rings on trays and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20 mins at 350ºF (180ºC).



kaak au lait

Ingrédients:
1 kg farine
200 g beurre, fondu
0.5 litre de lait
400 g de sucre
1 ½ càc mastic
2 càc mahlab
1 càs d'eau de fleurs d'oranger
1 càs d'eau de rose
1 càs de levure chimique
1 càs de levure boulangere
½ càs de noix de muscade

Dans un grand saladier, mélangez tous les ingrédients sauf le lait.

Graduellement, versez le lait et pétrissez pour former une boule homogène. Laissez-la reposer environ 6 heures.

Divisez la pâte en de petites boules, roulez-la en forme d'un cylindre puis soudez la pâte en formant des anneaux.

Transférez les kaaks sur une plaque à patisserie et enfournez-les pendant 20 mn à 180ºC.

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