Earlier this week HoneyB, from The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch, presented me with my first blog award! Now it has fallen upon me to pass the torch along to some of my favorite food bloggers.
Category: Sweets
The Middle East is famous for its sweets or halawiyat (حلويات), which include classics like baklava (بقلاوة), buttery phyllo dough layered with crushed walnuts, and nammoura (نمورة), a semolina-cake sweetened with a floral simple syrup infused with orange blossom water. The region is also home to lesser known desserts like heytaliyye (هيطلية), a silky milk pudding topped with rose ice cream and crushed pistachios that made its way to Aleppo from China along the Silk Road.
Perfect Party Cake gone Chocolate
This entry is dedicated to all Daring Bakers for making the challenges and the group itself lots of fun!! Special thanks to Morven for hosting this month’s challenge.
At first I was a bit skeptical about this cake challenge since it was pushing me far away from my culinary comfort zone. The horror stories I grew up around were terrifying enough – threatening all of us about how even granules of sugar in either direction can ruin the precise scientific integrity of a cake. However, when I got around to reading this month’s challenge in further detail I realized that the possibilities for executing the cake were literally endless; so I took on the daring baker attitude and approached the task with an open mind (and a chocolate heart).
What’s life without the occasional dunk?
This entry is dedicated to Anna (Grazie Cosmos), my host mom from Florence and Queen of Tuscan Cuisine: Grazie di tutto l’aiuto che mi hai dato in cucina e di tutte le meravigliose ricette che hai condiviso con me.
Biscotti, literally translated, means twice-cooked in Italian. This crunchy confection of sheer goodness formed a significant part of my diet while I was in Florence this past winter. Undoubtedly, it is a cookie worth blogging about.
Divinity in a Cookie
There is something sensational about biting into a freshly baked cookie that cannot be replicated with any other confection. The sweet taste and buttery texture in each bite transports you back to a simpler time; a time when learning how to tie your shoe was a priority on your agenda.
Whether they are decadently prepared with chunky chocolate morsels or studded with crunchy walnuts, people often indulge in their choice cookie when looking for that extra pick-me-up.
Called Ghraybe in the Middle East, these fragrant pistachio cookies are a classy addition to any cookie repertoire. Characterized by their powdery soft disposition and exotic essence, these cookies are always a treat in my family.