Melamakarona, a Special Greek Christmas Cookie

On my trips back home from Spain, I used to travel via Athens. During December, the meal served on Greek airlines would include a typical Christmas Greek dessert. I was never sure what the Greeks called this special cookie but I was always sure of its taste! After some fiddling around, I managed to know what this sweet cookie was: melamakarona, the Greek honey cookie.

These yummy cookies feature the best of warm and Christmas flavors: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oranges and honey.

The name of the dessert reminded me of a famous Levantine dessert: maakaroun. However, maakarouns are made on the feast of the Epiphany. Moreover, alhough they are shaped similarly, maakarouns are fried while melomakaronas are baked.

If you enjoy trying recipes from all over the world, then you should add this recipe to your book of baking. During December, I get a bit more active in trying out various recipes from all over the world and I will leave the links at the end of the post of some of what I tried.

Now let´s make some melomakaronas. For 25 to 28 pieces you need:

• 250 g flour
• 50 g fine semolina
• 50 g brown sugar
• 1/2 or 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp of baking soda and 1/8 tsp of baking powder
• dash of salt
• zest of half an orange
• 100 g mild olive oil
• 100 g orange juice
• 5 to 10 g brandy

For the syrup:

• 150 g water
• 200 g sugar
• 100 g honey
• 2 to 3 cloves
• 1 stick of cinnamon
• one thick slice of orange

First, start by making the syrup. In a sauce pan, combine all the ingredients but the honey . Put on a gentle flame and simmer for about 5 minutes. When the sugar dissolves completely, add the honey and simmer again for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To make the cookies, combine the wet ingredients: olive oil, orange juice and brandy and stir.In another bowl mix all the dry ingredients and mix well. Now add the wet ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a soft and manageable dough.

Leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

Now take about 20 g of the dough, shape into a ball or sausage shape and gently pass it over a grater to create the shape of the melomakarona. Place the shaped cookies over a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven dip them in the cool syrup. Remove from the syrup and place them on a rack to let them drain. Once they cool sprinkle some chopped walnuts and  you are done!

The cookies can be served alone or with a warm cup of tea or dark coffee. They are deeply scented by all those wonderful spices, honey and oranges and go so well these hot comforting beverages.

With every bite I took into the melamakarona, I was transported to a different spot in Greece, a country that I love dearly and visited many times. Now it's up you to travel the world through sweets, and if you're short on ideas, why not travel to Greece like I did? I promise, you will enjoy every moment of it! 

To check other christmas recipes click on the following links: here, here, here, here and here

Ruffled Milk Pie, a Greek Classic!

I don´t know about you, but in most of my trips to the supermarket I end up forgetting what I came in for initially and instead buy stuffs that, let's say, were not really needed urgently.

So during my last supermarket adventure, I bought filo pastry because it was just there and I couldn´t resist! I also bought way too many blueberries and raspberries. When I left, I thought to myself, how on earth am I going to consume all of these fruits before they go bad or are no longer in their prime flavor and texture?

In my head I started jumping from one recipe to another in which I would use the fruits and the pastry together, and I finally landed on a pie I saw many years ago while watching a Martha Stewart show. The Galatopita, a typical Greek recipe, was prepared on the show  by Vefa Alexiadou and I loved how simple and beautiful the pie was.

I felt that the pie would lend itself beautifully to berries and so I decided to twist the original recipe a little by omitting the cinnamon and using the excess blueberries and raspberries I had. If you want to stick to the original recipe, by all means do, it is perfect as it is: sweet, crunchy, creamy and with a mild taste of cinnamon.

To make this pie, for an 18 cm pan you need:

• 7 filo sheets
• 50 g melted butter
• 100 g of mixed berries: blueberries and raspberries
• 130 g sugar
• 2 eggs (about 100 g in total)
• 100 ml milk and 100 ml of cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

First you need to generously butter your pan. Then brush a filo dough with the melted butter and place some berries at the longest side of the sheet; I used 3 blueberries and 3 raspberries in each sheet. Roll the sheet to just cover the fruits then gather the rest of the sheet to create the ruffles.

Roll the ruffled sheet into a flower shape and place in the pan. As you work on one sheet of filo, make sure to cover the other sheets with a damp cloth or kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.

Once you have all your filo filled and rolled bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 25 to
30 min or until the dough is golden brown.

Meanwhile, combine the milk and the cream and let them simmer on a low heat. In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar and vanilla, slowly start adding the hot milk mixture. You need to temper the eggs before adding the rest of the milk and cream mix.

Add the custard mix over the filo and bake in the oven again for another 20 to 25 min or until you see that the mixture is set. If you feel the custard mix is in excess to what the pie needs, reserve the excess and cook separately.

Serve with a dust of powdered sugar and extra fruits. Enjoy the crunchiness of the filo on the top layer, then the tart and fragrant flavor of the fruits and the velvety smooth creaminess of the bottom layer.

What a wonderful Greek pie! I highly recommend you try it, especially if guests are coming over!