Last week I told you all about my yeast fiasco and how it wasn’t proofing, but this week I at least got that straight!  I tasted these while staying with a good friend in Bahrain – she made them for afternoon tea, and I knew I was going to come home and work on my own version.  I’ve just never tasted a donut like this – with cardamom, (black) sesame seeds for nuttiness, and, though I know it looks sticky sweet, not-too-sweet date molasses as the glaze.  It’s the perfect little treat.

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Although I’ve eaten my way through Greece and Turkey and have seen many, many types of preserves, this one took me by surprise.  Walnuts picked before they are ripe, in their green state where there’s only a soft covering and not a hard shell, are peeled, soaked, boiled, reboiled, and simmered in sugar syrup to produce this beautiful gem, which deceivingly looks a bit like an olive from the outside…

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I know what you’re thinking.  This chick went to Peru and came back plumb-quinoa-crazy since she just posted a quinoa recipe 2 weeks ago.  I feel you guys deserve an explanation, so I’m going to level with you.  I was actually working on an exciting recipe for some black sesame Arabic donuts with date molasses (sounds pretty delicious, no?), but I had a yeast malfunction issue. TWICE.  And after 2 trips to the store in the cold and a bit of heartache (I’m not a yeast novice.  I blame the yeast!), I decided to warm myself up with this soup and share it with you guys.  Donuts tbd…

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