Black Sesame Arabic Donuts w/Date Molasses

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.

The original dish is called luqaimat or luqmat, and they are often described as fermented, sweet dumplings; they’re eaten year-round but especially around Ramadan and may be glazed with sugar syrup rather than date molasses. But as with most foods, these balls of fried dough aren’t 100% unique. They are related to loukamades, a Greek version, and are loosely similar to Indian jalebiand even Italian zeppole.

And the reality is that what I had in Bahrain had a hollower, lighter and crisper texture. When I watched this batter being made, it was completely by eye and water (rather than milk) was added to achieve the right batter consistency. I turned these guys into more of a donut (much closer to zeppole) for my own purposes. I love them this way but will continue to experiment and play around with quantities to see what I others end up liking the best.

Regardless, these are hard to resist – crispy and doughy at the same time, perfumed with cardamom and saffron, a touch of sesame for nuttiness and that tangy, addictive date molasses…Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields approximately 2 dozen donuts

3/4 cup milk

¼ cup sugar

1 packet active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsps)

1 cup flour

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp salt

pinch saffron

2 tbsps black sesame seeds, toasted

3 tbsps yoghurt, room temperature

oil for frying

¼ cup date molasses

Procedure

In a small saucepan, heat milk to just warm and remove from the heat. If it gets too hot, it will kill the yeast – you should still be able to dip your finger in it with no problem (110°-115° F). Add the sugar and the yeast and stir to combine. Let sit 10 minutes. It should start to bubble and get foamy (if not, your yeast may no longer be active).

In a bowl, sift together the flour, cardamom and salt. Add the saffron and the black sesame seeds to the flour mixture and whisk to combine. Add the yoghurt to the warm milk/yeast mixture, whisk to combine and then whisk it into the flour mixture. You want to make the batter uniform and lump free. Transfer to a greased bowl – cover and keep in a warm place for 2 hours.

Heat 2 to 3 inches of your preferred frying oil in a large pot to 325° F. Using a small ice cream scoop (or spoon), spoon uniform balls of the batter into the hot oil. Fry for 5 to 7 minutes until the donuts turn a dark golden brown. Continuously move them around and flip them so that they get evenly browned. Transfer to a rack or paper towels to degrease.

Toss the fried donuts with the date molasses while they are still warm and serve as soon as possible.

Espresso-Chocolate Brigadeiros

I love when I discover a food or dish that is completely a blank slate – a truly adaptable item that you can tailor to your own taste preferences with a few key ingredients. Brigadeiros, another one of my Brazilian discoveries, are precisely that, a docinho or sweet that is enjoyed all over the country. These are effectively little balls of luscious, milk fudge that are ridiculously easy to make and that can be layered with any flavor combo you like.

Now, when I say easy, even that might be an overstatement. It can be as simple as 3 ingredients – sweetened condensed milk, unsalted butter, and whatever you are flavoring are garnishing these little guys with. I found my favorite sweet shop in Rio and kept sneaking a new flavor (or two, who are we kidding) back to my hotel room each day, but my heart really settled on chocolate, which is one of the most popular versions.

So, I will admit, I made the recipe more complicated than the original BUT only in number of ingredients. And, of course, I think using real chocolate in lieu of just cocoa (the tradition) gives it a much richer taste. It’s seldom I go all in on just chocolate in a dessert, so the espresso powder, I think, brings out what’s best about the semisweet chocolate. I would say that the addition of heavy cream, vanilla, salt and corn syrup make this somewhere between a truffle and a brigadeiro – but the result is simply heavenly: rich, thick fudgy bites with that signature mocha flavor. Next time, I plan to use Mexican chocolate, one of my favorite ingredients out there, and see what happens. Enjoy!

Ingredient

Makes approximately 2 dozen brigadeiros

3 tbsps unsalted butter

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

¼ tsp kosher salt

3 tbsps heavy cream

1 tsp light corn syrup

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 ¼ tsp instant espresso powder

1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3.5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (approx ¾ cup)

Garnish: cocoa powder, chocolate sprinkles or vermicelli, and/or chocolate-covered espresso bean

Procedure

In a small, preferably nonstick, pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sweetened condensed milk, salt, heavy cream, corn syrup and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. When the mixture starts to bubble, add the espresso powder, cocoa powder and chopped chocolate and whisk to melt chocolate. Cook on medium-low for 10-15 minutes whisking constantly. The mixture should just lightly bubble around the edges so reduce the heat if it’s cooking too quickly.

When it’s ready, you should see that the mixture will pull away from the sides and slide around the bottom. Transfer to a metal bowl and don’t scrape the bottom of the pot. Let cool for 30 to 45 minutes at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge.

You want to cool the mixture completely before rolling the brigadeiros. This will take likely between 3 and 4 hours. I actually took the bowl out after 2 hours and used a small, greased ice cream scoop to scoop out 24 equal mounds of the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then, I put it back into the fridge to firm up for another 20 minutes. The increased surface area makes it cool faster.

Make sure your hands are greased and roll the mixture into even-sized balls. Then, it is up to your imagination how to garnish. You can simply roll in cocoa powder or sprinkles. I garnished mine with chocolate vermicelli and a chocolate-covered espresso bean. I think the little paper baking cups make it look adorable. These are best enjoyed at room temperature.

These will keep for 2 days at room temperature if you keep them in an airtight container. In the fridge, they’ll keep for closer to a month. If refrigerating, bring to room temperature before serving.

Kourabiedes-Inspired Madeleines

Madeleines to me have always been a bit untouchable – you know, one of those things you look at and say that is better left to someone else to make (because I couldn’t possibly produce that sort of perfection!). I loved conquering that fear here. Yes, they take a bit of finesse to make the genoise batter (the base of them) but can easily be mastered in one or two try’s, and THEN become a serious piece in your culinary arsenal. I plan to show these off, in fact, at my Thanksgiving table…

Kourabiedes are a Greek, shortbread cookie that are served at holidays, particularly Christmas. As opposed to a traditional shortbread, these cookies have almonds ground up in the batter, rosewater to scent them, and are crescent-shaped and dusted with powdered sugar.

Kourabiedes were absolutely the inspiration for me to create these fluffy, buttery madeleines. As opposed to grinding up the almonds, I used almond extract here to keep the integrity of the madeleine – that signature spongy texture. I also went ahead and browned the butter before adding it to the batter; brown butter is simply butter that has been cooked until the milk solids turn a golden color and it smells like hazelnuts. It adds a beautiful, nutty undertone to complement the almond flavor. The key to this batter is beating the eggs until they have tripled in volume, not deflating it when adding in the flour and browned butter, and resting it a bit before cooking. The result: light as air, addictive and buttery madeleines that are nutty and perfumed with rosewater. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 1 dozen

5 tbsps unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1/3 cups sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1 ½ tbsps rose water

1/2 cup + 2 tbsps all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp kosher salt

extra butter and flour for greasing

powdered sugar

Procedure

In a small pan, heat butter over medium-low heat until it browns and gives off a hazelnut aroma. Be careful not to burn. Strain butter through a cheesecloth or paper towel-lined mesh strainer and set aside to cool completely.

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat eggs with sugar until they have tripled in volume and the mixture is extremely foamy. When the beater is lifted, a ribbon should form. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract and rosewater and beat for a few seconds to incorporate.

Sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. If you are using a stand mixer, remove the bowl from the stand. Otherwise, carefully fold in the flour mixture using a spatula. You don’t want to work it too much or the mixture will deflate. Add a little of the mixture to the cooled brown butter and fold it all back in carefully. Cover and refrigerate the batter for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 375º F. Generously grease a madeleine pan (I used non-stick) with softened or melted butter and then dust with flour, shaking off any excess. Divide the dough amongst the 12 molds, letting a tablespoon or so just heap in the center.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes on the center rack of the oven until the edges look golden brown and the centers feel a bit spongy. Serve the same day sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Apple Pie with Star Anise Brown Butter

Fall may just be my favorite time of year. I grew up in Florida, where seasons blend and highs in the 80’s are not unheard of in mid-December. Now that I’ve been in NYC for so long, I can’t tell you how much I look forward to that first cool breeze, the leaf change and, of course, something I NEVER did before living up here…apple-picking! Yes, a beautiful, clear Fall day driving out to a farm, apple-picking, rooting around a pumpkin patch (and, potentially, a hayride to my husband’s dismay) is for me perfection.

Now, the reality is once you get out amongst the orchards, apple-picking turns to sport. And you can’t help but go a bit loony and bring back a quantity of apples that most normal people couldn’t consume in a year. I end up making pies, apple butter and chutneys until I can’t look at another apple for a year, and this weekend was no exception. I went in on some Red Delicious, Idareds, and Mushus, and this pie was the (necessary) result.

In fact, it was really my post from last week where I was dreaming up incorporating star anise into an apple pie that led me to create this recipe. The star anise infuses the brown butter, and that fragrant nuttiness complements the light, licorice-like flavor of the spice. In combination with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a rich vanilla bean, the pie has a complexity that still doesn’t take away from the simplicity of the apple pie itself – that traditional apple flavor and buttery, flaky crust. I love to make the crust from scratch, but feel free to use your own recipe here or go ready-made. The filling could not be more simple, and this is now my go-to apple pie…Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields (1) 9-inch pie

Double crust:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 sticks butter, chilled and cut into cubes

8-9 tbsps ice water

For the pie filling:

6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/8” thick*

a generous squeeze lemon juice

½ cup light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp ground star anise

3 tbsps all-purpose flour

4 tbsps butter

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1 star anise

heavy cream for brushing

sugar for sprinkling

Procedure

First, we’re going to make and chill the crust. To the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, salt, sugar and butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Turn mixture out into a bowl and add water, a tablespoon at a time, pressing dough using a pastry cutter or a fork until dough starts to come together. Dough will have both sandier crumbs and more clumped wet pieces. Divide dough in half and wrap each piece in plastic wrap forming each into flattened discs. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 425° F.

In a large bowl, mix together the sliced apples with lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, and flour.

In a small sauté pan over medium-low heat, melt butter with vanilla bean, the scraped vanilla seeds, and the star anise. Swirl pan and watch carefully as the foam subsides and the milk solids take on a golden brown color. The butter should look like the color of and smell like hazelnuts. Remove from the heat immediately, take out the vanilla bean and star anise and add to the apple mixture, stirring to incorporate thoroughly.

On a floured surface or between parchment paper, roll out the first disc to a 12” diameter circle and place carefully in the pie dish. Fill with apple mixture. Roll out the second disc and cut strips using a knife or pastry cutter to desired width. Place strips over pie and place remaining strips at a right angle, weaving if desired. Brush top crust with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes keeping the pie on the middle rack with a baking sheet on the rack just below it to catch anything that might bubble over. Reduce heat to 350° F and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes until top is golden brown.

Let cool on a rack for 2 hours before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I used a combination of Idareds and Mushus here.

Mandazi (East African Donuts)

One of my earliest cooking memories was when I asked my aunt to teach me how to make mandazis. I think I was about 8 or 9 years old, and I was very serious about learning how to do these. For some reason, we wouldn’t make these delectable little donuts at home. I got to eat them when I traveled to see my family, and only the old school grandmas and aunties knew the secret. Of course, East African restaurants were pretty much nonexistent in Florida where I grew up (not that I can find any now that serve these in NYC…I’m just saying). So I felt I had to carry on the tradition!

Of course, the dish was a bit ambitious for an 8 year old (in one ear…and out the other!), and I was more focused on enjoying the fruits of my aunt’s and my labor than on getting the technique down. As an adult, however, I decided I wanted to perfect my own using the tad more culinary knowledge I now have.

I should be clear: mandazis are savoury. They shouldn’t be too sweet or too salty. One of my most treasured food memories is sitting, facing the Indian Ocean, in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, using the (hollow) mandazis to scoop up a tender stew of pigeon peas in coconut milk with fresh chilies and cilantro (called barazi). But, of course, you can eat them however you like; I’m partial now to having them for breakfast.

These are very easy to make. A little yeast leavens the dough, and I use a combination of all-purpose and rice flour to make them even lighter. A touch of sweetness, lightly coconut-scented, and that signature cardamom flavor. Heavenly…Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 2 dozen donuts

¼ cup sugar

1 ½ tsp yeast

2/3 cup warm water

½ cup coconut milk

1 ¾ cup all purpose flour

¾ cup rice flour

¾ tsp salt

3 tbsp dried grated coconut (preferably unsweetened, adjust sugar if not)

¾ – 1 ¼ tsps ground cardamom*

oil for frying

salt & powdered sugar

Procedure

This can easily be made in a stand mixer or by hand.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and let bloom 5-10 minutes. It should become foamy and frothy. Turn the mixer on low and add coconut milk.

In a separate bowl, sift flours together and mix in salt, grated coconut and cardamom. Add contents to liquids in the mixer and knead on low for 5 to 10 minutes. Conversely, you can also knead by hand – the dough should get pretty smooth (except for the grated coconut) and relatively sticky.

Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for a minimum of 2 hours.

On a floured work surface, divide dough into 4 even pieces. Form each piece into a ball and flatten to a disc. Roll each circle out to about ¼” thick and cut like a pie into six triangular pieces. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet while working on each piece.

In a dutch oven or pot, heat 3 to 4 inches of oil to 360 F. Working in batches, carefully drop a few triangles into the oil. Don’t overcrowd or the oil temperature will drop. As soon as the triangles puff, quickly flip them over. This will ensure that both sides cook – if they become lopsided, it will be hard to keep them on the less inflated side to brown. Cook for a few minutes, flipping at intervals until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet and lighltly salt.

Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

They are best served warm as they can get a touch chewy once they’ve cooled. If you need to reheat, do so in a very low oven or on a low power in the microwave.

*Traditionally, cardamom is roughly ground and added to the mandazi batter. This results in biting into delightful pieces of cardamom while eating the donuts. I add about 1 ¼ teaspoons when I’m using roughly ground cardamom and more like ¾ teaspoon when I use the powdered / ground form.

Double Chocolate Mint Cookies

So my obsession with the holidays has me thinking of more and more ways to celebrate and put my own spin on the traditions we all know and love. I’m also in the midst of trying to plan for my holiday party this week, and I love to give my guests a little of the familiar and a little of the unexpected. That (and a deep craving for mint and chocolate!) was the inspiration for this recipe.

To be completely truthful, this recipe, like others I’m doing for this party, is a sneaky way to save time and be efficient. I can make this dough at the beginning of the week, freeze it in long skinny cylinders, and then cut them into little rounds. During the party, I can throw them into the oven towards the end of the night for 5 to 10 minutes, and voila! Everyone gets fresh-baked, mini cookies, and my apartment smells like heaven…

I wanted to create pillowy, moist, brownie-rich, chocolate chip cookies scented with peppermint. Who doesn’t love that? The ingredient that adds a bit of the unfamiliar is ground cardamom; the spice has a menthol-like quality that works beautifully with the mint. I’m a dark chocolate girl myself, but I threw in some white chocolate chips for the creaminess – it helps offset the bitterness of the dark chocolate and blends seamlessly with the mint. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields approximately 2 dozen cookies (size-dependent)

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup white sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp peppermint extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup dark chocolate chunks or chips

½ cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer using a paddle attachment, cream together butter and both sugars. Add the egg and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Add flour mixture and mix until almost completely incorporated. It should mostly be sticking to the paddle at this point. Scrape down, add in chips and mix for another 15 to 20 seconds until uniform.

At this point, I like to turn the cookie dough out onto plastic wrap, form into a cylinder, and freeze for about 10 minutes. This makes it easier to cut into even sized, round cookies. Also, at this point, you can freeze the dough for later use – overnight or longer. Conversely, you can just drop rounded spoonfuls a few inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes depending on how chewy or crunchy or what size you made the cookies. Remember to add a few more minutes if you froze the cookies ahead of time and are putting them straight in. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

West Indian Cassava Pone

This dish has to be one of my favorite West Indian desserts. After my first bite of this sweet, gelatinous “cake”, I became obsessed, which culminated in some serious lessons in Trinidadian cooking from my husband’s Aunt Cherry who lives in Port-of-Spain. I’m one of those nervous bakers – constantly peering into the oven to make sure a cake is rising well, and my heart is in my throat during the moment of truth unmolding. When she and I made this together, she didn’t even use measuring cups! An unnerving confidence in her years of cooking that she could eyeball the right texture…

In different West Indian counties, I’ve seen pone made with root vegetables – cassava here but also carrots and sweet potato, always with coconut, and some with pumpkin and even raisins. What’s fascinating is that there’s a soul food iteration of pone (I’ve mostly seen the sweet potato kind) that they make in the South. Would love to cross compare!

There are dozens of pone recipes out there. I am one of those that absolutely love the moist, gummy texture, but find that it can be a bit too dense at times (thus in some West Indian countries it’s called “heavy cake”). So I modified the traditional recipes a bit to make the texture a bit lighter here but still with that gelatinous bite. I also made it thinner, to be eaten like a dessert bar rather than a cake. Evaporated milk gives a bit of silkiness, and the vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and, yes, black pepper that delicious pumpkin pie-like spice. I also saw that some Southern pone recipes use molasses, so I incorporated a few tablespoons for some beautiful, caramelized sweetness and a deeper color. Heat it and throw a scoop of ice cream on top for serious decadence. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Yields 1 9” x 13” x 2” 3-quart baking dish

2 cups grated cassava

1 ½ cups grated fresh coconut

1 can evaporated milk

3 tbsps unsalted butter, melted

1 ½ tsps vanilla extract

1 cup light brown sugar

3 tbsps molasses

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp baking powder

1 ¼ tsps ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, whisk together coconut milk, melted butter, sugar and molasses until sugar is dissolved.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and black pepper and whisk to combine. Add wet ingredients a little at a time to the dry ingredients whisking until batter is smooth (don’t overmix). Fold in grated cassava, and coconut.

Transfer mixture to a greased dish and bake @ 350° F for 45 minutes. The edges should look brown and starting to separate from the baking dish. Remember that, if you are using a different baking dish from what I specified, cooking time will vary. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

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