If you love a no bake cheesecake, this recipe is for you! It is light and fluffy, even though it is made with lemon flavoured jelly you cannot taste the lemon, so if you are not a lemon fan you will not notice it. My Aunt Angela always made this cheesecake when we were kids, it was my favourite. …
Eid/Bayram Desserts
Ambrosia Cake
It was the spring of 1995, my mom got me The Lion King vhs and my grandfather and I had planned a movie night, just the two of us, since my mom and grandma had plans to go out. I wanted to bake something for the occasion, I looked into the pantry and found everything I needed to make this cake!…
Turkish Delight Marshmallows
Two of my favourite childhood sweets in one, Turkish delight and marshmallows! My grandfather Haxhi was a lokum expert, he would make a huge pan of them; they were soft, gooey and delicious. He never made marshmallows, I myself just learned to make them in December. …
Turkish Delight -Lokum
Turkish Delight or Lokum in Turkish and Albanian are sweet, soft and chewy treats. They come in a variety of flavours and colours, but are most commonly made with rose water and are pink. Many of you may have learned about them from reading or watching the Chronicles of Narnia (Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe), and some from growing up eating them or from traveling to Turkey, for me I grew up with them….
Sekerpare
Şekerpare is an Albanian and Turkish butter cookie soaked in syrup. I had a really good recipe for it that my friend Candan and I came up with years ago until I lost it! I tried so many recipes since then and it never turns out good, the dough would turn out crumbly, or they just wouldn’t bake nicely. I find that the recipes that ask for irmik/semolina were too dry….
Peach Cookies – Pjeshke
Peach or Pjeshke in Albanian these cookies are popular in Italy and other south European countries in the Mediterranean such as Albania, Macedonia, and Croatia, they are made on religious holidays, weddings and special occasions.
They are a labour of love that’s for sure, if you plan to make them, prepare your day accordingly as they do take time to make. If you can get someone to assist you with making them that’s even better:)
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Revani – Semolina Cake
Out of all the traditional Albanian or Turkish desserts I have to say revani is my favourite! I guess you can say I go through my stages of favourites, but at this point its revani…I especially love when its moist and spongy! I have two other recipes posted on here, they are for the most part the same. This one has a lemony flavour to it where as the other I add coconut and I use organic corn meal. This one is made with semolina again the corn meal and semolina is interchangeable you may use either. Will share the links for the two other recipes below. …
Helva with Pine Nuts and Raisins / Irmik Helvasi
Sharing another helva recipe with you, this one is without pumpkin! My mother is the queen of helva, but I am learning over the years and getting better at it! I got the pine nut and milk addition from my husbands hala (aunt). I really enjoy the toasted pine nuts in the halva and thought the milk was a good idea.
My grandparents made helva with cream of wheat when they came to Canada as they couldn’t find the semolina needed for this, and they just stuck with it over the years, so I use it as well. You can use irmik Turkish semolina if you can find it, otherwise cream of wheat works perfectly, you can use just plain semolina as well if you desire.
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Laz Böregi Custard Pie with Filo
Laz Böreği in Turkish or Galaktoboureko in Greek is a dessert made with custard and filo. Unlike Napoleons or Mille-Feuille, the custard is baked in the pastry. This dessert is a specialty in the region of Rize Turkey off the coast of the Black Sea where my father-in-laws family originates from.
In Albania, my grandmother said that people would make baklava with a custard filling using milk and trahana because the walnuts were expensive back when she was a young girl, they called it qumeshtor.
My grandma actually made baklava with homemade filo dough, could you just imagine that? Making super thin layers of dough like that, she was a really hard working lady, and I can only imagine how delicious it was.
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Diamond Cut Baklava
Baklava is a delicious rich dessert that is very popular around the Mediterranean, every family and culture has their own traditional way of making it, my Grandmother from generations to generation in her family cut theirs in a star shape for the diamonds. For the syrup, I like mine simple without extra flavours or add ins, no cinnamon or rose water stuff like that just ruins it for me.
My Grandfather was the master of baklava, everyone came to our house for Bajram not just to visit, but to get some baklava! Wish he could be here to taste mine, as I never got the chance to make it for him…every time I make it I think of him. My Grandmother says mine tastes just like hers, which makes me feel so good<3…