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These cookies were brought to Greece by Venetian bakers when Venice ruled parts of Greece from the 14th to 17th centuries. Ingredients:1 egg yolk 1/4 cup orange juice 1 Tb whiskey 1/2 cup sugar 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil--sunflower, peanut, safflower 3 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup semolina 1/8 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp each: ground cloves and cinnamon 1/2 tsp grated orange rind. Syrup:2 cups honey 1 cup boiling water
Topping:1/2 cup ground walnuts Directions: Preheat oven to 350o F (180o C) 1. Sift the the flour, semolina, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ground cloves and cinnamon into a small bowl. Set aside. 2. Beat the egg yolk, whiskey and sugar in an electric mixer. 3. Add the oil slowly as you continue beating the mixture until it reaches the consistency of mayonnaise. 4. Slowly beat in the flour mixture and the grated orange peel. 5. Finish by kneading by hand until smooth. 6. Place a heaping tablespoon of dough in your hand and form into an oval shape. 7. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and press the top slightly with the back of a fork to indent. 8. Bake 20 minutes 9. While the melomakarona are baking prepare the syrup by bringing the honey and the water to a boil. Let it reach soft candy stage . Remove from heat source . 10. While the cookies are hot, dip them into the warm syrup for a few seconds and place them on a tray/dish with raised edges. Sprinkle with nuts. Pour any left over syrup onto the tray. Let the cookies absorb the honey. They will taste better after four hours when cooled. The cookies can be removed from the excess syrup and stacked on a plate and covered with clear wrap. They will keep for weeks this way. Alternately the cookies can remain in the tray with the excess syrup. They will be soggier but, in my opinion, tastier and should be consumed within a week's time or they will begin to fall apart. |