Greek women are one of the most amazing bakers and cooks as through food they express their love for the people around them. The food they cook and the desserts they make are pieces of culinary art as they combine excellent taste with unique presentation.
My sister is visiting me from Greece and one of the numerous things that my family and friends sent me were these amazing almond cookies. They are handmade from one of my aunt's friends. She lives in Ammouliani island, which is one of my favourite summer destinations, with her captain husband. The recipe is very simple yet these cookies are full of flavour. Generally I love sweets that have almonds as their basis so no matter how simple the recipe is it immediately becomes a favourite! These ones though are extra special due to their presentation! Those of you that bake know how difficult it is to work with delicate cookie dough to create such detailed stems of flowers. I know for a fact that my aunt's friend spent hours to make these. I think it wouldn't surprise you if I told you that these almond cookies are usually prepared for happy special occasions such as weddings and are not a weekly custom. The women that bake and cook on that level are true experts and in Greece most of the older generation belongs to that category. I sure have lot to learn till I reach their level! I feel so privileged to have them around as an inspiration!
Before eating them I had to take a photo of each one as all of them were different.
Ingredients:
200g ground white almonds
50g icing sugar
30g water
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
We combine the dry ingredients together and the wet ones in a separate bowl. We them mix them together and work with our finger to get a sticky dough that we can work with our hands. We mould it either in small balls, flowers or any shape we like. We bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C until they get a light golden colour.
We can cover them in icing sugar if we want.
0 comments:
Post a Comment