The general rule for all Greek “syrup sweets”
is to make the syrup first, so that it can cool while everything else is
being prepared. The process is always to pour cold syrup over the sweets when they are still hot from the oven. A good option is
to make the syrup a day ahead of baking.
I like the taste of these melomakarona, and I recommend this version wholeheartedly.
(makes about 50 cookies)
Ingredients
for the honey syrup:
2 cups granulated
sugar
2 ½ cups water
The peel
from 1 large orange
One orange
cut in half (do not use the peeled or zested orange)
The juice of half a lemon
2 sticks
of cinnamon
2 branches
of thyme
2 cups honey
To make the melomakarona honey syrup:
In a saucepan, mix the sugar and water. Add the orange peel, the orange halves,
the cinnamon sticks and the thyme branches. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes
without mixing (mixing as the syrup cooks may cause the sugar to crystallise).
Remove
from the heat.
Add the
honey and mix. Let the honey syrup cool for an hour. Strain the syrup and allow
it to continue cooling.
Ingredients for the Melomakarona:
½ cup good vegetable oil
¾ cup
mild olive oil (can use olive oil exclusively as long as it’s a mild/mellow variety)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup
fresh-squeezed orange juice
3 cups
cake flour (if cake flour is not available, use all-purpose flour)
1 extra cup of cake
flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1
teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup
brandy (Grand Marnier is the best option)
1 and 1/2 cups fine semolina (not coarse semolina)
zest of 2
oranges
zest of
one lemon
1
teaspoon ground cloves
2
teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon
ground allspice
½
teaspoon salt
For the topping:
1 cup of coarsely ground walnuts mixed with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of ground cloves.
- Cover two or three cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Preheat the over to 350° F
- Do not use an electric mixer because they are powerful and will cause the oil to leach out, thereby creating a dry dough. Use good old-fashioned bowls and a whisk, a spatula, and your hands.
In a large bowl, sift the three cups of cake flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine the powdered sugar with the oil. Whisk well. Add the orange juice, orange zest, lemon zest, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground allspice. Whisk well until combined.
- Add this wet mixture to the flour mixture. Begin to
gently combine. Continue mixing gently while adding the brandy and semolina.
- Turn the mixture onto a surface floured with some of the extra cake flour. Knead gently, adding more flour if needed, to obtain a soft dough.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Take tablespoonfuls of dough and shape them into oval cookies about 2 & 1/2 inches long. Press them on the top with the back of a fork to create horizontal lines. The grooves made with the fork are decorative and also help to hold onto the syrup.
- Place the melomakarona on the prepared cookie sheets. As soon as a cookie sheet is full, place it in the oven. It's important that the melomakarona don't stay on the counter for too long. If they do, they'll begin to dry out. Bake for about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, continue shaping cookies.
- Place about 3 cookies that are still hot from the oven onto a large slotted spoon. Dip them in the syrup. Don't let them soak for too long. About half to maybe a full minute is plenty. The cookies should absorb some syrup yet still remain crunchy.
- Place the melomakarona on a serving dish and sprinkle the walnut topping over them. The topping will stick to the honey.
- Let cool before serving.
- The melomakarona should keep for fifteen days. They are good for a longer time, but they'll taste drier because the oil will begin to evaporate.
*Source:
http://www.24grammata.com/?p=6966 with a section written in Greek, and a section in English borrowed from "An Etymology Dictionary of the English Language, by Walter W. Skeat, 1893."
Below is the English entry: