Are you looking for a super-sweet, tender dessert with a nutty flavor that goes great with your coffee? Does baklava come to mind?
You're thinking in the right direction, but this dessert goes way beyond baklava. I'm talking about another popular, traditional Turkish dessert called "sekerpare" (shek-EYR' par-EH').
The name actually means "a piece of sweetness" and that's exactly what you get. Semolina cookies topped with hazelnuts, almonds or pistacios are crisp when they first come out of the oven.
But, after steeping in sweet, sticky, lemony syrup for hours, these morsels become so tender, they melt in your mouth.
Like baklava, they are made with natural, healthy ingredients like semolina, wheat flour, eggs and nuts. The advantage is that they're much easier to make!
That's why you'll find sekerpare in nearly every home, bakery, sweet shop and restaurant in Turkey. Try this recipe for sekerpare I use at home.
Turkish semolina cookies steeped in syrup
Once you get used to kneading the dough and shaping the balls by hand, this recipe is actually easy. You 'll be seeking out "pieces of sweetness" whenever you want to satisfy your craving for super-sweet, traditional Turkish goodies.
More Turkish dessert recipes:
Photo © Kybele - Fotolia.com