Ivy on November 1st, 2009

I love the taste of lemon and I have been wanting to make lemon curd for ages.  However, butter and eggs was the reason that kept me from making it.  However, even if I have been avoiding eggs and butter as much as I can, I still want to make a few things at least [...]

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Ivy on March 5th, 2009

Daktyla kyrion (meaning ladies fingers) is one of the most known Cypriot pastry desserts and a speciality offered during the pre-lenten period  called “Sikoses” in Cyprus.  The word “sikoses” derives from the verb σηκώνω = sikono, meaning lifting.  Sikoses is the ten day period before lent when the lifting of all the meat takes place [...]

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Ivy on January 31st, 2009

I have made a Revani recipe before but there are a lot of variations to this recipe, each one having a character of its own.   A blogger friend of mine in Facebook sent me a picture of a dessert she ate when she visited Greece but could not remember the name and wanted me [...]

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Ivy on December 31st, 2008

Samousades is the Spartan version of baklavas and is made in a similar way we make “daktyla” in Cyprus, the only difference is that they are rolled into a thicker roll .

Samousades is traditionally made with hand made phyllo and it is filled with nuts, almonds or walnuts, sesame seeds and spices. It [...]

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Ivy on September 12th, 2008

Revani or Ravani is one of the best Greek desserts. It is a cake made with flour or semolina and bathed in syrup. Revani has its roots in Asia Minor and as many of the Greek desserts the Turks now call them Turkish. Traditionally the cake does not have any cream and in some parts [...]

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Ivy on July 19th, 2008

My mom used to love baklava, and this is her recipe, although I added nutmeg, and substituted the almonds with pecans and walnuts. I learnt about pecans recently and have been using them often since then and they have become a killer combination in the flaky, sticky pastry. Although I love baklavas I rarely [...]

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Ivy on April 13th, 2008

Loukoumades (doughnuts) are made in many places on earth and this I realized when I participated with Akoumia Symiaca a few months ago at the event - It’s time to make Doughnuts. I suppose some doughnuts are better than others depending on the ingredients used. The doughnuts I tried in Greece did not thrill [...]

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Ivy on January 31st, 2008

Kalon Prama means Nice Thing or Good Stuff and is the Cypriot name of this cake. The Greek name is Samali. I was meaning to make this for a long time now and there are a lot of Cypriot recipes I have still to record but kept postponing it as I kept making new [...]

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Ivy on December 30th, 2007

For my last posting for this year I chose a traditional Greek pastry,

which is prepared and served on special occasions.

I wish to extend to all of you my sweetest wishes, hoping that your New Year

will be prosperous and as sweet as diples.

Diples (pronounced dipless and meaning folded)
Last but not least this [...]

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Ivy on November 22nd, 2007

You do not have to think hard what to do when you have a lot of walnuts.  What better than a traditional Walnut Cake, which will bring back memories of good old times….

Ingredients:

2 cups of semolina
1 cup of flour
3 tablespoons of baking powder
1 cup of crushed walnuts
1 cup of ground walnuts
1 tablespoonful [...]

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