Honey and milk ice cream with Greek Pasteli

For the past couple of weeks in the Netherlands, we have been experiencing the worst heat wave since 2006. I wasn’t here in 2006, I moved here a year later and what I immediately liked about the Dutch summer was the cool temperatures. Never too hot, warm during the day with lots of sunshine, and pleasantly cool during the evenings.

I am Greek and I have lived in Athens my whole life so of course I’m used to the heat but let me tell you, what’s going on these past couple of weeks over here is something I can barely stand. The humidity is so high, your whole body sticks to every surface, every cloth and your mind just turns into mush. You have no energy or will to move, go out, work, eat or cook.

Needless to say, my kitchen is becoming more and more the least visited room in the apartment. The place where I’d normally spend a lot of my free time in, now I simply deny to enter.

That is unless I want to open the freezer to get some of this; ice cream. Quick and uncomplicated cooking is what it’s all about these days but the need to make my own ice cream is always present.

I’m nuts like that. I can’t eat the ready-made stuff, not more than once or twice during the summer. Chocolate is of course my number one choice when I make ice cream— I have actually been making a particular chocolate sorbet since early May, will have to share soon—but my latest addiction is this one. Honey and milk ice cream.

It is pure pleasure. A classic combination that yields an ice cream with a delicate flavor of honey and a subtle taste of milk. I’m not one to have ice cream on its own, I always like a little something to go with it, so this time I made pasteli. Pasteli is a famous Greek confection, a sesame seeds and honey candy that’s compressed into bars. It is a classic energy bar that’s a favorite among all Greeks.

The creamy, rich, milky, smooth ice cream and the chewy and slightly crisp pasteli are a match made in heaven. The honey in the pasteli brings out the honey flavor in the ice cream and the nuttiness of the sesame seeds complements its creaminess.

The heat wave may be relentless but it is also giving us a good excuse to splurge on our favorite ice creams. Or so we claim.

Honey and Milk Ice Cream

I used Greek flower honey but orange blossom honey would work very well. Make sure you enjoy the taste of the honey you’re using and that it is of good quality; the taste and texture of the ice cream depends on it.
To those of you who don't particularly enjoy the flavor of milk, let me assure you, it's not overwhelming.

Yield: about 900 g

Ingredients
300 ml fresh whole milk
6 medium-sized egg yolks
110 g caster sugar
300 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
3 Tbsp runny honey (I used Greek flower honey)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: electric hand-held mixer, hand wire whisk, ice cream machine (optional yet preferable)


Preparation
Add the milk to a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat just short of the boiling point. Remove from the heat and leave aside for 10 minutes.

In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar and beat on medium speed with an electric hand-held mixer until you have a creamy and thick mixture.
Switch to a hand wire whisk and while whisking the egg yolks, add the milk little-by-little. Empty this mixture back to the saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring continuously with a heatproof spatula until the mixture has the consistency of custard.
You’ll know when it’s ready when the mixture coats the back of a spatula with a thin layer. Do not allow the mixture to boil because it will curdle and you’ll have scrambled eggs instead of custard.
Empty the custard in a bowl and add the honey, mixing with a spatula. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to cool. It will take about 1 hour.

In the meantime, add the cream in a large bowl and beat with an electric hand-held mixer until you have a lightly whipped cream.
Fold the whipped cream and vanilla to the cool custard and pour the mixture into your ice cream machine. Churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions, empty the ice cream into a container suitable for the freezer and place in the freezer for a couple of hours or until the ice cream is firm enough to serve.

Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream machine, empty the ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Place the mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also use a blender, or even a stick blender.
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take 2 to 3 hours, depending on how strong your freezer is.

You can keep the ice cream in your freezer for a week.

Pasteli (Greek Honey and Sesame Seed Bars)

Pasteli can also be made with almonds or other nuts but this is the classic version and the one I prefer.
You can toast the sesame seeds before you use them in the pasteli but I prefer it less nutty and not too strong.
I like to “caramelize” the honey before adding it to the sesame seeds, something that makes its flavor more pronounced and rounded. This is achieved by bringing the honey to the boil three times and letting it cool between each boil. It takes more time than simply heating the honey once, but the result is better.

Yield: about 20 bars (9x3 cm with a thickness of 0.7 cm)

Ingredients
125 g runny honey (I used Greek thyme honey)
200 g white sesame seeds

Special equipment: baking paper, rolling pin


Preparation
In a medium-sized saucepan, add the honey and place on medium heat. Bring to the boil, without stirring it, and remove pan from the heat. Leave honey to cool completely and then put it on medium heat again and bring it to the boil, without stirring it. Remove from the heat, leave it to cool completely.

On a clean work surface, lay a large piece of baking paper and have ready another piece.

Place the honey back on medium heat a third time. Bring it to the boil, without stirring it, and immediately add the sesame seeds to the pan. Using a wooden spatula, mix the sesame seeds in the honey until the honey is absorbed by the seeds. It will take 3-4 minutes if you want a sticky and slightly soft pasteli. If you mix for 2-3 minutes more, you’ll get a crunchier and drier pasteli.

Take it off the heat and immediately empty the mixture onto the prepared baking paper. Spread it a bit with the wooden spoon and place the second piece of baking paper on top. Using a rolling pin, roll out the mixture. You want it to have a thickness of approximately 0.7 cm. Leave it to cool completely and then remove the top piece of baking paper.

The pasteli should be cut into small bars (approximately 9x3 cm). To cut it neatly and without difficulty, add some vegetable oil to a piece of kitchen paper and rub the blade of a large knife. This way the pasteli won’t stick to the knife when you cut it into bars. If you find that the knife is sticking, rub the blade with more oil.

You can keep the pasteli for 1 month, in an airtight container or a tin box, between pieces of baking paper so the bars don’t stick together.

The Kourabiedes

Since we all managed to survive the Mayan apocalypse and we're still alive, let's enjoy our holidays now, okay?

For me, the holidays officially begin on the day I make the first Christmas cookies. These are of course the traditional Greek kourabiedes and melomakarona.

The moment they go in the oven and my apartment begins to fill with their sweet buttery and spicy aromas, my festive mood kicks in.

I can't believe that after three Christmases writing this blog, I haven't yet posted a traditional Greek Christmas sweet recipe. (Oops, I have!). The time has come though. The time for kourabiedes.

Kourabiedes/κουραμπιέδες (singular: kourabies/κουραμπιές) are shortbread-type cookies that are made with chopped toasted almonds and are covered with lots and lots of icing sugar. This time of year, they're made in every single household around Greece and are greedily eaten by everyone.

As is the case with all traditional Greek recipes, almost every family has their own version of kourabiedes, and in my family they're always made with sheep's milk butter or a combination of goat's and sheep's milk butter. Unfortunately, I can't find it in Holland so I swapped it for cow's milk butter, I made some adjustments to my original recipe since the two butters have different consistencies and my kourabiedes were delicious and buttery and everything a good kourabies should be.

Kourabiedes are generally shaped into crescents or balls, either large or bite-sized ones, and are dusted with copious amounts of icing sugar, which makes them look like little snowy mountains. There's nothing like these Greek cookies to make you feel like Christmas is here. Go on, make them!

Kourabiedes - Greek Christmas Shortbread Cookies with Toasted Almonds and Icing Sugar

The secret to good kourabiedes is in the beating of the butter with the icing sugar until it becomes as fluffy as whipped cream. The result is the most light and airy cookies you'll ever have.

It's best if you use an ice cream scoop to shape the cookies because they will all bake uniformly.

Do not substitute the cow's butter for sheep's/goat's butter in this recipe because they have different consistencies (sheep/goat butter is more liquid) and you won't have the desired result.
You can double the recipe to make more kourabiedes but don't double the vanilla extract but just add 2 tsp.

Yield: 17-18 kourabiedes

Ingredients
250 g cow's milk butter, at room temperature
70 g icing sugar
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
65 g almonds, either with or without skins (I use almonds without skins)
265 g all-purpose flour

200 g icing sugar for coating

Special equipment: stand mixer (preferably) or hand-held mixer, small food processor, plastic wrap, spring-release ice cream scoop like the one pictured here (optional), large baking sheet, baking paper


Preparation
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl), add the butter and icing sugar and beat, using the paddle attachment (or with your hand-held mixer), on medium-high speed for 18-20 minutes or until you have a very creamy and light mixture, resembling whipped cream. Add the vanilla and beat to incorporate.

Note: If you have a powerful stand mixer then the butter will be ready after 12-13 minutes rather than 18-20.

In the meantime, prepare your baking sheet by lining it with baking paper, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit and toast the almonds.
In a small frying pan, add the almonds and set the pan over medium-low heat. Toast them, stirring often, until they start releasing their aromas. Be careful not to burn them though. Remove them from the pan and place in a bowl to cool down. Then place them in a food processor and chop them coarsely.

Add the chopped almonds to the beaten butter and mix for a few seconds on medium-high speed until incorporated.
Add the flour and beat on medium speed until just incorporated and you have a soft and fluffy dough that will be ever-so-slightly sticky. The dough mustn't be firm.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 25-30 minutes in order for the dough to firm up a bit.

Using a (preferably spring-release) ice cream scoop (5.5 cm in diameter) scoop balls of dough and shape into balls. If you don't have an ice cream scoop, use your hands. Place each ball on the baking paper-lined baking sheet, spacing 3cm apart because the cookies will spread a little while baking. Press the top of each ball lightly to flatten it a bit and place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven.

Bake the kourabiedes for 17-20 minutes until they take on a light golden color and cracks appear at the top. Be careful not to burn them, they catch easily. Also, if they're a little soft in the middle, it's okay. They'll firm up while they cool.
When the kourabiedes are ready, take them out of the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In a large bowl, add the icing sugar and once the kourabiedes have cooled, add 3-4 at a time and coat them well all over with icing sugar.
Place each cookie on a large platter and dust with more icing sugar to cover completely.

You can keep the kourabiedes covered, at room temperature, for 2 weeks. They taste even better as the days pass.

The tsoureki

For us Greeks, Pascha (Easter) will be this Sunday. Lent is finally in its last days and come the end of the week, the whole country will be roasting lamb on a spit or in the oven and eating kokoretsi. After Easter lunch, the tsoureki will make its appearance.






I have been meaning to post about tsoureki the past couple of years but I never got around to it. Thankfully, this year I prepared it just in time and I can share it with all of you. Tsoureki is a sweet, braided, Greek Easter yeast bread that is traditionally made on Holy Thursday (along with the dyeing of the Easter eggs) and eaten on Easter Sunday. It is made with eggs and sugar and it is flavored with mastiha (a mastic-tree resin from the Greek island of Chios) and mahlepi, a highly aromatic spice made from the seeds of wild cherry trees.






Every family in Greece has their own recipe for tsoureki and of course my family has its own. Our version is called Politiko tsoureki (Politiko refers to the type of Greek cuisine I grew up with, of which you can read all about here) and it is one of two types of Greek tsoureki. The second type, called simply tsoureki, bears a strong similarity to brioche, having a very soft and stringy texture and is customarily sprinkled with blanched slivers of almond before baking.






The Politiko tsoureki is by far the best of the two in my opinion; but of course I'm biased. This is the tsoureki I grew up with; this is the tsoureki my grandmother taught me to make; this is the only tsoureki for me. No, this is not a wannabe brioche bread, it is the authentic Politiko tsoureki. There mustn't be confusion between the two.






Politiko tsoureki is a slightly dense and chewy sweet bread with a beautiful brown semi-soft crust. It's not overly sweet, it has a rich and full flavor of mahlepi and mastiha, and just before baking, it is glazed with a mixture of egg and milk and sprinkled with lots of sesame seeds. When you put it in the oven, the intense aroma of all the sweet spices permeates the house and disappears only after the last piece of tsoureki has been consumed. That characteristic smell always makes me miss my home and family.






This is for all of you out there who long for this type of tsoureki and of course for those of you who have yet to discover its wonderful flavor. Have fun making it!






Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter) to all my fellow Greeks and to everyone who will be celebrating Easter this Sunday!










Politiko Tsoureki - Greek Easter Sweet Bread

This tsoureki will last at least 3-4 days in top shape, without getting hard or stale or dry. The flavor will actually improve and it will be even more delicious as days pass.

Some useful tips about tsoureki baking:
1. Don't buy pre-ground mahlepi. The taste and smell can't be compared to that of freshly ground mahlepi which is by far superior.
2. The same goes for mastiha.
3. Use hard-wheat bread flour. This type of flour has a higher protein content 12-14% and more gluten, which helps the tsoureki rise and hold its shape and elasticity.
4. Use fresh yeast; don't be afraid of it. It will give more flavor to the tsoureki and a better rise.
5. If you have a stand mixer, don't waste your time kneading the dough by hand. The dough for the Politiko tsoureki is a stiff dough that needs a lot of muscle to handle. If you need the workout then go for it.
6. The dough should not be wet; it should not be sticking to your hands. It must be firm, pliable with a shiny and smooth texture.
7. Allow the dough to rise properly. Don't rush it. Leave it in a warm place but not in, near, in front, or on top of your oven or radiator. Wait patiently for it to rise. It may take 3 to 4 hours.
8. Make sure you leave the dough to rise in a draft-free place.
9. When you start shaping the ropes for the braided tsoureki, the dough shouldn't be sticking at all to your hands. If by any chance it does, sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and try to shape the ropes again. Sprinkle a little flour at a time, just enough to be able to shape the dough into ropes.
10. Don't braid the ropes too tightly because they need space to rise during the second proofing of the dough.




11. Braid the ropes of the tsoureki on a large piece of baking paper. It will be easier for you to transport your tsoureki to the baking sheet.
12. It's best if your baking sheet or tray doesn't have a dark color. Dark-colored trays retain more heat which may cause the bottom of your tsoureki to catch or burn.
13. If you apply two layers of glaze before baking the tsoureki, it will have a darker, richer color. If you want your tsoureki to have a lighter-colored crust, glaze it only once.
14. Once baked and cooled, keep the tsoureki covered with a clean kitchen towel. This way it will keep a nice and moist texture. Don't cover it with aluminum foil or keep it in a plastic bag.
15. Finally, I would like to point out something that I never enjoy saying but that's extremely important to keep in mind. Not all ingredients are or behave the same. We all use different brands of flour, sugar, butter, milk that do make a difference in the end product. What you need to do is follow the recipe but also trust yourself and your instincts when you're baking a tsoureki. Use your sight and touch to tell if there's something wrong with the dough. For example, if you feel that the dough is too dry, add a little more melted butter, or if the dough is sticking too much to your hands, add a little flour and knead it again. Whatever you do, don't panic and don't do anything rash. If you add extra flour to the dough, add a little at a time, knead it and judge if it needs more. Remember, you can add ingredients but you can't take them out.

- In Greek, the sponge (wet batter that has yeast added to it) is called prozymi (pronounced proh-zee-me)
-Tsoureki (singular) - Tsourekia (plural)




Makes 2 large tsourekia, about 1.2 kg each

Ingredients
1.150 g white strong bread flour
84 g fresh yeast (or 22 g dried yeast)
250 ml fresh, whole milk, lukewarm
400 g caster sugar
9 g sea salt
6 g mastic, freshly ground
8 g mahlepi, freshly ground
5 medium-sized eggs
230 g unsalted butter, melted

1 egg yolk for glazing the tsourekia
1 ½ Tbsp fresh, whole milk for glazing the tsourekia

Sesame seeds for sprinkling over the tsourekia

Special equipment: mortar and pestle or spice grinder, stand mixer (optional), baking paper, two large baking sheets or trays, soft pastry brush


Preparation
Before you start making the tsoureki, read the recipe through carefully. Then weigh your ingredients, heat the milk, melt the butter, grind the mahlepi and the mastic.
If you grind the mastic with a mortar and pestle, add a tsp of the sugar. It will be easier to grind and it won't stick to the pestle.

make the prozymi (sponge)
In a large bowl, add the fresh yeast and crumble it with your hands. Add 2 Tbsp of the sugar, 2 Tbsp of the flour and 200 ml of the lukewarm milk. Mix with your hands, dissolving the yeast in the milk.
Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave the bowl in a warm place, away from drafts. If your kitchen is too cold, find the warmest place in your house and keep the bowl there.
Allow the dough to triple in volume. This will take about half an hour.


make the dough
In the meantime, in the bowl of your stand mixer, or in a very big bowl if you're going to knead by hand, add the flour, the sugar, the salt, the ground mahlepi and ground mastic. Stir the ingredients with a spatula to mix and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs, the rest of the lukewarm milk, half of the melted butter (it should be warm and not hot) and the proofed prozymi. Attach the dough hook to your mixer, or if you're going to knead by hand, prepare your hands for the workout.


If you're using a stand mixer, start the machine on the lowest setting (very low speed) until the ingredients mix and come together as a dough. Add the rest of the melted butter little by little and then switch to the next setting (low speed). Keep mixing at low speed for 8-9 minutes. If you're kneading by hand, you'll need to knead the dough for approximately 15 minutes. You should end up with a dough that is not sticking to your hands or the bowl, a dough that is firm yet pliable and elastic, smooth and shiny.


Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm place to proof and double in volume. This will take 3-4 hours. The tsoureki dough is very heavy, that's why it needs so many hours to proof.


Once proofed, empty the dough onto a clean working surface and knead with your hands for 1-2 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. It is preferable that you weigh the dough and divide it by weight. Take each piece of dough and divide it in 3 equal pieces.

shaping the ropes and braiding the tsoureki
Take the first set of dough and one-by-one, shape each of the 3 pieces into a 45cm-long rope, 5-6 cm in diameter (check note No9). Place the 3 ropes on the baking paper, connect the 3 ropes on one end and braid them, making sure not to braid too tight otherwise they will not have room to rise. Tuck the ends underneath. If desired, place one red-colored egg at one end of the braid.
Take the second set of dough and do as above.


Transfer the two braided tsourekia on two different baking sheets or trays and cover them with clean kitchen towels. Leave them at a warm place for 1-1 ½ hours, until the rise by 1/3 (not doubled).

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

glaze the tsourekia
In a small bowl, add the egg yolk and the 1 ½ Tbsp of milk and mix well with a fork.
Once the braids have proofed, using a soft brush, apply the glaze over the braids carefully as to not deflate the dough. See note No13.
Sprinkle with lots of sesame seeds.


bake the tsourekia
Place the baking sheets on the low rack of the oven and bake the tsourekia for 25 minutes. Then transfer the sheets on the middle rack of the oven, cover the tsourekia with a piece of aluminum foil so they don't catch on top and bake for 20 minutes more. They should have a golden-brown color.
If you have a small oven, like myself, then bake the tsourekia one by one.


Remove the baking sheets from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the sheets. Then move the tsourekia on wire racks to cool completely. Move them carefully so they don't brake apart. They will be a bit soft at this point. They will firm up as they cool.
Once they cool completely, cover them with a clean, thin kitchen towel.

If you try the tsoureki hot or warm from the oven, it will taste unsweetened to you. Don't worry about that, it's natural. As it cools down and especially the second day, its true flavor will come out and it will be perfect.

You can keep it for five days to a week. On the fourth day it will begin to harden a bit and it will be great with some butter and jam (especially strawberry). Also, you can toast it or bake it with a custard and cinnamon, use it to make French toast, make a strawberry and currant tsoureki bread and butter pudding, or simply dip it into your morning coffee.