Lemon Halva Tart
Not long ago I got a gift – a Lebanese baking book full of interesting recipes and cool ideas. One of the recipes that popped out at me was a classic lemon tart with a twist. What twist? Halva! How does it work? It works perfectly!
Mom’s Basbousa
I had the honor of baking with Lil’ Cookie a second time! Natalie, of the Lil’ Cookie blog, invited me to her house for a joint baking session. We baked wonderful confections, like a lemon halva tart and pistachio Ferrero Rochers.
Christmas Tree Chocolate Mousse
Last Christmas I prepared gingerbread cookies in the holiday spirit and decorated my plastic Christmas tree with them. That same week I traveled with the whole family to Turkey and celebrated Christmas there.
Gingerbread Hamsa Cookies
Merry Christmas! This year Hanukkah and Christmas fell on the same week. Although I don’t technically celebrate either of them, I made sufganiot (jelly doughnuts) and gingerbread cookies. Why settle for one holiday (or none at all) when you can celebrate all of them? As long as I have something to keep me distracted from the Jerusalem cold that’s starting to get on my nerves. At least winter here is just a transition season.
Lemon Pistachio Sufganiot
After spending an entire day deep in oil in search of the perfect sufganiot, I faced another dilemma: what cream to put inside? I was so sure I was going to make sufganiot filled with homemade pistachio spread. By the end of the day, I was struck with another idea; fill the sufganiot with lemon pistachio mousseline cream that I used once for filling éclairs. I got wonderful, tangy sufganiot.
Pistachio Sufganiot
Last week, Instagram reminded me of wonderful sufganiot I made a year ago. Pistachio sufganiot filled with homemade pistachio spread. At the time I was planning to upload a recipe, but I couldn’t finish it in time. This year I didn’t give up. Somehow, after a long day of experimenting with different combinations of ingredients — making dough, letting it rise, rolling it out and endless frying — I landed upon the perfect recipe.
Chocolate & Chestnut Pots de Crème
Last week I got a pretty awesome gift, a pastry cookbook from close, yet ever so far, Lebanon. In her book, Sweet Levantine, Lara Ariss writes about baking with an emphasis on local ingredients, like olive oil, halva and mastic, which she combines in both her Middle Eastern recipes and her classic European recipes.
Madeleines in Provence
A little more than a year ago, good friends of mine, Yuval and Elisha, packed their belongings, said goodbye to crowded Tel Aviv and moved to France to build a new home with their baby girl Akko. Since then, they host family and friends non-stop in their beautiful house in the village of Lauris in southern France. It was only a matter of time before I would find myself there, between lavender fields and endless vineyards, raising a glass to a simpler, more charming life.
