Using dates as a filling is quite famous in the Middle Eastern cuisine. To be honest, it is my favorite kind of filling. It is naturally sweetened and with the right kind of spices it takes your palate to a new different level. Getting cookies or sweet pastries that are filled with dates is the best and most common thing you can get from your local bakery in the Middle East.

So I wanted to work on my own version of these kind of cookies. So I decided to start tweaking another dough recipe that I worked before with. I chose to work with beigli which is the Hungarian walnuts roulade which I shared on this blog before. You can find the recipe here.

Of course I had to tweak it and add my Middle Eastern touch to it and thus created these super easy, soft and chewy dates stick cookies. They are perfect for your tea time as they are light, not overly sweet and easy to eat with your fingers.

You can watch the video with English detailed instructions here:

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 100 grams of cold butter cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds powder

Filling:

• 250 gram dates paste “check tips”
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds powder
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds powder
• 1/2 teaspoon star anise powder

For the glaze:

• 1 large egg, its yolk and white separated

Tips:

•  Make sure that the butter is cold
• Make sure to knead the dough long enough between 7 – 10 minutes.
• Lightly beat the egg yolk and the egg white separately before brushing each to the roulades’ surface.
• After rolling the dough into a rope you can further stretch it until you get the thickness you prefer.
• When glazing, you start with the egg yolk and let the dough rest and the glaze dry before glazing again with the egg white before baking. This will create the tiger like golden finish to your cookies.
• Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 C in a normal oven and 160 C in a fan forced oven.
• Make sure that the cookies has completely cooled before storing in an airtight container.

This cheesecake has no refined sugar and obviously no diary products. Also the curst is gluten free which is great from those who are on a gluten free diet. I’m not. But having a gluten free dessert is not bad at all.

If I haven’t tempted you enough yet. Let me say that this cake is easy to make and almost fool proof. So what are you waiting for? Give it a go and you won’t regret it.

A detailed video recipe in English is here:

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 7 pitted dates
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• dash of salt

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cup soaked raw cashews
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs vanilla essence
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Tips:

• Make sure all the nuts you are using are not salted or toasted
• The cashews need to be soaked for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight to make sure you’ll get the creamy texture at the end.
• You can adjust how many dates you are using depending on the variety and size of them. I used medium sized ones.
• You can adjust how much maple syrup you want to add depending on how sweet you like it.
• You can use fresh berries if you want. But be mindful of its water content so as not to ruin the thickness of your filling.
• You can use other kind of berries if you wish to.
• The cheesecake should be placed in the freezer for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight so that it will firm nicely.
• You need to take the cheesecake out and leave it for half an hour at room temperature before serving it.
• You can serve the cake frozen, half frozen or even thawed.
• You can put the remaining cake back in the freezer or in the fridge if you don’t want a frozen texture.

I used almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts and pistachios. And I’ve used dates, dried apricots, sultanas and raisins roughly chopped. And for spices I used cinnamon, caraway seeds and cloves all grounded.

This bread is very moist. You can have it for breakfast, brunch or afternoon tea. It is just perfect.
To know how to make it please watch the video:

Ingredients:

medium sized pumpkin to get 1 cup of cooked pumpkin

• 1 3/4 cups A/P flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mixed nuts roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup mixed dried fruits roughly chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds grounded
• 1/8 tsp cloves grounded
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

For garnish “optional”

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3 tbsp milk or as needed
• pappita seeds.

Tips:

• Cook pumpkin in a  preheated oven at 180 C for 45 – 60 mins or until it is cooked.
• We only need 1 cup of the pumpkin. The rest can be kept in the freezer for future recipes.
• You can use canned cooked pumpkin. But the fresh option is a better option.
• You can use which ever nuts, dried fruits or spices you like.
• Bake the bread in a preheated oven at 180 C for 3-45 mins or until it is done.
• Leave the bread to cool before icing it.
• Add the milk gradually to the icing sugar to get the right consistency.
• You can garnish the bread as you wish.

To decorate I got several ideas crossing my mind until I felt inspired by the orange in the cake and decided to use dried orange zest. But then I thought why not add lemon and lime zest in there too. Not only they will look great but they will add subtle flavors that will marry everything well together.

You should try this recipe out and share it with your loved ones. I hope every one will enjoy it.
To know how to make this recipe please watch my video here:

Ingredients:

• 1 orange cake based on my recipe which you’ll find here.
• 225 grams dark chocolate
• 225 unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• dried orange, lime and lemon zest

Tips:

• Start by baking the cake. You want it to be completely cool before frosting it.
• When melting the chocolate and butter you can either do that in the microwave in 30 sec. intervals or you can melt them in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water.
• You should leave the frosting to cool in the fridge for an hour. If it is still too runny leave it for longer and if it is too hard then leave it at room temperature until it becomes spreadable.
• You can dry the citrus zest in different ways: either in an oven at 100 C until they dry, or after you finish baking your cake wait 30 mins then place them there to dry with the residue heat or dry them the day before by leave them out at room temperature.
• The cake should be kept covered and in the fridge. Take it out half an hour before serving so that the frosting is not too solid.

Despite it’s elaborate looks this torte is easy to make though it takes a bit of time. I can guarantee that it will impress whom ever you are sharing it with.
So to make this torte please watch the following video:

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• Vanilla essence

For the apple layers:

• 5 apples
• 1 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• squeeze of lemon
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup water

Topping

• 250 ml thickened cream
• icing sugar to taste

Tips:

• You can use A/P flour instead of self raising. Just add 1 tsp Baking powder to the mix.
• Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 mins or until the cake is done.
• Leave the cake to cool before adding the other layers.
• Cook the apples for 10 mins until they are done and not mushy.
• Leave the apples to cool completely before layering it on top of the cake.
• Put the cake back in the spring form pan so that when adding the custard to holds the shape.
• When making the apple custard make sure to stir constantly as you don’t want the mixture to stick to the bottom of your an.
• After pouring the custard on top of the cake leave it to set and cool for at least 2 hours before de-molding it from the pan.
• You can decorate the torte as you wish using any cream or buttercream and in any design you want. Be creative.
• The cake should be placed in the fridge and take it half an hour before serving.

To know how to make these muffins please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 50 grams metled butter
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 egg

Tips:

• You can use honey instead of the golden syrup.
• Don’t overwork the batter as it will make the buns dense.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for 12-15 mins or until golden.
• Keep the leftover buns in an air tight container.

To know how to make them watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP Flour
• 1 cup sultana
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 50 grams melted butter
• Juice and zest of one medium sized lemon
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp honey

Tips:

• Don’t overwork the batter as it will make the buns dense.
• Preferably use yoghurt, milk and egg at room temperature.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for 12-15 mins or until golden.
• Keep the leftover buns in an air tight container.

To know how to make this recipe please watch:

Ingredients:
– 2 cups flour
– 1 cup sugar
– 4 tablespoons or 50 grams of melted butter.
– 1 1/4 cups yoghurt
– pinch of salt
– 1 tablespoon baking powder
– 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
– 1 large egg
– 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen.

Tips:
– After melting the butter let it stand and cool a bit.
– Don’t over mix the batter as this will effect the final texture of the muffins. Just mix them long enough to combine all the ingredients together.
– Bake in a preheated oven at 190 C for 25-30 mins.

To know how to make the Walnut Roulade please watch this video:

Ingredients:
– For the filling:
:: 2 1/4 cup walnut
:: 1/2 cup bread crumbs
:: 3 tablespoons raisins
:: 2 tablespoons candied orange peel or orange marmalade.
:: pinch of ground cinnamon
:: 2/3 cup sugar
:: 1/4 cup water
:: 2 tablespoons honey
:: zest of one lemon

– For the dough:
::1 teaspoon instant dried yeast
:: 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
:: 2 cups flour
:: 3 tablespoons sugar
:: pinch of salt
::100 grams of cold butter cut into 1 cm cubes

– For the glazing
:: 1 large egg, its yolk and white separated

Tips:
– Make sure that the butter is cold
– Make sure to knead the dough long enough between 7 – 10 minutes.
– Lightly beat the egg yolk and the egg white separately before brushing each to the roulades’ surface.
– When rolling the roulades don’t roll them too tight
– Remember to pinch holes in the roulades’ sides and tops before putting them in the over so as they don’t burst from any steam inside of them.
– Only cut the roulades once they are completely cold.

To know how to make it, please see this video.

Ingredients:
– 2 cups flour
– 1, 1/2 cup white sugar
– 1/2 cup vegetable oil
– 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
– 4 eggs
– 4 tea spoons baking powder
– 1 tea spoon vanilla essence
– 1/2 tea spoon salt
– zest of 2 oranges.