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.

Warbat is made of crunchy layers of phyllo pastry filled with a creamy custard and baked until golden. Then Warbat is drenched in sweet sugar syrup which is sometimes flavored with rose water or orange blossom water. Finally Warbat is topped with crushed pistachios. It is a must try.

To know how to make Warbat bil eshta at home please watch this video:

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tbsp cornflour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 300 ml thickened or double cream
• 1 pack phyllo pastry
• 1 cup melted ghee “use as needed only”
• sugar syrup
• crushed pistachios for decoration

Tips:

• Make sure that the phyllo pastry is kept at room temp. before use. Make sure to follow the pack’s instructions.
• Brushing each layer of the phyllo pastry with the melted ghee will help it crisp up and become golden once baked.
• Prepare the filling before hand so that it has enough time to cool completely before use.
• When adding the sugar syrup make sure it is at room temp. and the warbat is hot.

You can present them as one large tart, or individual portions of small tartlets. Either ways these delicious tarts are easy to make and it will impress your guests.

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

Ingredients:

Custard

• 1 liter full cream milk
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Vanilla pod or 1 tbsp vanilla extract or essence

Pastry “These are double the amount mentioned in the video as I ended up having to make another batch to use ai all my custard filling”

• 400 grams A/P flour
• 200 grams cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp icy cold water

Topping

• Mixed berries of your choice, frozen or fresh
• berries jam “optional”

Tips:

• The amount of custard I made in the video is enough to fill 12 medium size tartlets AND 1 big tart. So I had to make another batch of the dought for that. Alternatively you can cut the custard ingredients by half.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before rolling it.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 mins or until the edges of the tart becomes golden.
• When adding the milk  to the beaten eggs be careful to do it slowly while whisking all the time or else you might have scrambled eggs.
• When the custard is ready cover its surface with plastic wrap so as it doesn’t form a crust. Leave it to cool completely in the fridge before using.
• It is better to assemble the tarts before serving and make sure that the tart and custard are completely cold.
• You can use any mix of berries you wish whether frozen or fresh. If frozen use as, no need to thaw it.

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.

There are two key points to keep in mind when making the perfect pie. First, you have to pick the right kind of apples. You should be looking for hard apples with a bit of tart to them Granny Smiths are the most perfect ones. But you can also use Pink Lady or Royal Gala. Second important point is the pastry. It has to be short for and that you need to use cold butter and water. And you have to use as little water as you can get away with. And you shouldn’t over work the dough as we don’t want those gluten strands to over develop.

To make my pie even more extra special I add crushed walnuts to the mix and use brown sugar to give a caramel taste to the filling. Of course you can choose not to do so if you wish.

To know how to make apple pie my way please watch the following video:

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 7 apples
• 1/2 up brown sugar
• 45 grams butter
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 215 grams cold butter cubed
• pinch of salt
• 1 cold egg
• Around 100 ml chilled water

Tips:

• It’s better to use hard apples as they will hold their shape after cooking and baking and not turn into a mush.
• You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar in the filling
• You can add any kind of nuts you want like walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts. You can also use any kind of spices you want like cinnamon or cloves.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest int he fridge before rolling it.
• Before baking you can brush the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 mins or until the pie becomes golden.
• You can eat apple pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

As for the filling you can use any jam or preserve that you like usually any type of currants or berries is used. I used blueberry jam which I made myself but you use store bought jam too.

Linzer torte can be prepared a day ahead as it will develop in flavor and enhance.

To know how to make it please watch this video:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 200 grams butter at room temperature cut into cubes
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 cup blueberry jam, to make it I used:
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Tips:

• If you are making your own jam it is preferred that you make a day before so it has enough time to cool down.
• When mixing the butter with the flour mixture use a knife or a pastry blender so as to not overwork the dough and ruin the final texture.
• After preparing the dough, divide in half an wrap each half in nylon wrap and then place it in the fridge at least for an hour but up to overnight.
• You should use a spring-form pan or spring-form pie pan. Butter the base and place a parchment paper.
• After spreading the first half of dough as a base place in the freezer for 10 mins before brushing with the white egg wash and then bake at a preheated oven at 180 C for 15 mins.
• The baked base should cool completely before proceeding.
• Let the second half of dough stand at room temperature for 5 mins before rolling it out on a bench top dusted with flour.
• Place the strips of dough in a lattice pattern as shown in video and photos.
• Bake the torte in a preheated oven at 180 C for 45 mins.
• Cool completely before cutting and serving.