Loukoumades

It began when Mindy posted an easy donut recipe, someone has mentioned about loukoumades. What's that? I've never heard before. And then I asked mr.google to find a clue. Let me summarized fo you :) Pronounced : loo-koo-MAH-thes. Kind of greek style doughnuts, some people call them greek honey tokens or greek honey fritters. During the third century B.C. they were the first prizes awarded to the winners of the ancient olympic.

So, I asked Mindy whether she wanted to make loukoumades and she accepted my offer. We had a deal to post the result on Thursday (July, 3). Want to join the fun with us? ;) Just find any recipes for loukoumades, make them and post them in your blog as well. Don't forget to let us know your url link to the post. No deadline. Simply for fun!

Finding a recipe for loukoumades was not an easy task. I've found dozen recipes and I was pretty sure no two were alike. There were recipes with egg, recipes without. Recipes that called for milk and recipes didn't mentioned anything about milk. Recipes with nutmeg and recipes without. My head started to spin, didn't know where's the original one.

Finally....because I love nutmeg, I went with this recipe which called for nutmeg. I didn't know how did they supposed to look like. But mine were crisp outside and spongy inside.



Soaked with honey, dusted with cinnamon and sprinkled with walnut made these puffy balls a perfect dessert. But better served warm.



Loukoumades

Ingredients :
2 1/4 ounces active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups warm water (105-115º) -- divided
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil for frying

SYRUP:
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

TOPPINGS:
Ground cinnamon to taste
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions :
In a mixing bowl,mix the yeast and sugar into 1/2 cup of the warm water. When the mixture turns foamy (about 5 minutes), stir in the remaining 1-1/2 cups warm water with the egg, flour salt, nutmeg and vanilla. Mix until the batter is thick but smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot to rise for about an hour. (don't stir again or it will deflate.) The result should be a bubbly batter.



In a deep fryer or a large heavy pot, heat four inches of oil to 375º F. making sure there are at least 2 inches between the oil surface and the top of the pot. This should take about 20 minutes.

While the oil is heating, prepare the syrup by combining the ingredients in a small bowl or a 2-cup measuring cup.

Working in batches, slide dollops of the batter (about the size of a heaping tablespoonful each) into the hot oil at a time, making sure not to crowd the pan. The dollops will puff up and float to the top. Turn the puffs occasionally with a slotted spoon until they are a deep golden brown on all sides and very crisp, about 2-4 minutes total. Remove carefully and drain on paper towels or brown paper bags.

Dust the puffs generously with cinnamon, drizzle with the honey-lemon syrup. and sprinkle with walnuts.

Tips : Have a cup of cold water into which you can wet a tablespoon and also the fingers of your hand each time. Wet the spoon so that the dough will not stick on it, take a spoon of the dough and using your hand or another spoon, push it down into the hot oil (take care not to burn yourself).