When I decided to start writing a blog, I never thought that my first entry would be on a day where blizzard conditions would paralyze my fair city into submission. I am sure that I speak for most of my fellow Marylanders when I say that we have a few choice words to share with mama nature these days. The two big storms over the past week have blessed us with over 45 inches of snow. Once it stopped snowing, the question on everyone’s mind wasn’t only how we were going to get out of the neighborhood, but where were we going to put all of this extra snow?
We had heard back in October that this was going to be a tough season for the Mid Atlantic area, but little did we know that those charming 4 letter words would materialize as part of our daily vocabulary so soon.
I have lived in Maryland for over 35 years, and I don’t ever think I have seen it this bad.
I rushed to the grocery store on Tuesday to restock on a few staples we had run out of after the storm we had over the weekend, and I realized that half of Maryland had the same idea.
What was I gonna do?
Well, we were all in the same boat, so we just had to deal with it as best we could.
That evening’s snowfall left another mess and I woke up with the realization that I had another 4 hours of shoveling ahead of me…
Seriously?
I still hadn’t recovered from the last bit of shoveling that I did a few days ago, and here we are again.
As neighbors poured out of their houses with snow blowers, shovels and ploughs, it seemed as though my job this time around was not going to be as hard as I thought. Before I knew it, my neighbors had cleaned my driveway and were now working on the walkways. As the guys in the neighborhood moved from one house to the next clearing the snow, I wanted to make something to thank them for everything they had done. It needed to be something warm, satisfying and delicious and something that would go well with some homemade hot chocolate…
But what?
Ahhhh, loukoumades….of course!
This is one of the easiest and most delicious desserts to make. I remember having great fun with these when we were younger. We always asked mum to make them for us and she always obliged. The dough comes together quickly and you can enjoy it for breakfast (which is very popular in Greece and the Middle East) or as a treat anytime. You can coat these with the traditional honey syrup, drizzle with honey or roll them in cinnamon sugar. If you use the honey syrup, make sure it is slightly warm, and as the loukoumades come out of the fryer, place them into the warm syrup. The dough will absorb some of the delicate syrup and become perfectly sweet. Use a slotted spoon to take them out of the syrup and into your serving bowl. They are always a big hit with kids and grown ups alike and what’s best is that you can make them anytime, so don’t wait until the next snowstorm to try them.
Loukoumades (makes about 2 dozen small donuts)
3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) Red Star rapid rise dry yeast (I buy dry yeast in the jar)
1 cup warm water
1½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
NOTE: For the best results, use Red Star Platinum Superior baking Yeast. If using the packets, please remember that each packet has about 2¼ teaspoons, so you will need slightly more than 1 packet
Heat the water in the microwave for 50 seconds and add it to your mixing bowl. The water should be warm to the touch, NOT hot. Add the yeast and the warm water to the bowl and whisk until the yeast has dissolved. Add the flour, salt and the sugar and whisk everything together until you have no lumps. Add the flour slowly, until you have a batter that looks like this…
Cover this with plastic wrap and a tea towel, and allow it to rise until it has doubled, about 1 hour. Once ready, it should look like this…
When the dough has risen, heat at least 2” of oil in your fry pan or small pot, so that the donuts swell and become little round balls as they fry. Do a test with one piece of dough to make sure that your oil is hot enough. It should sizzle right away when you put the dough into the oil, like this…
The test piece of dough is perfectly fried, so the oil is ready for you to add the rest of the dough. I generally do not eat the test piece…
Gently deflate the dough slightly, and begin to take spoonfuls of the dough and drop them into the hot oil…
As the dough fries, it will turn itself over, and if they don’t, gently turn them in the hot oil so they cook evenly. Have a large paper lined platter waiting for the frying donuts, and as they take on a nice golden color, scoop them out and let them rest for a minute…
When they are still warm, toss them into the warm syrup and then top them with some fresh lemon zest or roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Serve them this way or drizzle with chocolate sauce and a side of rich buttercream to dip into…
Honey syrup
2 ½ cups water
¾ cup honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
2 large pinches ground cinnamon
3 pieces of cloves or cardamom
1 cup granulated sugar
Right after you have prepared the batter and set it aside to rise, next you must prepare the syrup. Add everything together in a small pot and heat on high until the syrup begins to boil then turn down to moderate heat to cook for about 5 minutes. It will achieve a light syrupy and golden consistency and will cook fairly quickly. I like to add a little more water so that the spices can cook into the syrup. Once the syrup has cooked, remove the cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom pods and set the syrup aside to cool on the counter.
After the loukoumades have fried, toss them in the lukewarm syrup while they are still warm. They will absorb a little syrup this way which is what you want, as you bite into them, you get the perfect bite of pillowy soft dough and warm syrup. Serve right away while they are still warm.
Cinnamon Sugar
5 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Add together in a small bowl and mix everything well. Make sure to toss in the warm loukoumades if you choose to use the cinnamon sugar. Don’t wait until they are cold because the sugar will not coat them when they are cold.
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