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food + drink · posts · sweets and chocolates

marshmallow top hats and gergaoun

Moya12 Comments

Gergaoun falls on the 14th night of Ramadan and when my children were small they loved to celebrate the occasion! Dressed in their traditional clothes (jalabiya and thobe), they would excitedly head out to their Grandfathers home during the evening… with their empty Gergaoun bags clutched tightly in-hand.

Together with their cousins, the children would visit the many houses around the neighborhood, receiving gifts of nuts and sweets which filled their empty Gergaoun bags. When all the houses had been visited, the children would return to their Grandfathers home proudly displaying overflowing Gergaoun bags and bursting to tell a few stories on some naughty older cousins that would partake in a dare called ding-dong-dash… leaving the younger children red-faced to do all the explaining!  Older children would also parade around the neighborhood, entertaining children and adults with the popular mascot “Frasya” the horse-man, while beating drums and singing traditional songs.

As there was always quite a gathering of children and adults I usually contributed by making lots of little goodies for the occasion, cupcakes, small cakes, rice krispie buns, cookies and Marshmallow Top Hats! These sweet treats were always well received and my customary trays of goodies became a yearly tradition until… the children grew-up!

Marshmallow Top Hats are an old childhood sweet treat that my mother would make for our birthday parties, the squishy marshmallow with its chocolate chunk base and Smartie on top, always went down a treat! Making them for my own children’s parties and celebrations always proved popular. However, I did notice that some things never change... there is always that one kid who would make an attempt to pick all the colourful sweets from the top of the marshmallows…  usually having their attempts thwarted by some of the other party goers!

The recipe is super easy to make and young children will eagerly help with placing the marshmallows into the melted chocolate and sticking the colourful Smarties on top… usually avoiding the brown coloured ones!  When packed individually into pretty little colourful gift boxes for Gergaoun or other celebrations, these Marshmallow Top Hats make a delightful sweet treat for children!

Marshmallow Top Hats

 Ingredients:

  • milk chocolate (your favourite brand), melted
  • marshmallows
  • colourful sweets of your choice

You will need small colourful paper cases for sweets

How to make: Place a teaspoon of melted chocolate into each paper case ( however many you are using) and place a marshmallow on top, gently pushing the marshmallow down into the chocolate.

Place a small dot of melted chocolate on the top of each marshmallow, then place a colourful sweet on top. Store in the fridge (covered) or in a cool place until the chocolate has set before serving.

Enjoy your kids when they are small… they quickly grow-up!   Have you got any Marshmallow memories?

posts · sweets and chocolates

nut brittle with dried rose petals and vanilla salt

Moya13 Comments

This months Sweet Adventures Blog Hop is “Nuts about Sweets” and is hosted by Nic from Dining with a Stud. Nuts and seeds are good for your health… they help boost the immune system, are good for anemia, vision, memory, energy, muscles, a healthy nervous system and help lift your mood… well nut brittle definitely lifts the mood! We love nuts and seeds in our family and there is always some type of nut or seed stored in the fridge… making them a quick grab and go type of snack!

Basic brittle is pretty much the same all over the globe, caramelized sugar surrounding some type of nut or seed! Sometimes other flavours such as cardamom, vanilla and rose-water may be added. In India they use jaggery instead of white sugar and refer to brittle as Chikki! The addition of baking soda in the recipe creates loads of tiny air bubbles and lightens the density of the caramel, making the brittle hopefully more tooth friendly! If you are not a nut or seed fan but love caramelized sugar, making honeycomb to nibble on is also a delicious sweet treat!

Cut into neat pieces or broken into uneven shards it all tastes good and can be enjoyed with a nice cup of coffee or tea… but I especially love having these delicious nut treats with Arabic coffee!  Pressing dried rose petals on top of the brittle while still warm and sticky adds a hint of rose flavour and a little glamour. Breaking the nut brittle into small pieces and mixing with a light sprinkling of vanilla sea salt to nibble on is a very moorish combination of sweet and salty! 

 Nut Brittle with Dried Rose Petals and Vanilla Salt

Ingredients:

  • 50g unsalted cashew nuts, roughly chopped
  • 50g hazelnuts, halved
  • 50g unsalted pistachio nuts, left whole
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 15 g clarified butter or unsalted butter
  • 175g granulated vanilla sugar or plain granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon glucose syrup
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons of crushed dried rose petals
  • to serve, vanilla salt (optional)

Note: It is important when making brittle that you have all your preparation done beforehand as brittle sets very quickly!

How to make:  Cover a chopping board with foil and grease with some unsalted butter or vegetable oil. Have on standby a large greased chopping knife and a small flat-bottomed stainless steel tin or cup (to help flatten the brittle), grease the bottom.

Place a medium thick bottomed saucepan over gentle heat, add the water, butter, sugar and glucose. Gently stir with a wooden spoon making sure that all the sugar has been completely dissolved, brushing down the inside of the pan with a wet pasty brush if any sugar crystals have stuck to the sides! Once the sugar has been completely dissolved turn up the heat and bring the sugar syrup to a boil, leave to bubble without stirring until the sugar syrup takes on a very light golden colour.

When the syrup is light golden remove from the heat and add the baking soda, followed by the nuts, gently but quickly coat the nuts with the now caramelized nut and immediately empty the contents of the pan onto the greased foil. Flatten the brittle with the bottom of the tin into about a 1/4 inch thickness. Press the dried rose petals over the top of the brittle, if using. While the brittle is still warm mark into desired shapes with the knife, makes cutting easier when cool. Sore in an airtight container.

Before serving sprinkle over a little vanilla salt, if desired or when entertaining, leave a little dish of vanilla salt on the side and let guests salt their own brittle!

This post is part of the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop Nuts about Sweets... click here and scroll down to the end of the post to see all the other nutty entries!

drinks · posts

arabic coffee

Moya17 Comments

Ramadan signifies a month of fasting in which Muslims must refrain from eating and drinking from dawn until sunset, which lasts for 29 to 30 days according to the Islamic calendar. Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, worship and charitable giving to others less fortunate. At sunset family and friends gather to break the days fast with a meal know as Iftar, each household preparing their favourite main dishes followed by desserts and sweets. This is the month when I usually drink more Arabic coffee than any other time of the year.

Arabic coffee is associated with tradition and hospitality in Bahrain and the Gulf… visit any Arabic family’s home and even some establishments and you will always be welcomed with a serving of Arabic coffee, with an offering of dates or other sweets. Arabic coffee or qahwa is served in a small delicate cup called a finjan and only filled to one-third, filling anymore than this with Arabic coffee is not considered good etiquette!

The Arabic coffee pot or dallah is always held with the left hand and the small cups  filled with coffee served with the right, guests receiving the Arabic coffee should do so with their right hand. Usually it is customary to serve no more than three cups of Arabic coffee, in which the guest should at least accept one cup… wiggling (custom) the cup from side to side when finished.

I love Arabic coffee and when visiting my in-laws house the customary three cups of coffee usually goes out the window! For me Arabic coffee is very light and refreshing (not to be confused with Turkish coffee), with warm and welcoming aromas and flavours of light coffee, cardamom and saffron!

How do you like your Arabic coffee?  Do you prefer using light, medium or dark roasted coffee beans or maybe even a mix!  Do you favour using more or less cardamon? Do you like saffron? Each person and household will have their own preference and taste when it comes to Arabic coffee! Roasting green coffee beans is also carried out in some households and I believe you can even roast coffee beans using a popcorn machine!  I thought this was an interesting video on the colour and roasting stages of coffee beans… should the urge ever take you! These golden coloured whole coffee beans can be bought at the local roasters in Bahrain, which also sell ready ground versions of Arabic coffee mix, as well as  nuts, sweets and  spices.

When making Arabic coffee I buy the lighter roasted coffee beans at the roasters and also use some of Starbucks Blonde (not so blonde looking) roasted coffee beans, freshly grinding all in a coffee grinder! The coffee beans and cardamom can be ground together, but I prefer grinding the cardamom in a spice grinder… wanting to keep the coffee grinder just for coffee!

Nowadays thermos flasks are used (some look like the traditional coffee pots),for keeping Arabic coffee hot for a couple of hours! A thermos flask for the sole use of Arabic coffee is advisable, the lingering flavours never seem to quite leave the flask once it has been used for Arabic coffee!

Arabic Coffee

Ingredients:

  • 500ml water
  • 2  level teaspoons freshly ground green cardamon pods
  • 4 level teaspoons of freshly ground light golden coffee beans
  • 2 level teaspoons of freshly ground Starbucks blonde coffee beans
  • 4 strands of saffron

How to make:  Bring the water to a rolling boil in a small saucepan, then turn off the heat. Add the cardamom and coffee to the boiled water giving the saucepan a quick swirl. Leave the contents of the saucepan to sit for about three minutes. Meanwhile pre-warm a thermos flask with some boiling water which should be emptied before filling with the Arabic coffee.

Before pouring the Arabic coffee into the flask, if necessary, re-heat the contents of the saucepan to almost boiling as Arabic coffee should always be served hot. Strain the Arabic coffee through a small strainer into the thermos flask and add the saffron. Discard the contents of the strainer.

Arabic coffee should always be served with dates or sweet pastries!