Kunafa Bel Qeshta

I made Kunafa Bel Qeshta (Cream Kunafa) two days ago and it wasn't bad. Yet, it was very easy to make. 

Ingredients:


500 g kunafa
1 cup powdered sugar 
1 cup of butter/or Samn (I used oil, because it's healthier)


Cream
2 cups milk
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Sugar syrup 
2 cups sugar
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp vanilla extract or lemon juice 

I added food coloring (orange and red) to the kunafa just to give it some nice color, but it is optional. 

I used this tart / pie pan, you can use whatever you like. 




Method:


Cut the kunafa to small pieces by your hand or by using a food processor. Then add the butter/or Samn (oil in my case), the powdered sugar, and the food coloring if you want. 

Now put half of the kunafa you have in your pan and press it with your hand, and make sure that the edges are also pressed with some kunafa so that when you add the cream it doesnt come out. 


Then, start making the cream. Mix all the ingredients together then stir over medium heat until the cream becomes thick. Pour the cream over the kunafa. 

Cover the cream layer with the rest of your kunafa.

Bake the kunafa in a 200C over for 30 minutes. 


Make your sugar syrup, pour it over your kunafa, and enjoy. 

Love, 
Sara.

Garangaao Night

The Garangaao (القرنقعوه) Night is very special to me and even that I have grown up, the feeling of excitement remains the same. It is always simple, always colorful. 

I always take responsibility of making the boxes/bags... starting from the design, the colors, the candies... with the help of my sister or my friend. And this year, I decided to make something more challenging that needs more work. 

Here's what I did... 

About 40 boxes, took me 4 days all by myself... I actually finished attaching the tags at the same day of Garangaao. But I honestly enjoy the whole preparation process.

And Here's my lil niece in her lovely traditional dress...

A special thank you to Noora. 

Love,

Sara.

French Macarons

The only thing in my life I kept trying and trying to do is the French Macarons, I never gave up. And I have tried so many recipes and I think they are good, but it didn't work with all of them. Maybe two or three worked well with me, but I'll share the easiest one. 


I got this recipe from a PDF file I don't remember from where exactly I got it, but its name is "Master the Macaron" by Irina Kogan. A big thank you to her!


Here's my first attempt... 

Lol, at least it tasted good!

Ingredients: (I recommend u go with the grams for accurate amounts) 

1 cup (100 g) almond flour 

1 1/2 cups (175 g) powdered sugar 

3 large (1/3 cup, 100 g) egg whites 

2 T (30 g) granulated sugar

1- Prepare two sheet pans by lining with either parchment paper or Silpats.

2- Prepare a pastry bag with a plain tip. 

3- sift the dry ingredients (the powdered sugar and the almond flour) in a large bowl. 

4- In a separate, whisk the whites with either a hand mixer or a standing mixer. It will get foamy, and just when it starts to forth up and get meringue-like, sprinkle in the granulated sugar.  

 5- Continue to whisk until soft peaks are formed. Like this: 

6- Once the whites are whipped, incorporate the dry, slowly, so the egg whites don't deflate. Sprinkle half the dry stuff over the egg whites.

7- Start folding the dry in carefully. Now add the rest of the dry. And Keep folding until all the ingredients come together. 

8- Fill the pastry bag with the batter. 

9- Pipe the Macarons on the pans. 

10- Let them rest until a skin is formed on each Macaron. 

11- Bake at 280 degrees F (about 138 C) for 17 minutes. My Macarons needed more than 17 minutes, so you will have to check on them. 

And you're done, I don't have to go through the recipe of the filling, you can make whatever you want. 

These are last night's results.  

They were supposed to be filled with raspberry buttercream frosting but I didn't have raspberry at that time so it's only vanilla. 

I hope you find this post useful, and if you have any question, feel free to ask. 

Ramadan 6

Hello, 

Here's the Raspberry Almond Bread I made yesterday, recommended by my friend Maryam from this blog.  

Ingredients:  

2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

2 eggs

2 tbsp sour milk

1 cup crushed fresh raspberries

1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray or grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter, sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the flour and sour cream. Fold in the crushed fruit and almond slivers.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack, turn right side up and cool completely.

Thanks a lot to Joy The baker blog for the recipe, it tastes and smells really good.