orange blossom water

Semolina flour gives these rather plain-looking but delicious cookies, adapted from "Dorie's Cookies" by Dorie Greenspan, a delightfully sandy texture. Almond flour makes them moist and rich, adding a gentle flavor and scent. If you don’t have almond flour, make your own by pulsing blanched almond slices in a food processor until they're finely ground. Just don’t over-process, or you’ll wind up with almond butter. And if you’re not a fan of orange blossom water, you can leave it out, or substitute rose water.

Moroccan Semolina and Almond Cookies

semolina flour

almond flour

baking powder

fine sea salt

granulated sugar

lemon

eggs,

60 milliliters flavorless oil,

vanilla extract

orange blossom water (optional)

Confectioners’ sugar,

Position racks to divide the oven into thirds, and heat it to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together semolina, almond flour, baking powder and salt.

Put sugar in bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer. Finely grate lemon zest over sugar, then rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add eggs and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. With mixer running, pour oil down side of the bowl and beat for another 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla and orange blossom water, if using. Turn off mixer, add half the dry ingredients and mix them in on low speed, then add the rest, mixing only until dry ingredients disappear into the dough, which will be thick.

Sift some confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl. For each cookie, spoon out a level tablespoon of dough, roll it between your palms to form a ball and dredge in sugar. Place balls 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets, then use your thumb to push down the center of each cookie, pressing firmly enough to make an indentation and to cause the edges to crack.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, rotating pans top to bottom and front to back after 8 minutes, or until cookies are ever so lightly colored: They will be golden on the bottom, puffed, dramatically cracked and just firm to the touch. Carefully lift the cookies off sheets and onto racks. Cookies will keep for about 4 days in a covered container at room temperature.

A hint of orange blossom adds a floral touch to the this polenta and almond-based orange cake.

Orange and polenta cake

unsalted butter,

demerara caster sugar

eggs

vanilla essence

(200 grams) almond meal

coarse polenta

oranges

tsp orange blossom water

gluten-free baking powder

Creme fraiche

(250 milliliters) orange juice

milliliters orange blossom water

cardamom pods, crushed

caster sugar

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These buttery, shortbread-like cookies, called graybeh, have a particularly crunchy texture that comes from clarified butter. If you’ve never clarified butter, this recipe is a good place to start, and the process is extremely simple (though you do have to plan it several hours ahead). If you’re not a lavender fan, feel free to leave it out. And for a more familiar flavor, substitute vanilla extract for the orange blossom water. These cookies keep well, so you can make them up to a week in advance.

Maureen Aboods Lavender and Orange Blossom Cookies

clarified butter,

confectioners’ sugar

kosher salt

all-purpose flour, more as needed

Heat oven to 325 degrees with a rack in the center of the oven. Line two sheet pans (not dark metal) with parchment paper.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter on high for about 6 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add 3/4 cup (92 grams) confectioners’ sugar, lavender and salt and beat another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and with the mixer on low speed, add orange blossom water and mix to combine.

Add flour to butter 1/2 cup (about 65 grams) at a time, until dough is crumbly and slightly dry but still able to hold together when squeezed, adding additional flour if necessary.

Divide dough into quarters and press each into a long narrow log about 1 inch high and 1 inch wide. With a sharp knife, cut into log diagonally to make diamond-shaped cookies 1 to 2 inches long. Use a spatula to transfer cookies to sheet pans, spaced about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Cookies should be golden brown at the edges.

Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar over baked cookies while still warm. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Deglet Noors dates shine when they are cooked in chutneys, desserts or North African dishes like this whole roast chicken. The chicken is cooked with fluffy couscous that absorbs the sweetness of dates and the butteriness of toasted almonds. Supermarket Deglet Noors are often dark brown and hard, because they have been kept well past their natural point of ripeness; seek out soft, light-colored ones for the best flavor.

Yvonne Maffei’s Roast Chicken With Couscous, Dates and Buttered Almonds

olive oil

lemon juice

ginger

black pepper

salt

chicken,

couscous (not instant)

butter

almonds

dates

sugar

cinnamon

honey

parsley

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large ovenproof dish or pot with a tight lid, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon juice, the ginger, the pepper and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the chicken and rub it around in the mixture until evenly coated. Turn chicken breast side down and roast, uncovered, for 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine couscous, 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside for 5 to 15 minutes to soak.

In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add almonds and cook, stirring constantly, just until toasted and golden; adjust heat so almonds and butter do not scorch. Turn off heat and stir in dates.

Add almond-date mixture to couscous, along with any butter left in pan, and mix, fluffing the grains with a fork. Mix in 2 tablespoons olive oil, the sugar, the cinnamon and the orange blossom water (if using).

Drizzle or paint honey over top of chicken (leave chicken breast-side down in pot). Add couscous mixture to the pot, arranging it around the chicken. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and return to the oven for 30 minutes more.

Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, remove chicken and carve into serving pieces. Stir and fluff couscous, scraping up any chicken skin stuck to bottom of pan, and place chicken pieces back on top of couscous. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve immediately.

One of the most meaningful, colorful and delicious of Mexican celebrations, Dí­a de Muertos has this bread as one of its trademark treats. It may sound strange to eat fluffy sugared up bread in the shape of bones, but then again, we also eat calaveritas, candies in the shape of skulls. This shows how crucial food is for Mexicans but also how it gets infused with our sarcastic sense of humor, generous spirit and gutsy attitude.

Pan de Muerto

whole milk

active dry yeast ((1/4 ounce each) or

all-purpose flour (plus 3 1/2 cups for later on)

unsalted butter

granulated sugar (plus 1/2 cup for dusting the bread)

eggs (at room temperature)

orange blossom water (or plain water)

anise seeds (optional)

orange zest (optional)

In a small bowl, pour the lukewarm milk - making sure that it is not hot nor cold or the yeast will not react - and stir in the dry yeast granules. Give the yeast a couple minutes to sit in the liquid, and stir with a spatula until it is thoroughly and evenly dissolved. Give it time: stir a little, pressing gently on the yeast that has not yet dissolved with the spatula, give it a bit more time to sit in the milk, stirring again, press again. Once it has completely and evenly dissolved, add ½ cup flour. Mix it combining thoroughly, until it has no lumps. It will be gooey, runny and sticky. Leave it in the warmest area of your kitchen, for about 20 to 30 minutes, until it puffs up (to about doubles or triples its volume) and has bubbled on top. I like to place a sauce pan or cup with boiling hot water right next to it, but it&#x27;s not necessary.

To make the starter:

In the bowl of a mixer, over medium low speed, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until combined and fluffy. Add one egg at a time. Once eggs are incorporated, add the milk and yeast mixture. Then adding ½ cup at a time, add the rest of the flour (3 ½ cups). Stir in the orange blossom water if using and if not, add plain water. Also add the anise seeds and a pinch of salt. The dough will look wet, runny and sticky, but continue beating anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes, until all the dough comes off the sides of the mixing bowl. It will be elastic and sticky, but it will hold itself together.

Butter a large mixing bowl that can hold the dough, and will be able to hold it as it doubles or triples its volume. Place the dough in the bowl, cover it with a cloth or clean kitchen towel and leave it in the warmest area of your kitchen, that is draft free, making sure that it is not next to a window or door that gets opened. Leave it to rest and puff up anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, until it doubles its volume at least.

Punch the dough with your fist, flip it over, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator over night. The next day, remove the plastic wrap, place a cloth or kitchen towel on top and let it to come to room temperature.

Take off a third of the dough to make the bread decorations: make a 1 to 2-inch ball and use the rest to make 2 ropes. They need not be smooth nor perfect, as the dough is quite sticky, and no need to worry they will look beautiful once the bread is baked (and covered with sugar).

Butter a baking sheet or a bread or pizza stone, and make a ball with the rest of the dough. Place it in the center of the baking sheet and flatten it a bit on top. Place the dough ropes making a criss-cross -Mexican bakers usually shape the ropes to resemble bones, having thicker and thinner parts- and the ball on the top, right where they cross. Cover the bread with a cloth or kitchen towel, and let it rise and puff up again, for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350. Bake the bread for for about 35 minutes. Halfway through baking, after about 20 minutes, cover the loaf with parchment paper or aluminum foil to prevent it from browning too much.

When they are ready, they sound "huecas", or hollow, if you hit the bottom of the bread.

Melt the butter and brush all over the bread. Sprinkle sugar all over until completely covered.

To make the dough:

Qatayef are synonymous with Ramadan. It is during this month that bakeries start making the pastry for these stuffed pancakes, and the lines spill into the street as people wait their turn to buy them. Golden underneath and speckled with bubbles on top, qatayef are cooked only on one side. They can be large or small. The large ones are normally stuffed with nuts or cheese and folded over, then fried or baked, and drenched in sugar syrup. The small ones, called qatayef asafiri (or little bird qatayef), are stuffed with a creamy filling, only half closed, then dipped in pistachio and drizzled with thick, faintly floral sugar syrup. The batter is very simple; the key is to make sure it is the right consistency, like that of heavy cream.

Qatayef Asafiri

all-purpose flour

yeast

baking soda

mahlab (optional, see Tip)

mascarpone

heavy cream

Prepare the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool completely, then stir in 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water and 1/2 teaspoon rose water.

Make the batter: Add 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons water to a blender or food processor. Add all the batter ingredients and process until smooth. The batter should be quite loose, similar to heavy cream in consistency. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Place the mascarpone, heavy cream, confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water and 1/2 teaspoon rose water in a small bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer to whip into stiff peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Cook the qatayef: Place a medium nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat until hot. Mix the batter to ensure it is smooth, then pour separate 1-tablespoon portions of batter into the pan, fitting about 4 circles. Cook qatayef until the entire surface is covered in small bubbles and the center loses its sheen, about 30 to 45 seconds. (You might be able to cook off more at a time once you’ve determined the right temperature and consistency of the batter.) If the bubbles are large and sparse, then your batter is too thick; stir 1 tablespoon of water into the batter to thin. Qatayef cook only on one side; the base should be uniformly golden and the top covered in small bubbles. If the disks brown too quickly — or unevenly — underneath before the batter loses its sheen on top, lower the heat slightly.

Transfer each cooked qatayef to a large tray lined with a dish towel and cover with another dish towel while you cook the remaining batter.

Fill the qatayef: Fold each into a half-moon, bubble side on the inside, and pinch to seal the edges together halfway. Using a teaspoon or a piping bag, fill the opening with the cream, then dip the exposed cream filling into the ground pistachios.

Arrange the filled qatayef on a serving platter. These can be covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for several hours until ready to serve. To serve, drizzle the cooled syrup over the qatayef and offer guests more syrup to add to their individual plates, if they choose.

Marhaf Homsi learned to make this Syrian-style walnut baklava from his family in Hama. The baklava he and his wife, Nawal Wardeh, now bake in Brooklyn and sell at their online store, Syrian Sweet Refuge, is less intensely sweet than the sticky confection familiar to many Americans. Cut into large squares, as is traditional in Hama, where the couple ran a bakery for 30 years, the baklava is lightly soaked in a lemon sugar syrup, rather than honey. Use the best quality walnuts available and chop them by hand; Mr. Homsi finds that walnuts chopped in a food processor get bruised and overly pulverized, creating a powdery texture. Be sure to leave time to defrost frozen phyllo dough, which takes 2 hours to thaw on the counter.

Syrian Walnut Baklava

walnuts (3 1/4 cups whole walnuts)

phyllo dough (1 pound,

clarified butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop walnuts by hand into small pieces. (A food processor will bruise and pulverize the walnuts, creating a powdery effect.) Transfer to a bowl and mix with confectioners’ sugar and orange blossom water.

Cover phyllo pastry with a clean, lightly damp kitchen towel. Layer a pastry sheet into a 13-by-18-inch pan, securing it in a few places with dabs of clarified butter in the bottom of the pan. Brush sheet lightly with butter before layering on the next sheet. Continue layering butter and sheets; once half the sheets have been used, scatter the walnut mixture evenly over the top, being careful not to rip the pastry or leave any spots uncovered.

Layer the remaining sheets, brushing each lightly with butter, including the top one. If your sheets are larger than the pan, trim the stack all at once so the edges are flush with the pan. Cut baklava into 3-inch squares, and pour any remaining butter around the edges. Bake for 40 minutes, or until top is a light golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare simple syrup: Boil granulated sugar and 3/4 cup/180 milliliters water together in a small pot over medium-high heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Stir, set aside and let cool to lukewarm.

If there is excess butter in the baklava pan, carefully tip it over the sink to drain. While baklava is still hot, drizzle over the lukewarm syrup, being sure to get it in the gaps between pieces. Once completely cool, the baklava is best stored covered at room temperature and eaten within a few days.

This is my take on the Tuscan dessert frittelle di riso. The custard makes these a very special dessert, but you can also just make the fritters, if you like, which makes them more of a snack. They go really well with coffee, either served as they are or with  whipped cream.

Rice Fritters With Orange Blossom Custard

arborio rice

500 milliliters whole milk

star anise

orange

Salt

vanilla bean

currants

170 milliliters whole milk

heavy cream (double cream)

orange,

cornstarch (corn flour)

Prepare the rice for the fritters: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir to combine the rice, milk, sugar, star anise, lemon and orange zest, a pinch of salt and the vanilla bean and scraped seeds. Once milk begins to simmer, reduce heat to low and cook rice for 25 to 30 minutes, until the liquid is almost all absorbed, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Transfer cooked rice to a medium container, let cool for about 15 minutes, then cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours, or overnight. (If you chill the mixture overnight, let it come to room temperature before forming the fritters.)

Make the custard: Heat the milk, heavy cream, sugar, orange zest and vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat when bubbles begin to form around the edges, about 2 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, whisk egg yolks with the cornstarch, orange blossom water and lemon juice to make a smooth paste. Slowly pour the warm milk and cream into the paste, whisking continuously to make sure there are no lumps.

Return the mixture to the pan over medium heat and cook for about 3 minutes, until you get a thick custard, whisking constantly. Remove the orange zest and vanilla bean, scraping off any custard that clings. Transfer to a small bowl, let cool for about 15 minutes, then cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight, until completely cool and set.

Just before serving, fry the fritters: Fill a deep saucepan with about 2 inches/5 centimeters vegetable oil and bring to 350 degrees Fahrenheit/180 degrees Celsius over medium heat. (You may need more than 3 1/2 cups/800 milliliters oil; getting the proper depth is important to make sure the fritters fry properly.)

Meanwhile, mix cinnamon and sugar together and set aside on a large plate. Remove the rice mixture from the fridge and discard the star anise and vanilla bean. Using your hands, break up the rice mixture, then stir in the rum and the two egg yolks until the mixture is uniform, using your hands if necessary. Add currants and flour and mix well to combine.

Whisk the two egg whites with a pinch of salt in a stand mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into rice mixture until no streaks of white remain.

Once the oil is up to temperature, use two tablespoons to drop spoonfuls of the rice mixture into the oil; each fritter should be a 1-inch/3-centimeter sphere. (An old-fashioned ice cream scoop also works well.) Fry five or six fritters at a time, for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, until crisp, golden brown and puffy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fritters to a paper towel-lined plate to remove excess oil, and then immediately roll in the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm by themselves, or with the cold custard if you’ve made it, or with some whipped cream.

St. Germain, elderflower tonic, and a touch of orange blossom water give this delightfully refreshing gin cocktail recipe a floral twist.

Eternal Sunshine Gin Cocktail Recipe

botanical gin ((I use Roku gin))

St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur

elderflower tonic

lime juice

Orange and lime wheels, (for garnish)

Mix the cocktail: Fill a highball or gin and tonic glass with ice. Add the gin, St‑Germain, elderflower tonic, orange blossom water and lime juice. Stir.

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