Qatayef Recipe: No-Fail Middle Eastern Pancakes قطايف

Atayef filled with Cream and drizzled with simple syrup.

This is a no-fail Qatayef recipe that comes with traditional and non traditional filling options. Qatayef is a quitessional treat during Ramadan that is made of pancake-like batter, filled with nuts, cheese, or cream. Some are folded in a half moon shape and deep fried, while others are cone-shaped and filled with
Ashta (clotted cream), sprinkled with nuts and drizzled with simple syrup.  

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Aznavour Cake

There are few gifts that I still appreciate about my strict French school.  One of them is the magic pass that it handed to me early on in my childhood to savor French music.  To me, Charles Aznavour’s lyrics always stand out as a voyage into an ocean of meanings, shades and nuances.  His songs, precisely […]

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The Savarin/Baba Cake Recipe

My childhood gateau de Savarin, as I knew it growing up in Egypt, was a syrupy and airy yeast individual cake, horizontally split in half to encase juicy and fresh seasonal fruits and a mound of fluffy and tangy whipped crème fraîche.  Traditionally, Savarin should be soaked in a simple syrup mixed with Rum.  Yet, for religious reasons, only the non-alcoholic version was found at Egyptian bakeries.

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Balah El Sham: First Lesson of Coexsistence

Balah El Sham that translates into “Dates of Damascus” is the Middle Eastern version of the Spanish Churro.  It is fried fluted fingers drenched in fragrant simple syrup.  One of several evocative delicacies, Balah El Sham is particularly prepared during the month of Ramadan, which is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting.

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Kunafeh/Kataifi- Fruit Tart: The Ultimate Hostess

This recipe is inspired by my grandma’s signature recipe of “Kunafe”. According to several generations of my family, my grandma was the ultimate gracious hostess.  She always went out of her way to please her guests either the remote acquaintances or her close relatives. Neither the advanced age nor her fading eyesight affected the frequency […]

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