Christmas is our most important holiday, and its literature is correspondingly rich. Yet until now no adequate bundle of Christmas treasures in poetry and prose has found its way onto the Internet for Winter, Christmas, the birth of Christ, Santa Claus, and so much more..Eid Al-Fitr Sweet Treat
This traditional cookie made in Lebanon with press molds, is often eaten during Eid Al-Fitr. Mamoul is not difficult to make, but like all good things it takes time. The first step is done five hours ahead. The special ingredients [orange flower water and mahlab] are worth getting at a Middle Eastern food store.
Filling:
Mix together in a bowl:
- 3 cups finely chopped walnuts
- 2 tbsp. orange flower water [may zahar]
- 1/3 to ½ cup sugar
Dough:
- 2 cups of farina, smeed, or cream of wheat
- 1¼ cup melted, clarified butter
- ½ tsp. ground Cornell cherry kernels [mahlab]
- ½ cup milk
- ½ tbsp. dry yeast
- 1½ cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp. orange flower water [may zahar]
Topping:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
In a mixing bowl, pour warm melted butter over farina and mahlab. Let stand about five hours. Meanwhile make filling.
Dissolve yeast in a ¼ cup warm milk. Heat remaining milk almost to boil, pour over farina mixture and let cool for ten minutes.
Mix flour into farina mixture. Knead in yeast and milk mixture. Add may zahar and knead well to make uniform, elastic, moist dough, adding more flour if needed. Cover and put in a warm place to let rest for a half hour before forming cookies.
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Form a ball of dough 1 ½ inches in diameter in the palm of your hands. Use the palm of your left hand to support the ball while making a cup or hollow by pressing the dough to an even thickness using your right index finger.
Place roughly I teaspoonful of filling into hollow and pinch closed, reshaping it into a ball between your palms. Use mallet [pincers] to make a design on top surface of cookie or put filled cookies into a Mamoul press, and then place a cookie sheet and bake for a half hour until ever so slightly brown. Bake for first 10 minutes on bottom rack, and the remaining time on top rack.
Cool cookies completely and then sift powdered sugar over the tops and serve or store in airtight tins.
