Melomakarona Recipe

What you will need:

Mixture 1 (dough) :

400 grams orange juice (preferably fresh squeezed juice)

400 grams sunflower oil

180 grams olive oil

50 grams icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon granulated gloves

2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon (maybe 4 depend on how strong you want the cinnamon flavor)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

1 teaspoon baking soda

finely grated zest from 2 oranges

1 kg all purpose flour

200 grams semolina

Mixture 2 (syrop) :

500 grams water

800  grams granulated sugar

3 cinnamon sticks

150 grams honey

5 gloves

1 orange

Decoration:

Chopped walnuts

Directions:

Syrup:

The most important thing for this recipe is to have everything ready and measured before you start.

So make sure you have pealed your oranges and measure the oil etc.

You always begin with the syrup,because you have to let it cool down for 2 hours.

Combine water, sugar, one orange cut in half, cloves and cinnamon stick in a deep saucepan.Turn the heat to maximum and stir until you bring everything to boil. When the water is boiling you take the pan of the heat. You should have a clear mixture as the sugar will be dissolved. Then fold the honey into the mixture and stir. Let it rest for 1-2 hours.

Dough:

The dough is really easy to make. You don't need a mixer.It is better if you mix it by hand. Add the orange juice with the vegetable and olive oil in a extra large bowl and stir. Then add the spices (granulated gloves, cinnamon and nutmeg) and 50 grams of icing sugar. Finally you mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda and the orange zest. When you mix it well try a little bit and see if you want to add any more spices.

Add the semolina and flour into the bowl and get a fork. (If you don't have semolina just add more flour). Start mixing it with the fork and when it gets really hard start working the dough with your hands. In 2-3 minutes you will get a rather soft dough. You are ready to start shaping them!

Preheat the oven in 180 degrees. Have the baking sheets ready. Pinch a portion of dough at the size of a walnut, (if you can measure them it should be around 20-30grams) and start shaping it with your palm into a smooth oblong shape. Attention, all the melomakarona have to be approximately the same shape so we can evenly bake them. Place the cookies on the trays covered with baking sheets, 2cm apart, as they grow during baking. Bake them at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes. 

Tip. Place one tray at a time in the oven 

Finally, when the cookies are ready baked, you deep them into the cool syrup and let them sit for 20 seconds, so they can absorb enough syrup.( Before you deep them, take the oranges and cinnamon out of the pan) . Make sure you turn them both sides. Then place the melomakarona on a serving plate and sprinkle each layer with chopped walnuts and some extra honey. Repeat for each tray you get out of the oven (it should be 4 trays of 30 melomakarona) and there you have it!

Merry Christmas!

Bis Bald,

ananas

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