Irmikli Hurma Tatlisi

[DonRocks]

In 1999, there was a dessert contest in Istanbul, and my friend's mother entered and won first prize.

Yesterday evening, he gave me two hurma to try from his mother's recipe, which I'm now having with my morning coffee. What wonderful cookies these are - hurma means "dates" in Turkish (the kind you eat, not the kind you take to the movies), and these cookies are named because they're shaped like dates. However, there isn't a date to be found - almonds are what make the backbone of these, sweetened by simple syrup and brought to life by yogurt and lemon juice. And butter!

There isn't much information I could find about them (my friend is from the northeastern part of Turkey, near the Black Sea, and this particular recipe is said to be quite regional), but here is one recipe for them.

Does anyone else know more detail about these wonderful cookies?

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Smithy]

Does anyone else know more detail about these wonderful cookies?

←

Whoa...I know I want to make them! They do sound wonderful!

[sazji]

I did a search, I found a recipe for a hurma tatlısı made with almonds but none with semolina. If you want I can translate it for you, I suppose you could try it with a very fine semolina.

bob

[Wolfert]

The recipe posted on global gourmet is taken from Joan Peterson's Eat Smart inTurkey.

"The recipe was provided by Nurten Tabur, wife of Feridun Tabur, Assistant General at the Hotel Dedeman in Antalya on the Mediterranean coast. It is a special dessert from her hometown, Ismit, in theh Sea of Marmara region of Turkey."----

eat smart in Turkey.

Edited October 17, 2005 by Wolfert (log)

[sazji]

BADEMLİ HURMA TATLISI

hurma tatlısı with almonds

(From http://www.turkpoint.com)

INGREDIENTS

1 cup finely chopped almonds

1 pinch salt

2 T butter

2 cups flour

Slightly less than 2 cups water

4 eggs

grated zest of one lemon

Syrup:

3 cups water

2 cups sugar

1 t lemon juice

PREPARATION

1. (syrup) Boil 3 cups sugar, 2 cups water and 1 t lemon juice together to make a syrup, to the point where the last drop off the spoon will stay on your fingernail. Let cool.

2. Boil the butter, salt and slightly less than 2 cups of water. Meanwhile, sift the 2 cups flour and pour into the boiling water, and cook, stirring constantly, for ten minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Add four eggs, one cup of chopped almonds, and lemon zest, and mix well by hand.

3. Divide into pieces half the size of a walnut, and make them into even-sized balls. Form into date shapes, pressing them on a coarse sieve (optional) to give them a nice texture.

4. Fry them at medium heat in two cups of sunflower oil, then remove, drain the oil and throw into cooled syrup, leaving them in until the next batch is nearly ready. Remove from syrup and place on serving plates.

[Smithy]

I'm so glad this topic got kicked back up! Those sound wonderful. Thanks for posting the recipe.