As with the “melomakarona” making yesterday, “kourambiedes” baking turned out to be easier than I thought. In fact the first cake I ever made was probably more difficult than this. All you have to do is mix the ingredients together and form the “kourambiedes” on the bake tray! I am, usually, not a big fan of them as I find them too dry so I chose a recipe with extra butter and coconut, a combination used traditionally in Alexandria.
Ingredients
Dough
½ kg butter milk
100g icing sugar
1kg white flour
200g coconut powder
200g peeled and crushed almonds
Decoration
200g icing sugar
1) Buttermilk + sugar: In a large bowl mix the butter milk with the icing sugar. When I got the butter milk out of the fridge it was hard and dense so I left it in a hot water bath for a few minutes to make it a bit less dense. Use a mixer to blend together the sugar and the buttermilk until it is a smooth, cloudy mixture.
2) Adding the rest of the ingredients: add the flour, the coconut and the almonds in the liquid mixture and knead until the ingredients form a dense dough. It might not be smooth and sof
t like bread dough, but it might have a more fibre-y texture.
3) Making the “kourambiedes”: in a bake tray covered with baking paper form small “kourambiedes” in any shape you like. I made some into small oval shapes, and others into small balls (2-2.5cm diameter). You might need two trays.
4) Baking: Bake for 20-25 minutes at 170C
5) Icing & Decorating: remove from the oven and while they are hot, sprinkle the icing sugar on top. Do not touch or squeeze as they are extra soft for about 10-15 minutes after baking.
Option: you can add some brandy together with the icing (a drop on every “kourambie” if you like or just a few drops in the dough). I personally didn’t add any.
Super easy and super tasty! Fortunately the dough makes around 60-70 mini “kourambiedes”, which are enough for me to give around and show off my cooking skills!
The recipe has been taken and slightly adapted from www.sintagespareas.gr
