Sweet Greek

Kathy Tsaples owns and runs the Sweet Greek shop at Melbourne’s Prahran Market and now she has brought her passion for Greek food to the world of publishing with this gorgeous hardback.

There’s much more here than sweets by the way, with the book giving a wonderful overview of the importance of family feasting and celebration in the Greek calendar. That said, we could not resist this sticky recipe as a starting point. See sweetgreek.com.au for more details.

Recipe extract:

Pasteli (sesame seed slab)

Pasteli is easy to make and keeps for long periods. Growing up, whenever someone would arrive back from Greece, the one thing we would anxiously await to receive was the Pasteli. It is one of the most ancient of Greek food items, and will continue to be enjoyed by many. This recipe makes a beautiful Pasteli that looks amazing as well as being delicious.

Ingredients
1⁄2kg sesame seeds, toasted in the oven
1⁄2kg walnuts
1⁄2kg honey
1 cup of almond flakes
1⁄2 25g packet of vanilla sugar
1 1⁄2 tbsp sugar

Method
Firstly, toast your sesame seeds in the oven.

Combine the honey with the sugar and vanilla sugar in a saucepan, and heat over a medium flame until it starts to bubble.

Add the sesame seeds. Cook slowly, stirring constantly for about ten to 15 minutes until the mixture develops a gold colouring. Mix in the walnuts.

Spread some baking paper in a shallow tray or stone cutting board. Pour the hot sesame mixture onto it and work the surface with a spatula until it has a uniform thickness of about half an inch.

Take some baking paper, place it on top of the sesame mixture, and use a rolling pin to gently even out the surface.

Remove the baking paper, sprinkle the almond flakes on top and press in. Cut into diamond shapes and enjoy.