While traditional and simple ice creams such as vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate are familiar and comforting, these days there is great demand for new flavors and more combinations of them, such as blueberry Earl Grey, strawberry balsamic, and lavender honey. Perhaps what has been missing from this creative list has been Persian ice cream with…
Tag: dessert
Sohan Asali – Walnut brittle
To most Persians, Sohan Asali is a beloved and familiar sweet that is a prime example of Mehmoon-Navazi, a uniquely Persian style of over-the-top hospitality! To me, Sohan Asali is a reminder of the nearly forgotten years of 40 years ago when I lived in Iran and celebrated the Winter Solstice, called Shab-e Yalda in…
Shirini Napoleoni – Napoleon pastries
Shirini Napoleoni, or Napoleon pastries, are popular dessertys in Iran that are closely related to the French Mille-feuilles. The French name translates to “a thousand leaves”, referencing the layers of flaky and buttery puff pastry. Traditionally, a mille-feuille is made of three layers of puff pastry, alternating with two layers of crème pâtissière. The top…
Cake Yazdi – cardamom and rosewater cupcakes
Cake Yazdi is to Iranians what vanilla or chocolate cupcakes are to Americans! I have yet to serve this cake (“kayk” in Farsi also translates to cupcakes in English) without generating a twinkle in the eye followed by an ear-to-ear smile. For anyone of Iranian origin, this familiar little treat evokes a sweet and tender…
Saffron and pear cake with Seville orange and pistachio frosting
There is so much to this cake, but not in the way you might think. It’s a simple cake, even if it does have some unique flavors. This cake tells the story of my life. Every ingredient, every choice, every combination, and every approach in the cooking method results from the experiences I have had…
Cayk-e sheer berenji – Cardamom and rose water rice cake
It’ll be no surprise that rice dishes are cherished and consumed in Persian cuisine. Rice found its way to Iran from China via the silk road, and took root in the Caspian Sea region, where the climate and landscape are very hospitable to rice production. Recently I’ve been reading about the wide variety of rice…
Koloucheh, Fuman style -Sweet pastries with creamy walnut and rosewater filling
This beauty is another of the Caspian Sea region’s contributions to Persian cuisine. Not only is this pastry unique to this region, but also the two provinces that border the Sea – Gilan, and Mazandaran – each have their own versions. Though a walnut paste is the most common filling, possible alternatives include dates, bananas,…
Cake Eshgh – Persian love cake
Today and every day we celebrate LOVE! Valentine’s day has come and gone and I am just getting around to posting this cake recipe on the blog. To state the obvious, Valentine’s day was not always a day that was celebrated in Iran and there was certainly no cake to go with it! But as…