Diples, Christmas honey rolls

Have you ever spent Christmas in Greece? Well, then youcertainly have come across these three sweet treats: melomakarona, kourabiethes and last but not least díples (thee-ples). Díples, the Greek word for fold, is a light and crispy fried dough topped with walnuts and a generous drizzle of honey syrup. There is an easy recipe below so you can make your own díplesthis Christmas!

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Kannelbullar, Swedish cinnamon buns

 Nordic baking session, part 1

cinnamon rolls

So here is a pastry that goes by many names: a cinnamon bun, a snail or a roll. No matter what you call this pastry, the Swedish cinnamon bun is truly delicious and super worth the effort to make at home. Why a Swedish pastry on a Greek food blog? Apart from the fact that I love cinnamon & cardamom, I have friends from up North visiting and we indulged in a Nordic Christmassy Bake off; it didn’t involve melomakarona this time.

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Butternut squash soup

A lavish vegetable soup

butternut squash soup @eatyourselfgreek

Winter soups tend to give me this fuzzy feeling, similar to the one you get from gazing at the lights of a Christmas tree. No matter how tasty a soup can be though, I could never consider it a main dish. Soups for me always falls under starters or under the light meal league. Given that Christmas is just 5 sleeps away now, here is a butternut squash soup to warm you up on joyful dinners for the festive days ahead.

Head straight to the recipe.

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Festive pork roast with honey glaze

beetroot salad

It’s almost Christmas! For the past week I have little bells jingling in the back of my head shuffling numerous Christmas tunes. I hope you are all set for great feasts with friends and family and there is no last minute present rush. Well, there might be – get them chocolate! Keeping in line with Greek Christmas traditions, I made a pork roast with honey glaze and a very festive beetroot salad, with carrots and green apple. Continue reading

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Vasilopita

I hope you enjoyed the Christmas celebrations, I definitely did, that’s why I have been so quiet: too busy relaxing with my favourite people and stuffing my face with melomakarona and kourabiedes. Non-stop chatter with friends and family somehow makes you forget to pull out a camera or write down a recipe.

I am really excited about this one though: it’s New Year’s cake!  We call it Vasilopita, after St Basil, our Santa Claus who actually visits on the first day of the year. It is not just another dessert, it’s the centrepiece of the evening. No matter how much we love Christmas, our New Year celebrations come with a bit more glam and lots more partying. Vasilopita is the start of it.

Not just a cake, a cake filled with anticipation for the New Year and a hidden coin! The cake is traditionally cut by the head of the family and a piece is allocated to all. The lucky slice with a coin will guarantee its happy muncher a very satisfied tummy, a little present and good fortune for the year ahead.

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