A few months ago I made Kwarezimal and posted the recipe. Kwarezimal are these Maltese vegan treats usually for easter that we had in Valetta last year when visiting. My first attempt at recreating these delicious sweets was tasty but I wasn’t quite happy. The recipe posted reflected the slight modifications needed to improve it but I haven’t tested it fully: a little overcooked and not enough moist from the honey. Also a slightly too strong taste of almond compared to what I wanted and the other ingredients. As these treats are rather rich and nourishing they are perfect in winter with a hot tea after working outside in the cold in the garden or after playing tennis, or both. So I decided to prepare them when the thermometer hit the 5degrees in the house in the morning. What best than working in the kitchen near the oven while the house warms up. I used the recipe posted earlier this year with a few modifications in the process, the shaping (made a smaller double bite size, faster cooking) and the topping: honey dip + hazelnut + pistachio. And made one slight change in the ingredients amount: double tap of cocoa powder. So here is the new recipe. To be honest it was perfectly delicious. Hard to stop eating them!!!
Kwarezimal (makes 18 double-bite size pieces)
- 150g of almond powder (or hazelnut powder)
- 100g of flour
- 60g of brown sugar
- 1tsp of orange blossom flower
- 2tsp of cocoa powder
- 1tsp of cinnamon
- 1tsp of clove
- 1/2tsp of cardamom
- the zest of half an orange or any other citrus fruit (I used yuzu this time)
- a bit of water
For the topping:
- a small handful of pistachios
- a small handful of hazelnuts
- 3tbp of fragrant honey
Pre-heat the oven to 180 while mixing all the ingredients (but those for the topping) together. Add a bit of water and knead until you obtain a dense but not sticky dough.
Roll the dough to a 5-7mm thick and cut the double-bite size with a shape or with a knife. Other option is to take small balls and shape them the way you want. A flat surface is better for the topping. Set on cooking paper in the oven for 15minutes.
In the meantime, crush the pistachios and hazelnuts of the topping, and set in the plate. In another plate a bit deep, put the honey. As soon as the Kwarezimal are baked and out of the oven, flip a few of them in the plate with the honey, and leave for a couple of minutes. Then dip the sticky side in the pistachio-hazelnut mix and flip on a dish or back on the cooking paper, repeat with the others and let cool down before enjoying!!
