With Eid here, it is celebration time again. And, without a doubt, the indication of this day is sharing a delectable feast.
In celebration, local content creators Aqeelah Harron, Faaiza Omar, Fehmida Osman-Latib and Saadiyah Hendricks share their favourite Eid recipes.
They are easy to whip up and the perfect way to end a feast.
Easy flapjack stack by Aqeelah Harron
Serving: 5
Ingredients
2 cups Jungle Taystee Wheat
2 cups milk (dairy or almond milk)
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
6 tbs sugar (or xylitol, if preferred)
4 tbs melted real butter (or coconut oil, if preferred)
2½ tsp baking powder
Topping options: maple syrup, strawberries, cream, chocolates, and so on
Method
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl. Gradually pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients while stirring slowly with a whisk.
Flapjack hack: do not stir the mixture to the point where the batter is super smooth. Small little clumps are one of the secrets to a fluffier flapjack. Over-mixing will make your flapjack chewy and rubbery. Allow the batter to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Grease a pan with coconut oil or non-stick spray and fry the flapjacks on medium heat. When the flapjacks start to bubble, turn them over.
Drizzle the flapjack stack with maple syrup and add some strawberries, cream, or any other topping you prefer.
Croissant pudding by Fehmida Osman-Latib
Ingredients
4–5 croissants
500ml fresh cream
250ml milk
1 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of ground cardamom
A handful of chopped pecan nuts
1 tsp cinnamon powder mixed with 2 tsp brown sugar
Parmalat vanilla custard
Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C.
Slice the croissants into 4–5 chunky pieces and butter them on both sides.
Put it into an ovenproof dish and set aside.
In a bowl combine the fresh cream, mill, castor sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, and cardamom. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans and the cinnamon sugar mix.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20–25 minutes.
Serve warm, drizzled with custard.
Baklava vanilla slice by Faaiza Omar
Serving: 10
Ingredients
Syrup
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs orange blossom water
Cream filling
3 cups cream
Zest made from ½ a lemon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp vanilla essence
½ cup sugar
¼ cup Jungle Taystee Wheat
1 tbs butter
3 eggs
Layered phyllo pastry
8 sheets of phyllo pastry
¾ cup roasted and ground pistachios
1¼ cup roasted and ground walnuts
⅓ cup castor sugar
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
80g melted butter or ghee
Method
Syrup
Place the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan, and stir.
Bring the mixture to a boil on medium-high heat, and then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the orange blossom water. Set aside to cool for one hour.
Cream filling
In a medium-sized saucepan or small pot, combine the cream, lemon zest, ground cardamom, and vanilla essence. Bring to a simmer, whisk in the sugar, and Jungle Taystee Wheat.
While whisking, continue to simmer the mixture for about five minutes, until it thickens.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the cream mixture to a bowl.
Whisk in the butter and eggs, one at a time.
Layered phyllo pastry
Preheat the oven to 180°C for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix the pistachios, walnuts, castor sugar, and cinnamon.
Brush a 26cm rectangular oven-safe dish with melted butter or ghee. Place 1 sheet of phyllo in the dish, pressing down, and allow the sheet to hang over the sides of the dish while brushing with butter or ghee.
Place the second sheet of phyllo over the first and brush with butter or ghee. Spread ½ the nut mixture over the phyllo. Place another two sheets of phyllo over the nuts and brush each sheet with butter or ghee.
Pour the cream filling over the phyllo, and repeat the phyllo layering as before, to make 4 sheets of phyllo in total with nuts in between.
Fold over the phyllo from the long sides while continuing to brush each layer with butter or ghee. Follow by trimming the phyllo from the short sides, and tucking it in to make it neat. Score the phyllo to make a diamond pattern.
Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C.
Remove from the oven and pour the syrup over immediately while hot. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios and allow to cool for one hour or more before serving.
Custard cream-filled bollas by Saadiyah Hendricks
Ingredients
For the bollas
1 egg
¼ cup sugar and extra for garnishing
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
170ml buttermilk
For the creamy custard filling
250ml whipping cream
¼ cup Parmalat vanilla custard
¼ tsp ground cardamom, and extra for garnishing
Pistachio chopped for garnishing
Method
Whisk the egg and sugar together until well incorporated and pale.
Add the oil and vanilla and whisk to combine.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, and cardamom and fold until incorporated.
Whisk in the buttermilk until fully combined then set aside to rest while heating the oil for frying.
In a medium pot on medium heat, fry the bollas by spooning in a tablespoon of dough at a time then allowing to fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove and allow to drain on a plate lined with a paper towel.
While they cool off, make the filling by whipping together all the ingredients until medium. To assemble, roll each bolla in castor sugar then slit and pipe in the custard filling, finally top with chopped pistachio and a sprinkling of ground cardamom.
Read the latest issue of IOL Food digital magazine here.