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Authentic Şekerpare Recipe Turkiye, Asia
JUMP TO RECIPEWe strongly advise you to read the cooking tips before jumping to the recipe though
Introduction & history
Şekerpare ("sugar bits") are one of Turkey's most beloved desserts. The dough is made with butter, flour, and eggs and then shaped into little balls roughly the size of a chestnut. When placed on the baking tray, they are flattened a bit and garnished with a whole almond or hazelnut. As soon as they are baked, they are soaked in lemon-flavored syrup. The semolina in the dough is what makes them light and crumbly, but it is only when they soak up the syrup that they become incredibly moist and tender.
Pair with
Cooking tips
-
syrup
The first step when making şekerpare is to make the syrup, as it needs to have enough time to cool down. Once the cookies are straight out of the oven, you need to pour them over with the syrup, which they will then absorb as they cool. -
baking
When you place şekerpare on a baking tray, you must make sure you leave enough space between them, as they will expand during baking. -
ingredients
If you want to experiment with ingredients, try substituting almonds or hazelnuts with Maraschino cherries. -
storage
Keep your şekerpare cookies covered and in a container at room temperature for up to two to three days.
Recipe variations
Orange-flavored Şekerpare
PREP 45min
COOK 20min
RESTING 2h
READY IN 3h 5min
In this variant, the cookies are poured over with syrup flavored with orange blossom water, lemon peel, and the opened and scraped vanilla pod.
Ingredients
Orange-flavored Şekerpare
250g (8.8 oz) butter at room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 eggs
2 ½ cups (300g) flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1/3 cup (60g) fine semolina
1/3 cup (40g) whole blanched almonds
SYRUP
2 cups (480 ml) water
2 cups (400g) sugar
orange blossom water/hydrosol
lemon peel, 3-inch (7.5 cm) piece
2 vanilla pods
Preparation
1
Orange-flavored Şekerpare
Step 1/8
First, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
Step 2/8
In one bowl, combine baking powder and flour; in another bowl, cream the butter with sugar until fluffy.
Step 3/8
While carefully stirring, add the eggs to the butter, then stir in the semolina and lightly mix everything together. Now, add the flour and mix until everything forms into a dough — it should not stick to the sides of the bowl, so make sure you use a bit more flour if necessary.
Step 4/8
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Then, make little chestnut-sized pieces from the dough and arrange them on the parchment. Place a whole almond in the center of each ball by pushing it halfway in.
Step 5/8
Bake until lightly golden, about 20 minutes.
Step 6/8
While the şekerpare cookies are baking, heat water and sugar together, add the orange blossom water, and bring everything to a boil. Now, add the lemon peel and the opened and scraped vanilla pods. Let everything simmer.
Step 7/8
Take the cookies out of the oven, and while still hot, pour the hot syrup over the cookies — to make sure all the cookies are well soaked, it's best to use a spoon.
Step 8/8
Let the cookies soak up the syrup and cool completely.
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