Baklava Ice Cream Inspires

 On a recent trip to the grocery store, I discovered an ice cream flavour that was totally new to me, baklava. Since I’m living in North Africa along the Mediterranean it’s not really a surprising flavour to find, but it is unique for sure. The ice cream itself is interesting, it combines pistachio ice cream with several ingredients found in baklava.

Most of the ingredients worked fairly well, in particular the syrup swirled throughout was great, as was the crunch base. The filo pieces mixed in and sprinkled on the top were okay, but also a little soggy. They also didn’t add much to the flavour. If I was to try and improve this ice cream I would say more filo dough, maybe a few layers of it between the ice cream. I’m also not a huge fan of pistachio ice cream, but in this context it was much improved.

This ice cream was a nice little treat, but it was also a source of inspiration. It inspired me to think about how many desserts one finds in the ice cream isle. I’m not talking about ice cream cakes, or any frozen cakes, I’m thinking specifically of ice cream flavour based on desserts. Off the top of my head I can’t think of too many of them. Honestly, I don’t know if I can think of one specifically, but I just feel like I’ve seen some before.

I’m very certain I’ve seen dessert themed ice cream at ice cream parlours. In particularly the fancy ice cream parlours that make their own ice cream. While I’m sure there have been a few, I’m surprised that dessert themed ice cream flavours are not more common. Probably the closest thing that comes to mind are ice creams that features bits of cookie in them. While it’s kind of dessert flavoured, I wouldn’t really call it themed. I’d like to be proven wrong on this, so if you know a good dessert themed ice cream that you can get at the grocery store, let me know.

Now it wouldn’t be fair for me to just complain about this without offering a few suggestions. So here are a few ideas I think might work really well:

Cheesecake – A creamy ice cream, creamier than most so it feels like cheesecake. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but if you could even get the tart flavour of cream cheese that would be great. Then, swirl in some strawberry syrup. Finally, a layer or two of graham cracker crumbs would give this a little texture and really keep it on theme.

Apple Pie – Now I feel like someone has made an ice cream with apple pie in it, but I’m thinking more about an apple pie ice cream. This would probably feel more like an ice cream cake, but I think the key would be to keep the crusts as layers instead of just pieces. You could have a nice cinnamon/vanilla ice cream with apple pie filling swirled throughout. Then you could have a layer of pie crust on the top and bottom. If the bottom is too complicated at least the top would be good. Frozen cooked pie crust is actually pretty good, so I think it would work really well.

Carrot Cake – This one might be a little divisive, but if done well I think it would work really well. Again, I’m not just talking about filling this ice cream with pieces of carrot cake either. I would say take a super creamy ice cream (maybe the same one you used for the cheesecake) and add some of the ingredients from carrot cake. The carrot cake spices would be key, cinnamon and cloves for sure. Also adding some walnuts, raisins and yes... shaved carrots. I don’t think you’d want to add carrot to the ice cream as that might be too much, but strings of shaved carrots might actually work.

I’m sure there are other desserts that might be tasty in ice cream form and I’m glad that I got to sample this fun baklava ice cream to get inspired. 

Sweet Treats Of Turkey

On my recent trip through the Mediterranean I made a stop in Istanbul.  I haven't been to Istanbul since I was a child, and I have only vague recollections of that trip.  The one thing I do remember however is how this trip ruined Turkish delight for me.  When I got back to Canada and sampled other Turkish Delights, they never held up to the stuff I tried in Istanbul.  It wasn't until a recently that I've learned that many Mediterranean and Middle East countries also make a fine "Delight", but for some reason North America gets it all wrong.  So even as a child, this city had a huge impact of my candy taste testing life, it was my first step towards being a candy snob.

The thing that I was most excited about on this return trip was to see if Istanbul still held up as a unique and tasty place to get sweet treats.  As it turns out, it is, in fact I might say that Turkey rivals Japan for unique and tasty treats.  As a Westerner many of the treats, and the way they're delivered are pretty strange, but if you get by your bias you'll discover flavours and textures like nothing you've ever tried before.

Living in Greece and having traveled around this area a lot lately, I found many similar treats in Istanbul, but for some reason there's a bit more authenticity to them.  In many European countries you start to find a great deal of influence from the French, German, and other Western European countries in sweet treats.  In Istanbul it seems like they avoid this, the places I visited didn't offer many Western baked goods at all, they focused almost completely on their own.  Even the grocery stores I visited had very few Western treats, there where several bars available with Pistachios, and other Turkish/Mediterranean ingredients, and very few M& Ms, Twix, or Mars bars.

The treats from the traditional Turkish stores and market stalls were exactly what you might expect.  First of all there where many bulk stores, particularly in the Bazaars, selling candy in bulk.  The candy they sold was nougats, delights, and nut filled baklavas.  There was not a French pastry to be seen anywhere. Even the coffee shops offered some uniquely Turkish drinks (I sampled something called Sahlep that is now favourite hot drink).

I only scratch the surface in my exploration of Turkish treats, so I could be missing something entirely.  I did however find that the treats available truly reflected the Turkish culture, that meant that there was little variety, but it also meant that the local treats where in abundance.  Keep in mind that when I say there's little variety, I don't mean little selection or even evolution in their treats.  I found so many flavours and formats of Turkish delight it would blow your mind.  In particular I came across a really creative way to serve sweet treats, in Donair form (they would shave the candy off a giant hunk of candy on a spit).

This city, and this country, offers unique flavours and a glimpse into the tradition that comes from their culinary history.  It gives you a great example of a culture that hasn't had a Western influence into its sweet treats, and how this sweet treat culture has evolved.  I'm sure I could spend a whole year learning about the many varieties of sweets available, and I'm sure I'll be back to sample again.

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Lebanese Baklava

While living in Greece I've learned a little something about baklava.  For those that are unfamiliar with this treat, it's basically philo dough, honey, and some nuts, presented with different spices and formed in many different ways.  It's one of the tastiest and sweetest desserts I know, and well worth sampling if you can.

The thing I learned about this treat living here in Greece, is that it's not just a Greek sweet.  It's a little strange to learn that a sweet you thought was the pride and joy of one country, is in fact available and popular in many other places.  It's particularly strange to learn this in Greece, as opposed to the many other countries that also celebrate this food.  The great thing I learned as well, is how different and tasty many of these different baklava's can be.  This past week I was given a box of Lebanese baklava and it was spectacular.

While I can't deny that Greek baklava is good, this Lebanese stuff was great as well.  It's not as nutty as most of the Greek baklava's I've tried, but the philo dough was super buttery.  I really think that this dessert might be a better representation of the Mediterranean, than of just Greece, but I don't want to step on any toes by saying this.

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A Bounty of Baklava

 This week I got to taste Baklava sent by Donna from DJ's Baklava, and it was a treat! I have to admit I've never been that interested in baklava, flashier treats usually catch my eye before I get to it. However, DJ's Baklava with it's twists on tradition and layers of golden pastry have made me a convert.

Traditional Walnut

I was generously sent six types to try:

Traditional Walnut
Almond Toffee
Apple Craisin
Pecan
Pignoli (pine nuts)
Peanut Chocolate Chunk

The first thing I noticed was baklava is incredibly sweet! If you have a sweet tooth, this might be just the thing. Traditionally it's made with honey, and the traditional walnut piece had the most noticeable floral honey notes to it.

Apple Craisn doesn't have nuts, but they're not missed from this combination.

My personal favourite was the Pignoli. It was bursting with toasted pinenuts, a flavour that is earthy, and warm. It was complimented nicely by the sweetness, and with a cup of tea it was the perfect way to relax and re-energize mid-afternoon.

Pignoli - yum!

The Almond Toffee pieces had a gentle cinnamon spice flavour to them, and reminded me of holiday baking. The Peanut Chocolate Chunk is a playful combination, the chocolate is somewhat subtle in the mix of flavours.

According to the website there are 36 layers of organic phyllo pastry, hand brushed with butter and honey syrup. Sounds good to me. It's also clear that Donna uses the best quality of nuts in her baklava. They all tasted fresh and full of flavour.

Peanut Chocolate Chunk

All of these flavours and more can be bought online. I'm curious about Luscious Luau Baklava with coconut, pineapple and macadamia nuts. There are also a few options that don't have nuts, really something to suit everyone.

DJ's Baklava has a website: www.djsbaklava.com
and a blog: http://blog.djsbaklava.com/

Turkish Baklava

One of the lesser known facts about Baklava is that Greece isn't the only place in the world that makes it.  Nope, in fact some say that Turkish Baklava is better than the Greek stuff.  Now I wouldn't go walking around Athens saying to out loud, unless you want to get yelled at, spit on, and maybe beaten up.  But recently I received a gift from a friend visiting us here in Athens, it was a box of Turkish baklava.  At first sight I have to say it was pretty impressive, so many shapes colours and textures to behold.

It had a selection that looked pretty similar to the stuff that I find here in Greece.

But it also had some baklava that I couldn't possibly describe.  I have to admit, variety wise this collection is pretty diverse, maybe even a little more diverse than the stuff I've seen around Greece.  Taste wise though, I'm not as impressed, there's not as much spice and not nearly enough sweetness.  It's pretty much a bit of philo dough with a whole lot of pistachios.  I'll reserve my judgement as to which countries baklava is better, at least until I try more.

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Great Bakery In Athens

While on a long walk through Athens, Allison and I decided to stop at this bakery for a quick snack. Everything on the shelf looked absolutely fantastic, behind the main counter where several large tables with two chefs working feverishly on creating new treats, so it appears everything is made in store.

Best of all the staff was attentive to us but not pushy. In our tired just having taken a really long walk state this was just the type of place we needed to recharge with a sweet snack.

Then it happened, after picking a couple of small treats (pictured above some baklava for me and Allison got a round nutty cookie thing) the lady told us that they where free. This is a brilliant way to keep customers coming back. We got a free taste of some very yummy snacks and we will be coming back, we will recommend this place to all of our friends, and I am plugging this place on my blog.

If you're in Athens here's this bakery marked on the candy map.

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Chocolate Baklava?

I'm not sure how traditional this is but the other day I went to a Greek festival and was lucky enough to sample some chocolate baklava. I was following the basic candy rule, anything is better covered in chocolate.

I must say that in this case the treat wasn't really any worse, however the addition of chocolate only made it negligibly better. I'm thinking that maybe if they added a cocoa powder into the mix instead of just melting chocolate on top it would be dramatically better.

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