Butter Cake


  • Ingredients
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3-1/2 cups flour
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • Dash of the Greek powder vanilla (optional, you can purchase some at the Greek market)




  • Directions
  • Mix eggs and sugar and beat for a good ten minutes.
  • Add butter, then lukewarm milk and keep beating.
  • Combine flour with baking powder and vanilla, then add to egg
    mixture and beat another 10 minutes.
  • Butter pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40
    minutes.
  • Test with cake tester.
  • May be eaten alone or you can slice and put strawberries or whatever on top.

Rice Pudding


  • Ingredients
  • 2/3 cup of water
  • 2 quarts milk
  • 2/3 cup long-grained rice
  • Dash of salt
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • Cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup butter



  • Directions
  • Cook rice until water is absorbed.
  • Add milk and cook slowly until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
  • Add sugar and heat until sugar is dissolved.
  • Remove pan from heat.
  • Beat eggs and stir a little of the hot mixture in them.
  • Add butter to the egg mix and stir until melted. Pour this into rice mixture.
  • Put pan back on heat and stir until creamy.
  • Add vanilla, mix and pour into bowl.
  • Sprinkle with cinnamon.
  • Cool.
  • Serves 10.

Paximathedes


  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 lb. unsalted sweet butter
  • 1 cup crisco (or one of the 8oz. stick tubes of crisco)
  • 1/4 cup Wesson oil, 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup almonds, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar, 6 1/2 cups flour
  • 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon



  • Directions
  • Ground almonds and toast in a 350 degree oven. Set aside when finished.
  • Beat butter, crisco and oil for quite a while (at least a good ten
    minutes).
  • Add eggs.
  • Add sugar a little at a time. Beat well.
  • Add orange juice a little at a time while continuing beating.
  • Add flour with cinnamon, baking powder, almonds and cloves (start with 5 or 6 cups of flour and see how texture is).
  • Beat until well mixed.
  • Divide dough into 5 long oval forms, then shape dough because you will be slicing it lengthwise during baking.
  • Spread 3 dough shapes on a cookie sheet - two or more on
    another (batter will spread a little while baking).
  • Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes.
  • Take Paximathedes out of oven and cool in pan for a good ten
    minutes.
  • Slice the paximathedes lengthwise and then sideways.
  • Put back in the oven with cookies flipped on their sides and bake another 15 minutes.
  • Remove from pan when done.

Kapethopeta


  • Ingredients
  • 2 cups Bisquick, 4 eggs
  • 3 cups sugar, 1 tsp. cloves
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 stick cinnamom
  • 1 cup milk, 2/3 cup Wesson Oil



  • Directions
  • Take 2 cups of sugar, 1 stick cinnamon and 1 1/4 cups of water and bring to a boil for about 10 minutes (another variation is about 1 1/2 cups honey, 1/4 c water and skim off foam).
  • Set aside and let cool.
  • Beat eggs.
  • Combine all remaining ingredients. Batter will be thin.
  • Pour into a 9"x 13" pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
  • When cake is finished, you pour the syrup over the cake. If cake is hot, syrup should be cool or if cake is cool, syrup should be hot!

Finikia


  • Ingredients
  • 3/4 lb. sweet butter, 1 cup vegetable oil.
  • 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup of ground walnuts
  • 4 eggs, 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 3 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 lb. and 6 Tbsp. of honey
  • 5 oz. warm milk, 1 cup of water
  • 10 cups of sifted flour



  • Directions
  • Beat butter and oil until fluffy.
  • Add eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat well and add milk. Mix well.
  • Add flour, baking powder and 1 tsp. of cinnamon.
  • Mix well and set dough aside.
  • Take the 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, 6 Tbsp. of honey and 2 tsp. of cinnamon and mix well together to make filling.
  • Take cookie dough and shape into small ovals, making a depression with finger in the center of each oval. Fill the depression with 1/2 tsp. of nut, honey and cinnamon filling.
  • Enclose dough around filling.
  • Place on cookie sheets, seam side down. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
  • While cookies are baking, mix 1 lb. of honey, 1 cup of water and the cup of ground walnuts to make the honey mixture and set aside.
  • When cookies are done baking, let cool, then dip in honey mixture.


Koulourakia


  • Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 cup butter at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cream or milk
  • 2 eggs, 5 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp. orange, lemon, anise, or maple extract
  • 4-1/2 cup flour




  • Directions
  • Cream butter until light and fluffy.
  • Add sugar and continue beating.
  • Add eggs, saving one yolk for topping and beat in with flavorings.
  • Sift flour and baking powder together, and mix in half of it.
  • Add milk, continue beating, then add remaining flour. Continue beating.
  • Knead to finish blending.
  • To shape, take a piece of dough the size of a walnut and roll into a rope 5 inches and braid or make 3 1/2 inch rope and form a circle with overlapping ends.
  • Shape as desired or use cookie cutter and place on greased cookie sheet.
  • Beat egg yolk and add a few drops of milk for glaze. Brush glaze on each cookie.
  • Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  • Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until light, sandy color.

Baklava


  • Ingredients
  • 1 lb. sweet butter, 1 lb. filo
  • 3 cups of chopped walnuts
  • 1 1/2 cups of chopped almonds
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar, 3 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 3/4 cup of honey
  • 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1 cup of water



  • Directions
  • Melt butter.
  • Mix nuts, 6 Tbsp. of sugar, 3 tsp. cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. cloves and 1 tsp. nutmeg together until well blended.
  • Add 3 Tbsp. metled butter to nut mixture and blend well.
  • Brush bottom of 10" x 15" x 2" pan with butter.
  • Place one layer of filo on bottom of pan and brush with butter. Repeat process until 12 layers have been used.
  • Sprinke 1/2 cup of nut mixture over buttered filo.
  • Cover the nut mixture in the pan with another layer of filo and brush with butter. Repeat twice (3 layers of filo).
  • Sprinke 1/2 cup of nut mixture over buttered filo.
  • Repeat process until all nuts are used.
  • Cover top layer of nuts with remaining filo (not more than 12 layers of filo), brushing each with butter.
  • With a sharp knife, cut through top layers of filo only, into diamond-shaped pieces.
  • Sprinkle with water and bake at 325 degrees for approximately one hour.
  • While baking baklava, boil water, remaining sugar and cinnamon stick 12 minutes.
  • Add lemon juice and remove from heat.
  • Add honey, stir and let cool. Pour over baklava when baklava is done baking.