Eid celebration is here! Let’s Eat! And boy is it well deserved after a month of fasting!
So, as you may or may not know, Eid is the holiday that follows the month of Ramadan. This is a time where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. You may or may not have seen our Ramadan Iftar table, and yes believe it or not, the 30 days have come and gone. As one may figure, by the end of the month you are ready for a big feast and lots of sweets….and that’s where Eid comes in!
Every family has their own traditions, whether it was getting new pajamas and outfits to wear for the holiday, or if you got toys and gifts or the traditional cold hard cash! Families and friends visit one another and give these cash gifts to the kids and everyone gathers to eat and celebrate.
In honor of the Eid holiday, Nadia and I created a dessert table. God knows Middle Eastern people have soooo many desserts and even more variations on how to create them. Basically, we took some classics and let them stay perfect just the way they are. Then we added some twists! We thought they were fun and delicious, we hope you do too!
So the Eid dessert list goes like this…drum roll please!!!
For our classics, we made a dish that is known by Syrians as Harisseh and Egyptians as Basbousa. It’s made of a cream of wheat type product we call Smeed or Farina, some sugar, butter and yogurt. Then of course we have Mamool cookies, with their buttery date or nut-filled goodness.
Now it’s time to get a little bit creative! We did a healthier take on the traditional Baklava pastry, where we used red pears as the base and filled them with a buttery spiced nut filled mixture. We also made an Apricot Galette with an almond pastry spread and rustic almond crust. Last but not least, we made a Tahini Cheesecake with a Pistachio Cardamom crust. The crust was inspired, or copied 😉 ** hey, imitation is the ultimate form of flattery right** by the gorgeous work that Amber created over at Quite Good Food
So to all those Muslims who are celebrating the Eid holiday and to everyone else who isn’t, we hope you give some of these recipes a try because they aren’t just delicious and beautiful, they’re actually pretty easy to make!
Once you put tahini in cheesecake, you may never make it plain again!
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup +2 Tbsp cold heavy whipping cream
- 3 Tbsp tahini
- 1/2 cup hulled pistachio nuts
- 1/4 cup cashew nuts
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup dried dates (about 12, roughly chopped)
- 1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom (I ground the seeds from six pods using a mortar and pestle)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil melted if solid
- Put the nuts, seeds, dates and cardamom into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the mixture is a small crumb.
- Add the freeze dried strawberries and coconut oil and pulse until combined. You want the strawberry pieces broken up, but not completely disintegrated - it's nice to come across a larger piece of it in the mixture every now and then.
Divide the mixture in half and press into the bottom of 2 separate 4 inch springform pans (using the bottom of a 1/4 cup measuring cup to pack it in tightly) and refrigerate until firm (at least half an hour)
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or hand held), mix the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined and smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add the sour cream, whipping cream and tahini and mix until it thickens, 4-5 minutes.
Divide the filling evenly and spread it into the prepared crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight and top with nuts and freeze dried strawberries.
Make sure to store in the fridge or freezer.
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