Scents of orange, rose water, and freshly baked dough. If these are in the background, then yes — Christmas is officially here. The Phinikota, one of the most authentic Cypriot holiday sweets, make a strong return to homes, keeping alive a recipe passed down from generation to generation, as it always has been.
This sweet resembles kourabiedes or melomakarona but with a Cypriot twist. It contains a whole date inside, filled with walnut pieces, wrapped in soft dough, and finished either with syrup or powdered sugar or coconut.
INGREDIENTS
For the dough: 1 butter spray (or 2 glasses of oil)
1 1/2 glass of sugar
1 glass of orange juice
1 small cup of coffee brandy & rose water Zest from one orange
1 vanilla 4 tsp baking powder ~
1 kg flour Farina 1 bag coconut
For the filling:
2 boxes of dates and corresponding walnut pieces (walnut kernels)
For the syrup: 1 1/2 glass of sugar 1 glass of water
Recipe Execution
Remove the pit from the dates and place a walnut piece in each. Beat the butter well with the sugar, orange zest, and vanilla. Mix the orange juice with the rose water and brandy.
Add the baking powder to the flour and pour it into the butter mixture alternately with the orange juice (it becomes a soft dough). Roll out small pies (9 cm in diameter) and place the filled date in the center. Roll it up. Bake the Phinikota in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes. Let them cool. Boil the syrup beforehand to thicken it and let it cool. Brush the syrup on the Phinikota with a brush and wrap them in coconut. With this amount of ingredients, about 50 Phinikota are made.
