1. Greek Christmas and
New Year's Sweets
Zanneio Experimental High School of Piraeus

2. Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of
phyllo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened
with syrup or honey.

3. Ingredients
For the filling:
• 500 g. unsalted milk butter, melted
• 2/3 cup virgin Greek olive oil
• 10 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
• 3 cups unsweetened biscuit crumbs
• 1 kilo phyllo pastry sheets
• Whole cloves (optional)
For the Syrup:
• 4 cups sugar
• 4 cups water
• 2 tbsp. strained fresh lemon juice
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 400˚F/200˚C. Lightly butter baking pan.
• In a large bowl, combine nuts and zwieback. Add ¼ to 1/3 cup of
butter and the olive oil to the mixture – enough to moisten it.
• Layer 6 phyllo sheets on bottom of prepared baking pan, one at a
time, brushing each one generously with butter. Sprinkle about a
third of the nut mixture over the sixth phyllo sheet and spread it
evenly. Drizzle 1 to 2 teaspoons more butter over nuts.
• Layer 4 phyllo sheets over the nuts, one at a time, buttering each
generously. Spread another third of the nut mixture on top and
drizzle, as before, with a teaspoon or two of butter. Layer and
butter another 4 phyllo sheets, top with remaining nut mixture,
and drizzle with clarified butter. Top the pan with 5 to 6 sheets
of phyllo, each brushed generously with butter. With the tips of
your fingers, sprinkle the top phyllo with a little water, and brush
again. Score into diamond shapes, first cutting gently with a sharp
knife vertically, then horizontally, making sure the knife cuts all
the way down through the very bottom phyllo. Press a whole clove
into each piece of baklava, if desired, before baking to make the
tray more decorative.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the phyllo begins to crisp – and
brown slightly. Reduce heat to 325˚F/165˚C and bake for 1 ½ to 2
hours, or until baklava is golden brown. Five minutes before
removing baking pan from oven, brush baklava with one more ample
dousing of butter.
• To prepare syrup: While baklava is baking, in a large saucepan
combine sugar and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and
simmer, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, until syrup is heavy and
lusciously thick. Remove pot from heat and immediately stir in
lemon juice.
• Remove baking pan from oven and pour hot syrup over the
baklava. Place the baklava back in the oven – which has been
turned off but is still hot – and let stand until all the syrup is
absorbed, about 20 minutes. Serve baklava warm or at room
temperature and store at room temperature, sealed in a tin.
Baklava Recipe
By
Konstantina K.(A4)

4. Kourabiedes
Kourabiedes are Greek Christmas butter cookies.
A Greek family celebration wouldn’t be complete
without kourambiedes!

5. Ingredients
• 250g unsalted butter, at room
temperature,
• 2/3 cup (120g) icing sugar,
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup (150g) plain flour,
• 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour,
• 75g slivered almonds, toasted,
finely chopped
• Whole cloves (about 20)
• Icing sugar, extra, to dust
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a large baking tray
with non-stick baking paper. Use an electric
beater to beat the butter in a large bowl until
pale and creamy. Add the icing sugar and egg
yolk. Beat until well combined.
• Fold in the flours until just combined. Stir in
the almonds.
• Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls. Roll
the balls into 8cm lengths on a lightly floured
surface. Form into crescent shapes. Place on
the tray. If desired, set half of the dough aside
to make star-shaped biscuits. Press out until
about 2cm thick on a lightly floured surface.
Use a 6-7cm star cutter to cut out biscuits.
Place on the tray.
• Insert a clove into the centre of each biscuit.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or just until light
golden. Transfer the warm biscuits to a wire
rack over a baking tray. Dust with a little icing
sugar. Set aside to cool completely. Dust
generously with more icing sugar.
Kourabiedes Recipe
By
Chris S.(A4)

6. Troufakia
Troufakia are treats with walnuts,biscuits
and chocolate

7. Troufakia Recipe
by
Georgina V.(A2)
Ingredients
• 150g dark chocolate, melted (5
ounces)
• 170g Petit beurre biscuits (6
ounces)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 3 tbsps milk cream
• 3 tbsps brandy
• powdered cocoa or chocolate
sprinkles for coating
Instructions
• To prepare the mixture for the chocolate
truffles, start by melting the chocolate.
Chop the chocolate in small pieces and
melt over low heat using a Bain Marie or
double boiler, being careful not to burn it.
• In the meantime, crush the biscuits in a
large bowl. Pour the melted chocolate
over the biscuits and (using a wooden
spoon) blend to coat. Add the chopped
walnuts, the milk and milk cream and blend
again, until the ingredients combine. Pour
in the brandy and place in the fridge to
cool for 1-2 hours.
• Remove the mixture for the chocolate
truffles from the refrigerator. Wet your
hands with some water, to make it easier
to work with the chocolate mixture, and
shape the chocolate truffles into balls by
rolling between the palms of your hands.
Roll the chocolate truffles in chocolate
sprinkles and serve, or place back in the
refrigerator until needed.

8. Melomakarona
Melomakarona are cookies with honey syrup and
walnuts.
They are never absent from a Greek
Christmas!

9. Melomakarona Recipe
by
Nektaria X.(Α4)
Ingredients
For the mixture:
• 2 cups of olive oil
• 1 cup of orange juice
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1 small cup of brandy
• 1 small spoon of soda
• 1 small spoon of baking
powder
• 1 small spoon of cinnamon
• peel of one orange
• 1 kilo of flour
• ½ kilo of chopped walnut
For the syrup:
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 cup of honey
• 1 cup of water
PERFORMANCE
.
We mix olive oil, sugar and orange
juice till the sugar dissolves. We
dissolve soda in brandy and we add it
to the mixture.
We mix the baking powder with a little
flour and put it in the mixture, along
with the cinnamon and the orange peel.
The mixture mustn’t stick to your
hands. We sculpt the mixture in small
balls of a walnut size. We bake them
in medium temperature for ½ hour.
We boil the honey, the sugar and the
water for 3 minutes, we remove the
froth and put the melomakarona in the
syrup (in low-tech temperature) and
we leave them inside the syrup till
they are soft. We put them in a big
plate and we add the chopped walnut
on top.

10. Diples or Xerotigana are considered a traditional sweet in
Kalamata (Diples) and in Crete (Xerotigana). It is dough
rolled into thin strips, fried in olive oil and then dipped in
syrup. In Greece,we serve them at Christmas and weddings.
Diples or Xerotigana

11. Diples or Xerotigana
Recipe by
Eleni K. (Α1)
&
Panayiotis D. (A1)
Ingredients
4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
4 tablespoons of olive oil
½ cup of orange juice
½ tablespoon of sugar
3 eggs
a bit of salt
Honey, nuts and cinnamon.
Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with baking
powder, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, put
the orange juice and beat all of them with
eggs, sugar and salt for 5 minutes.
Add the remaining flour slowly and beat well
after each addition.
The dough is ready.
Leave the dough covered for 1/2 an hour,
then open it into a thin sheet and cut into
strips. Fry them in hot olive oil for a while
until they rise.
Drizzle them with honey and nuts with
cinnamon and they are ready to be eaten !!
Procedure

12. Vasilopita
Vasilopita is a traditional cake.
In Greece, we serve vasilopita in the first day
of the new year

13. Instructions
• Preheat oven to 180c
• In a large tub pour half a cup of lukewarm milk and
dissolve the yeast in it. Add ½ cup flour and stir to mix.
Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm place for about
an hour.
• While the dough is rising, beat the egg yokes with the
sugar in an electric mixer or food processor and set
aside. Beat the egg whites into a meringue. To the risen
dough, add yoke/sugar mixture, the remainder of the
milk, the meringue, butter, mahlepi and zest. Knead until
all is well mixed, adding the remainder of the flour a
little at a time so the dough won't be too tight. Shape
the dough into several balls, place in a bowl, cover it
with a towel and leave in a warm place for about 3 hours
until it doubles in size.
• Knead the dough for 5 minutes more and place in a
large round oiled pan (or two smaller ones) and leave
covered in a warm place until it doubles in size again.
• Before placing in oven, beat the yoke of 1 egg with a
teaspoon of water and brush it on the dough with a
pastry brush. Then, using the blanched almonds, form
the "new" date on the top of the dough. Bake for about
30/40 minutes, or until Vasilopita looks well browned.
Ingredients
1 cup fresh milk
2 teaspoons yeast
4 eggs, separated
1 cup milk-butter,
melted
1 ½ cup sugar
1 envelope mahlepi,
crushed
Zest of 1 lemon
1 level teaspoon salt
1 kilo flour
Handful of blanched
almonds
Vasilopita Recipe
by
Maria K.

14. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas! May it bring you joy, happiness
and everything else you deserve
Zanneio Experimental High School of Piraeus