Sfouf is a Lebanese almond-semolina cake. It is made from semolina flour flavored with turmeric, sugar, and pine nuts. This simple to do creation has many advantages other than being delicious – plus it doesn’t contain any eggs or milk. Known to be served around lent period, it can be enjoyed during breakfast or a relaxing five o’clock tea.
Just know that this dessert is my favorite. I search for it everywhere I go.
Covered with sesame seeds, Mayrig’s sfouf are like no other.
Once you plunge into the first bite, you’ll quickly forget the stress you’re encountering all day… take a second bite with a sip of some tea, take a deep breath and close your eyes… One bite after another, you’ll find yourself eaying more and more until the box is finished… who cares about the calories… they are addictive!
Mayrig’s sfouf are light, airy, slightly sticky, pleasantly spongy with an adequate sweetness and a nice aftertaste of turmeric.
Three centimeters thick, these six centimeters squares are devoured in a couple of bites as your taste buds crave for the next one… I ate one big box before sunset.
With the box of sfouf, I also received a box of square bites, they call “Kumba”. They have the same consistency of sfouf, but are white in color and are filled with dried raisins, crunchy almonds and are covered with sesame seeds.
There are other special foods related to that holiday. St. Sarkis’s holiday known as “Khashil bas”, “khashil” is a very unique food, prepared with roasted & ground wheat. The Armenians in Lebanon and Syria used to buy a special halva for that occasion. But the most delicious cake for St. Sarkis holiday is the Musa Daghian (jabal Moussa) “kumba”, a kind of “Darehats” (Year Bread), which has been a habit to prepare at New Year, in all the regions of Armenia. According to the tradition of darehats, also in kumba, it’s a term to put a “michink” (something to put in), a coin or a core of a fruit. Whoever receives the item in their serving of bread or cake will be the luckiest of that year, and will be the supporter of that family. During the years as a tradition the mother in laws of newly engaged women prepared this special lent cake and went to their fiancé’s house taking with them the kumba as a gesture. This tradition is still practiced in some Armenian communities.Ingredients:
- Flour
- Ferkha
- Orange juice
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Cinnamon
- Yeast
- Mahlab
- Sesame
- Walnuts
- Raisins and almonds