Theodora’s Greek Apple, Nut and Trahana Scrolls Recipe
This recipe has been shared by Theodora @polly_forager for the Meri Month of May. Theodora shares it’s story here…
“My Theia Eleni (Lenio) was very unique. Unfettered, chatty and extremely lively. I relished meeting up with her in our village, on late Summer afternoons on her balcony overlooking the Aliakmona river. Sipping Greek coffee with her whilst the billowing smoke of her favourite cigarettes – Gitanes, filled the Summer breeze.
Every story she told was drenched in sunlight. I was captivated and entranced by her masterful way with words, her perfectly painted red nails and her wonderful sense of fashion.
She lived for many years in the Jewish quarter in Brussels so French became her second language as did her influence in the kitchen.
Her caramel apple trahanato was something similar to a rugelach. A soft cheese dough filled with caramelised apples, crunchy nuts and the sweet sour taste of trahana.
Christine and I worked off a fragmented recipe belonging to her. An afternoon where we spoke about Station Pier and where I was reminded about the aroma of the roasted nuts on the ground floor at Myer in the 80’s.
The perfect day spent reviving this recipe that belonged to such a dazzling woman!”
Ingredients
- For the dough
- 200 g soft ricotta
- 200 g unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
- 40 g caster sugar
- 5 ml apple cider vinegar
- 300 g plain flour
- 5 g baking powder
- 3 g salt
- For the nut filling
- 120 g mixed nuts of your choice (we used 60g natural almonds and 60g walnuts)
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 10 g caster sugar
- For the apple filling
- 800 g apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 6 cm strip of lemon skin
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 50 g light brown sugar and 50g muscovado sugar, mixed well
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1 vanilla bean pod
- 40 g sweet trahana
- 100 ml water
Method
- Preparing the dough
- Add ricotta, butter, sugar and apple cider vinegar to a bowl
- Beat for approximately 5 minutes on medium-high with an electric beater
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt
- Cut and fold in the dry ingredients to form a dough
- Turn dough onto a floured work surface and gently bring to together to form a small log
- Dust the log with flour, wrap it in baking paper and pop into the freezer for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, transfer dough to the fridge until you are ready to use it
- Preparing the nut filling
- Toast nuts for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 180°C
- Place nuts in a mortar and grind till fine-medium in texture
- Place nuts in a bowl and add the cardamom, cinnamon and sugar
- Combine well and set aside
- Preparing the apple filling
- Combine all of the apple filling ingredients
- Place in a pan and bake at 200°C for 40 minutes, or until all the water has cooked off and a caramel has formed around the apples
- Leave to cool for at least 15 minutes
- Preparing and baking the scrolls
- Take the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with flour
- Using a rolling pin dusted with flour, roll out the dough in both directions to form a rectangle – 30 x 35 x 1cm– preferably with the 30cm edge towards you
- Cover with baking paper untilthe apples have cooled and can be used
- Spread the apple filling acrossthe dough, leaving approximately 3cm without filling along the upper edge
- Spread most of the nut mixture too; reserve some to sprinkle on top of the scrolls
- Using a floured dough scraper, gently lift the shorter edge of the dough and then, using your hands, roll intoa log – the open seam should be at the bottom of the log
- Cut the log into 3.5cm thick rings and lay them flat in a large pan drizzled with EVOO
- Sprinkle the remaining nuts ontop of the scrolls
- Place in the freezer for 10 minutes
- Bake at 180°C for 45 minutes or until golden-brown on the top and bottom
- Serving the scrolls
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving and enjoying Kali Orexi!