Famous wedding desserts of Greece
Greece is a country with a tradition in delicious food and plenty of recipes and customs related to weddings. In every corner of the country, brides, and relatives, tend to treat their guests in engagements, weddings, and baptisms, with traditional homemade desserts.
“Amygdalota” is one of the most popular wedding desserts, common in many parts of Greece and especially in the Cyclades and Dodecanese. The white color of “Amygdalota”, symbolizes the purity that blesses the beginning of the new life of the couple.
Depending on their place of origin, “Amygdalota”, mainly made from grated white almonds, rosewater and sugar, are formed in various shapes (pear, oval, sphere, flower), are enriched with egg white, honey, semolina or bread crumbs and flavored with spices such as clove, cinnamon, vanilla, citrus zest or bitter almonds. In addition, they are always covered with a rich layer of caster sugar.
The “Amygdalota” of Andros are one of the most famous in Greece, since the island has a long tradition of almond-based sweets. The recipe that follows, is from Mr. Dimitris Laskaris of the pastry shop LASKARIS, located in Chora of Andros.
“AMYGDALOTA” of Andros
INGREDIENTS (for 30-40 pieces)
500 gr. white almonds
4-5 bitter almonds
400g sugar
4 egg whites
2 water glasses of rosewater or flower-water
500 gr. caster sugar
PREPARATION
Grin almonds in bunches in a blender until they become a smooth powder.
In a large bowl, put the almond powder and the sugar, and mix well.
Beat the egg whites until they become stiff and place them into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
Rinse with a little rosewater and mix well to homogenize the mixture. Then divide the dough into small pieces and shape them like small long balls.
Bake at 180 degrees in a hot-air oven for 20 minutes.
Allow “Amygdalota” to cool well and dive them into a bowl of rosewater for 1-2 minutes.
Immediately afterwards drain them, stir them in a bowl of caster sugar and leave them covered in caster sugar for half an hour until the caster sugar sticks well on them.
Serve them on a platter and sprinkle again with caster sugar on top.
Store in the fridge, in a covered bowl.
