Pasteli with honey
Ingredients:
500 g honey
500 g sesame
1 peel from a lemon or also 1 from an orange
1 cup orange blossom water or a little corn oil
Method:
Lightly toast the sesame, either in a pan while stirring, or in a baking tray in the oven while keeping an eye on it.
Put the honey in a pot to boil for 10 minutes and skim off the foam. Lower the heat and let it simmer. Add the sesame and stir the thick mixture.
Check whether the mixture is ready as follows:
1. Drop a spoonful into a small bowl of water. If an elastic little ball forms, it is ready. If it is too soft, continue boiling.
2. Drop 1/2 spoonful onto a plate. If, as soon as it cools (you put it in the fridge or blow on it so you don’t have to wait), it comes away easily, it is ready. As soon as it is ready, take it off the heat and wait a little for the bubbles to “rise” to the top.
In a baking tray spread baking paper and pour over the orange blossom water. Instead of orange blossom water you can grease the baking paper with corn oil. You can also sprinkle the surface with lightly toasted sesame.
Remove the lemon and orange peels and empty the mixture into the tray.
With wet hands, pat it down with your palm so that no gaps remain and spread it out (with a small oiled rolling pin) so that it is about 1 centimetre thick.
Once it has cooled a little (after 10–15 minutes), score it with an oiled knife into strips or diamonds (like baklava) or squares. Let it cool well outside the fridge.
Then separate the pieces well from one another and keep them in a cool place (not in the fridge) in an airtight container for a very long time. To keep them from sticking to each other you can place pieces of baking paper in between.
Tips:
-If you want the pasteli to be softer, add more honey.
-By boiling the honey longer the pasteli becomes harder. For a softer result, boil less.
-You can add 2–3 spoonfuls of sugar when the boiling begins, as sugar firms up the pasteli.