The delicious Loukoumades or Loukoumas in the singular, are typical sweets and are part of the classic Greek pastry.

According to Callimachus, philosopher and poet of the Hellenistic period, they were served as gifts to the winners of the Olympic games or as ritual offerings to the deities while in ancient literature they were known as honey tokens. Considered the ancestors of donuts, they are balls of leavened dough with a soft and fluffy consistency that are fried in boiling oil until they take on a golden brown color. It can be made in different shapes, sometimes they are prepared in a donut, other times in small spheres

They can be made both sweet and savory, the most famous are certainly the dessert ones which are sprinkled with cinnamon or honey, sesame, chopped walnuts and the most enjoyable certainly with liquid chocolate. As an aperitif, however, they can be garnished with fragrant aromatic herbs, spices such as paprika and grated cheese before serving.

In both cases they are almost like a drug, one attracts the other and being able to stop is an arduous struggle.

Below we give you the information to prepare those classic desserts at home so when you feel nostalgic for Greece, you can very easily bring back your memories to when you were in this wonderful and rich in flavors country.

Ingredients for about twenty loukoumades

320 g 00 flour

a pinch of salt

150 ml of warm water

1 tablespoon of dry brewer's yeast to dissolve in 100 ml of warm water

Peanut oil for frying to taste

Cinnamon powder

Toasted sesame

For the syrup:

1 coffee cup of honey

2 coffee cups of sugar

1 coffee cup of water

Lemon peel

Dissolve the dry yeast in 100 ml of water. Sift the flour and add the yeast. Mix vigorously with a whisk, adding the remaining water little by little, add the salt and continue mixing. The batter must be dense, if too liquid add flour, if too hard. add more water. Cover and let levitate, the dough must triple in volume. Usually an hour and a half is enough. While the dough rises in a non-stick pan, toast the sesame and prepare the sauce to pour over the loukoumades by mixing the ingredients. Once the pasta has increased, boil a pan of water for three minutes until the boiling stops. At this point, remove the dough and let it cool. Pour the peanut oil into a pan and reach the temperature of 180 degrees. Wet a spoon in a glass of water each time and scoop out the batter with the spoon and place it in the boiling oil. It takes just 3 minutes to cook them, turn them with a slotted spoon until they become golden and puffy. Remove them and place them on absorbent paper to reduce the oil. Finally, pour over the sesame and sauce. They are to be served hot, or rather very hot.

If you want, instead of the honey and sesame sauce you can drizzle them with dark chocolate, Nutella or a non-dense cream would be fine. In Greece, not always finding Nutella, they use a liquid chocolate called Merenda, a real pleasure for the palate.

For the savory version, you can add chopped aromatic herbs to the batter, otherwise everything is the same. Garnish them with grated feta cheese or if you are a glutton, you can always melt other types of cheese and cover them.

A quick and easy recipe that you can make whenever you want, even at the last moment. Don't forget to taste it during your holidays in Greece.