Ingredients
Pastry
- 500 gplain flour
- 100 mlolive oil
- 100 mlorange juice
- 50 mlbrandy
- 1 tspbaking powder
- ½ tspsalt
Filling
- 300 gground almonds
- 150 gsugar
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground cloves
- 3 tbsporange blossom water
- 2 tbspsemolina
Syrup
- 500 gsugar
- 350 mlwater
- 1strip lemon peel
- 1cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsphoney
- 1 tbsplemon juice
To fry
- 1 litreoil
Directions
- Make the syrup first and let it go completely cold. Boil the sugar, water, lemon peel and cinnamon for 8 minutes, then take it off the heat and stir in the honey and lemon juice.
- Hot pastry into cold syrup is the rule for every syrup pastry in the eastern Mediterranean. Hot into hot gives you something soggy and cold into cold gives you something dry.
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt, then work in the olive oil, orange juice and brandy to make a soft pliable dough. Knead briefly and rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, orange blossom water and semolina into a firm paste. The semolina takes up any moisture that would otherwise leak out during frying.
- Roll the dough thin and cut it into rectangles about 12 cm by 8 cm.
- Lay a finger of filling along one long edge and roll it up tightly, tucking the ends in as you go so that they are completely closed.
- Seal them properly. Any gap at all and the filling escapes into the oil and burns black within seconds.
- Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F) and fry in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning, until deep gold.
- Lift them straight from the oil into the cold syrup and leave them for 2 minutes, turning once.
- Lift them out onto a rack and let the excess syrup drain away.
- Serve at room temperature, scattered with more cinnamon or chopped almonds. They keep for a week in a tin.
Technique
- They are the Cypriot ladies’ fingers, made for weddings and name days across the island, usually in very large quantities.
- Olive oil in the pastry rather than butter is what keeps them shatteringly crisp rather than short.
- Two minutes in the syrup and no more. Longer and they go from crisp to sodden.
Substitutions
- Walnuts in place of almonds, which is common in the mountain villages.
- Orange juice in place of the brandy, for a version without alcohol.
Variations
- With a mixture of almonds and walnuts.
- Baked rather than fried, which is lighter and noticeably less good.
- With sesame seeds pressed on before frying.
History
Cypriot ladies’ fingers, made for weddings and name days across the island.
Frequently asked questions
What is Daktyla?
Daktyla is a dessert from Cyprus: finger-shaped pastries filled with almond and cinnamon, fried and syruped. Cypriot ladies’ fingers, made for weddings and name days across the island.
How long does Daktyla take to make?
Daktyla takes 40 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 24 pastries. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Daktyla?
Yes, within limits. Walnuts in place of almonds, which is common in the mountain villages. Orange juice in place of the brandy, for a version without alcohol.
What is the most important thing to get right in Daktyla?
Mix the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, orange blossom water and semolina into a firm paste. The semolina takes up any moisture that would otherwise leak out during frying.
