Tulumbe

Ingredients

Syrup

• 700 gsugar
• 500 mlwater
• 1 tbsplemon juice
• 1strip lemon peel

Batter

• 250 mlwater
• 80 gbutter
• 150 gplain flour
• 2 tbspsemolina or cornflour
• 3eggs
• 1 tspsugar
• a pinch of salt

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

Equipment

• a piping bag with a large star nozzle
• scissors

To serve

• cold, in their syrup, with coffee

Directions

1. Boil the sugar, water and lemon peel for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the lemon juice near the end. The acid stops the syrup crystallising, and it also stops the finished sweet setting into a solid sugary block.
2. Cool it completely, and refrigerate it if you have time. Bring the water and butter to a rolling boil. Tip in the flour and semolina all at once and beat hard with a wooden spoon.
3. Beat it over the heat for 2 or 3 minutes until it forms a smooth ball that leaves the sides of the pan clean. Now cool the paste for 10 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, working each in completely. Add them one at a time. The finished paste should be smooth, glossy and just stiff enough to hold a shape when piped.
4. Heat it to only 150 to 160°C, which is lower than most frying. Tulumbe need a long slow fry so the inside cooks through and the outside hardens, and hot oil colours them in two minutes while the centre is raw.
5. Use a thermometer if you have one. Pipe lengths of about 5 cm and cut them off with scissors dipped in oil. Dip the scissors in oil so the batter does not cling, and pipe directly over the pan. Use a large star nozzle, since the ridges are the whole point. Do not crowd the pan as you fry.
6. Lift them out and drop them straight into the cold syrup. Transfer them hot and immediately, since the temperature contrast is what makes the texture.
7. Leave them in the syrup for 5 to 10 minutes, turning once. Do not leave them soaking indefinitely, or they go soft right through and lose the crunch entirely. Serve them cold, with a little syrup spooned over, and Bosnian coffee. They keep two days and soften steadily.

Technique

• The hot-into-cold rule applies across the whole family of syrup-soaked pastries.
• Tulumba, tolombeh and balah el sham are the same sweet under other names.
• Bosnian slastičarne sell them by weight.

Substitutions

• Cornflour in place of semolina in the batter.
• Honey thinned with water in place of sugar syrup.

Variations

• Filled with cream, as some shops now make them.
• Made small, as bite-sized pieces.
• With a little rosewater in the syrup.

History

An Ottoman sweet found from Bosnia to Egypt, sold by weight from Bosnian slastičarne.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tulumbe?

Tulumbe is a dessert from Bosnia and Herzegovina: ridged fried batter fingers soaked cold in sugar syrup, crunchy then sticky. An Ottoman sweet found from Bosnia to Egypt, sold by weight from Bosnian slastičarne.

How long does Tulumbe take to make?

Tulumbe takes 30 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tulumbe?

Yes, within limits. Cornflour in place of semolina in the batter. Honey thinned with water in place of sugar syrup.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tulumbe?

Use a thermometer if you have one. Pipe lengths of about 5 cm and cut them off with scissors dipped in oil. Dip the scissors in oil so the batter does not cling, and pipe directly over the pan. Use a large star nozzle, since the ridges are the whole point. Do not crowd the pan as you fry.