Greek Sweets of the Spoon (Greek: Γλυκά Του Κουταλιού), these traditional Greek "spoon" fruit sweets are irresistible either as toppings on ice cream, mixed in yogurt, served on the side with coffee, or spread as jam toppings. Visitors to a Greek home are traditionally offered a sweet welcome with a spoonful of homemade preserves served to guests in a small crystal dish. Any traditional café or kefeneion would also offer a well filled teaspoon (hence the name) accompanied with a glass of iced water.
Description
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These unique desserts from Greece are made by using home-style country fruit preserves as a singularity of the Greek confectionery. They represent a warm welcome for the visitor to the friendly environment of a Greek home reflecting the spirit of country's hospitality. These sweets are usually homemade according to the art and secrets of each housewife but in recent years they can also be easily found in supermarkets. They were called 'spoon sweets' because the usual serving size was a well-filled teaspoon. Most of these sweets were prepared at the time of year each fruit matured: apricots, prunes, grapes, quince, bergamot, citrus, wild cherries, watermelon rind and figs followed each other from early summer to late autumn. Other varieties such as pistachio, walnut, fig and bitter orange used fruit that was not yet fully ripe. Sometimes spoon sweets are made by using vegetables (such as eggplants or tomatoes) or even flower petals, mastic and vanilla known as Vanilla Glyko Koutaliou which is a very thick dense white sweet made out of vanilla that has a very thick dense molasses quantity to it but in vanilla form, it is packaged in glass or plastic boxes. This spoon dessert is eaten while being dipped into a tall cold glass of water. The Greek name for this dessert is known as "ipovrichio" which means "submarine", because its dunked into water, henche the name. The art of making sweets by fruits is still alive and well and be can found almost everywhere in Greece. The Greek fruit preserves made from the purest and healthiest raw materials are some of the most sought after Greek products and they are exported worldwide. The main difference between spoon sweets and jams or preserves is that the spoon fruit sweets retains their original shapes and color as well as their taste and aroma. This wonderful spoon sweet is also a tasty on toast at breakfast time.
Ingredients
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- 3 pounds of preserves fruits, nuts, vegetables (whichever are being made)
- 4 cups of granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 TB lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla or 3-4 rose geranium leaves
Directions
edit- 1. Choose and clean fruits, nuts, vegetables, etc.
- 2. Wash well and drain them.
- 3. Place the water and sugar in a deep sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until a thick syrup has formed. *** If using a candy thermometer, the temperature much reach 230oF.
- 4. Remove pot from fire and add preserves into to pot. Return pot to fire. Do not panic if the sugar solidifies, it will melt again as soon as it heats up. Continue stirring as you bring the mixture to a boil. Remove any foam. As soon as the syrup thickens (reaches a temperature of approximately 230o F) add the lemon juice and the vanilla or the rose geranium leaves. Allow to come to a boil and then remove from heat.
- 5. After it cools, remove the leaves if they were used, and store in a clean jar. If kept refrigerated, it will keep for at least a year.
- 6. Serve as a spoon sweet or better yet use as a topping for vanilla ice cream.
- The traditional way to tell if the syrup is ready is to let a drop of syrup fall on a clean plate. If the drop holds its shape and doesn't run, then the proper consistency has been reached.