How to Make Turkish Dessert Sekerpare: Turkish Semolina Cookies in Syrup*

Sekerpare is a much loved Turkish dessert, made in Turkish homes. Sekerpare means “a piece of sweet” in Old Turkish and the crumbly, lighter texture semolina brings to Sekerpare simply melts in your mouth. We enjoy Sekerpare with Turkish coffee, Turkish tea, cay for a tea time treat or as a dessert after meal; hope you can give it a go and enjoy too.

Author: Ozlem Warren
Serves: 20 pieces

Ingredients

Zest of 1 small lemon
115 gr/ 4 oz. / ½ cup sugar
125 gr/ 4 ½ oz. unsalted butter
300 gr/ 10 ½ oz. /2 cups plain (all – purpose flour)
95 gr / 3 ¼ oz. / ½ cup fine grained semolina
2 eggs
15 ml/ 1 tbsp. baking powder
30 ml/ 2 tbsp. light olive oil (and a little extra to grease the baking tray)
20 blanched almonds or hazelnuts
Small bowl of cold water (to help shape the sekerpare cookies)

For the syrup:
Juice of 1 small lemon
345 gr/ 12 oz. /1 ½ cup sugar
480 ml/ 16 fl. oz. / 2 cups water

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas mark 4

Step 2

First make the syrup. Grate the lemon zest into a bowl and set aside for the dough.
Squeeze the lemon juice into a cup.

Step 3

Combine the 345 gr/ 12 oz. /1 ½ cup sugar and 480 ml/ 16 fl. oz. / 2 cups water in a heavy sauce pan over the medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir and let the sugar dissolve.

Step 4

Add the lemon juice, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 15 minutes for the syrup to thicken slightly. Turn the heat off and set the syrup aside to cool.

Step 5

Now, let’s make the dough. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat (or cut in small chunks and melt in microwave for 30 – 40 seconds, mixing half way).

Step 6

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl and stir in the semolina. Make a well in the middle and pour in the butter. Stir in the 2 eggs, 115 gr/ 4 oz./ ½ cup sugar, lemon zest, 2 tbsp. light olive oil and the baking powder.

Step 7

Knead for 5 minutes, until you achieve a soft, moist dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Step 8

Have a small bowl of cold water nearby. Knead the dough again for 5 minutes. Then wet your hands lightly with cold water and divide the dough and shape into twenty ping pong sized balls.

Step 9

Grease a baking tray with a little of light olive oil (about 1 tbsp.) and place the sekerpare dough balls side by side, making sure you leave extra space between them to expand. Gently press down on top of each ball to flatten slightly. Push an almond or hazelnut in the center of each sekerpare ball.

Step 10

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes, until they start to turn light brown.
Remove the sekerpare from the oven and pour cooled syrup over hot sekerpare cookies.

Step 11

Leave to cool and let the sekerpare cookies absorb the syrup for 15 minutes; they will get soft and tender. Serve cooled sekerpare with Turkish tea or coffee. You can keep sekerpare cookies covered in a container at room temperature for 2-3 days.