Kourabedies Variations Advice

[auroracoor1]

I have a family recipe of kourabedies that is very simple and just involves butter, flour, confectioners' sugar, etc. It's actually pretty delicious.

But, there are other variations I have had that are also delicious that involve almonds, walnuts, different extracts, I have a friend that puts a single clove in the center of each. It seems like it wouldn't taste good, but it's delicious...

Anyway, any idea how I can really get to know these variations? Do you think it is easy enough to play with the simple recipe I have?

 

[PemiKanavos]

There are many recipes for kourambithes that use slivered almonds in them. In fact our cookbook “Cooking Greek” has a wonderful recipe that uses almonds and brandy as flavoring. You could substitute same amount of almonds to pecans or other nuts, as well as experimenting with using the same amount other flavoring instead of brandy.

 

[auroracoor1]

There are many recipes for kourambithes that use slivered almonds in them. In fact our cookbook “Cooking Greek” has a wonderful recipe that uses almonds and brandy as flavoring. You could substitute same amount of almonds to pecans or other nuts, as well as experimenting with using the same amount other flavoring instead of brandy.

Thank you, Pemi - I will check it out! In thinking about it, I don't think it's a good idea to play with my family's recipe and add nuts. I should start with a recipe that includes the nuts in the first place...

 

[k_tsoukalas]

There is so much you can do with kourabedies. I would pic a recipe that has the qualities that you want and follow it. Over time, you might learn how to adapt your family recipe but I feel that you should follow a recipe that has those elements already written in so you can understand how the dough behaves, etc. You can't really modify things well unless you know how all the ingredients relate to each other.

For example, when adding nuts, you "might" have to take away some flour. If you don't have an instinctual feel for things, then you might not be able to make those judgment calls. I did this once with kourabedies (added nuts) and I didn't take any flour away and they were terrible - crumbled apart in the oven. Ingredients might affect other ingredients when added or taken away.