Almost two years have passed since I won’t the food competition in the tv-show "Mataam". Did you know about this? I competed and WON with a concept including Greek loukoumades which is fried dough balls with crispy surface and a light middle. It’s not thick and “doughy” like a doughnut ball. I know that some other countries have similar versions like the Greek loukoumades but in Greece we serve them, traditionally, with chopped walnuts, honey and cinnamon.

My concept in the competition was taking loukoumades to a whole new level - meaning, filling them with various delicious fillings and coming up with fun and innovative flavors. Since we are celebrating the big “semladagen” in Sweden tomorrow, which is a national day celebrating the Swedish dessert semla (a cardamom wheat bun with almond paste and whip cream), I wanted to test a new version of loukoumades too. Let me represent to all of you, semla loukoumades!

Loukoumades is an all vegan dessert

Loukoumades is always an all vegan Greek dessert, but it’s its toppings (and in my case fillings) that decides if they are being kept vegan or not. When making my loukoumades with semla flavor I decided to make the fillings and sides all vegan too. Check this out, I’m drooling only seeing these photos!

Good to know:

• Lukewarm water? Think 37 degrees C but a little bit warmer.

• The filling is made with vegan almond icing which I have thoroughly mashed (you can also use a stick blender) and thereafter have mixed together with a little bit of vegan whip cream. If you want to have the filling sugar free too, you can make your own almond icing with almond, stevia and vegan whip cream.

• The white whipped cream in the background is vegan. What I have done to make it thicker is to add just a little bit of baking powder when whipping it. It makes it thicker. Kitchen hack!

Greek Loukoumades with Semla Flavor

INGREDIENTS:
7 g dry yeast

250 g wheat flour 

2 tbsp sugar

a pinch of salt

2,5 dl lukewarm water*

+ plenty of sunflower seed or canola oil for frying

HOW TO MAKE:

• Place all the dry ingredients in bowl. Combine with a spoon or wooden spoon. Add the lukewarm water and mix and combine everything thoroughly.

• Cover the bowl with plastic foil, and preferably cover again with a towel or a warm sweater and store in a warm place to let it ferment for 45-60'.

• Meanwhile, you can prepare the almond icing filling and whisk the whip cream (see the middle part of this post to read about it).

• Heat up the oil in a thick sauce pan. It's important that the skillet is very hot before starting (180 degrees) otherwise the loukoumades won't turn out good.

• Place a glass on the side of the sauce pan with a little bit of oil, and also have a plate covered in kitchen paper. 

• Here comes the tricky part. The technique for making loukoumades can be a bit difficult the first time you try it, but don't give up. Preferably use a disposable glove in left hand and hold the little spoon in your right hand. Grab some dough in your left hand and close the hand, so that the dough get pressed up between the indexfinger and thumb. Scoop this dough with the spoon and place this small dough "ball" in the hot oil. Continue doing this with more dough until the skillet is full but don't forget to dip the spoon in the glass with the oil now and then so it doesn't stick. (You can search on youtube to get see how this works).

• Use a label with holes and stir around the loukoumades in the skillet so that they don't get burned on one side. Thereafter, scoop up the loukoumades and place them on the kitchen paper to rinse off.

• Serve as fast as possible so that they don't get soggy, in the traditional greek way or as a Swedish "semmel" loukouma. Then you just need to make a hole in the loukoumades, for instance with a straw, and then use a piping bag to insert the almond icing filling. Serve with the whip cream.