Greek Thiples

Ok, I am not going to tell you that this is easy or not a labor of traditional, Greek love.  If you are Greek, you probably remember these fondly in your upbringing as a good Greek kid.  Well, these are for you.  Now that your not a kid anymore and getting back to your cooking roots, you finally decided to give them a try.  Take your time, pour your self a glass of Ouzo and get down and dirty in the kitchen, just like Yiayia did.  Practice makes perfect.  When making Greek desserts, the more you make them the better you get.  Ok, maybe not as good as Yiayia but she would still be proud!

Greek Thiples

Dough
5 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder, double acting
1 cup orange juice
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 wholes
8 egg yolks

1/2 gallon vegetable oil for frying

 Sift your baking powder and flour together.  Place in a heavy duty stand mixer, with dough attachment.  Place flour in mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients.  Using dough hook, knead dough to form a soft ball of dough.  Cover with clear wrap and let rest on your counter for about 3-4 hours.  

When ready to roll, divide dough into 6 equal portions.  You can roll very thin by hand or use a pasta machine.  Roll as thin as possible.  The thinner, the better they taste.  The dough should be super thin and flaky when fried.  Cut dough into 3x6 rectangles.  Place in hot oil to fry.  Using two forks roll the dough as quickly as possible, to form a hollow center.  Do not over brown.  Light golden color is what you are looking for.  Set on paper towels to soak up excess oil.  When cool dip each thiples in hot syrup for a few seconds to soak up syrup, remove from syrup and sprinkle with nuts and sugar cinnamon. 

 

Syrup
2 cups honey
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick

Boil all the ingredients above.  Reduce heat and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes. Dip thiples in warm syrup. 

Special note:  You may have to double syrup or even triple depending on how much these thiples soak up syrup.  I like mine with lots of syrup. 

Garnish
chopped walnuts
granulated sugar
ground cinnamon

These thiples get better with age.  Stack them up on a big tray.  Cover with clear wrap or foil and enjoy for a few days.  Great for parties.  Make a few days in advance.