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I like cooking and I like cooking with my children. They sometimes help me or just play around me in the kitchen.

I have a wonderful Cooking Series and I took part in Around the World in Twelve Dishes where I wrote about cooking with my kids and for them.

Today I would like to share a very simple recipe of an Iranian Dessert called Zoolbia Bamieh – deep fried dough soaked in sugar syrup. The original recipe calls for Rose water and Saffron. But since we are in a small town in Russia these ingredients are not available.

Ingredients:
For the dough
– 1 cup water
– 2 T sugar
– 3 T butter
– 2 eggs

For the syrup:
– 2 T Rose water
– 1 T of water where saffron was soaked
– 1 cup sugar
– 1/3 to 1/2 cup water

Method:
Dough:
1. Heat up the stove. Put on a pot and pour water , add sugar and butter. Stir until sugar and butter have melted.
2. Slowly add flour. Stir well and continue stirring until you get a soft dough. TIP: don’t overcook it. It should resemble very soft sticky play dough
3. Cool it off to the room temperature.
4. Beat in eggs one by one.

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Syrup:
1. Heat up the stove. Put on a pot. Add sugar and add water , slowly stirring. TIP: start with 1/3 cup of water and add a bit more if the syrup is too thick.
2. Let the syrup boil for a while after sugar has melted and get thicker, but make sure not to burn.
3. Add Rose and Saffron water. Mix well and boil for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Frying:
1. If you have a special baking pocket for sofr dough – use it. I just used a regular plastic bag and snipped off the tip.
2. In a deep pot heat up a lot of oil.
3. Slowly squeeze out the dough and cut it off with the dull part of the knife. You can decide on the size of your Bamieh!
4. Fry till golden brown. Drain of oil and place into the syrup. Let them sit there for a couple of minutes and then drain them and cool off.

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Serve your Dessert with Persian tea or any other beverage!

My little helpers didn’t participate much in this process. They were hovering around!

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However, here are some tips for making it with your child:
– I suggest the age group 2.5+ under supervision;
– younger child can help add ingredients; older child can help placing the dough into the oil and draining the excess syrup.

I hope you enjoy this simple Dessert!

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