LOUKOUMADES

Why do these greek-style doughnuts mean so much to you?

Loukoumades (in Greek. In Turkish, similar donuts are called Lokma) have always been a favourite of mine. I could never forget my first experience with these Greek style donuts as a kid, in a fairly unorthodox setting: the Brisbane International Airport. We had mere hours during a flight changeover, so what better time to catch up with the local extended family? I’m talking about the sort of aunties who begin cooking before you’ve even decided you’re coming and the type to send you off with a few extra kilograms under your belt plus a jar of homemade mango chutney for later. We had no hope of merely passing through without being fed first.

In they marched to the departure lounge: an army of 5’ tall Greek women, laden with Tupperware and blinding bystanders via the sheer volume of aluminium-foil wrapped treats. Nestled amongst the smorgasbord were little fried balls of dough, still slightly warm. Loukoumades! Some wonderfully round, some with their own tails, all perfect. Next to them was an old jam jar filled with honey for dipping and making sure cleaning up was as difficult as possible - what a delight!

What do you use to substitute honey?

These days I don’t use honey, so this simple sugar syrup recipe with apple juice and carob syrup reminds me of the flavours from my childhood loukoumades better than most readily-available vegan honey substitutes (maple syrup, rice malt syrup, agave nectar, et al.) would. I also just love the smell my house takes on after hours of simmering apple juice on the stove. It’s like lighting a delicious candle you actually get to eat later. You can use anything sweet and runny though, with a little flavour compromise. Maple syrup, coconut nectar and agave nectar can be used as is, or thicker like rice malt syrup, date syrup or even simple sugar can be combined with a little water to make a sweet syrup that can be poured over the doughnuts.

See here for my vegan honey recipe. If you'd like to make this into a spiced syrup, it's as simple as bringing a couple of generous globs of honey to simmer with a dash of water, and equal dash of sugar. Add in either a cinnamon stick, the zest of a lemon or orange, cloves or a pinch of cardamom. Or add a little of all! Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes without stirring and this will be good to go. I'm not posting exact ratios for this syrup as it's wonderfully forgiving and you should have a bit of fun with personalising this. You're also totally fine to just pour the vegan honey on top without making it into a spiced syrup.