Shendetlie

Albanian Shendetlie is an Albanian dessert and is a cross between a biscuit and cake. The first texture when removed from the oven resembles a biscuit however, once the syrup has been added the baked dough softens and the final finish is a cake texture. Making this recipe for the first time was a bit confusing as it is a dough mixture not a runny pouring texture that you would expect for cakes – especially as the taste is so similar to Albanian Ravani. The dough is pressed down, baked and the adding of the syrup is what makes it’s texture cake like. The first time I had this cake was during my first visit to Albania, the cake included ground walnuts rather then whole giving a much darker colour to it. Having both honey in the cake and had been left to soak overnight in a sugar water syrup meant that it was very sweet, perfect for my sweet tooth. You can make this recipe with whole walnuts, ground walnuts or half and half. I’ve had different versions since some with whole nuts and come with a combination. Personally I prefer the whole nuts.