Diples

Today’s dish Diples (Δίπλες) is a Peloponnesian dessert, made of thin sheet-like dough soaked in syrup and topped with crushed walnuts and cinnamon.

Diples can be found in various shapes, the most common ones being bow ties and spirals. The dish is a festive dessert, traditionally served at weddings and New Year’s celebrations.

What you are going to need:

• 2 flat tablespoons sugar
• 2 flat tablespoons baking soda
• 400 g flour
• 5 eggs (divided into whites and yolks)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ½ cup corn oil
• A pinch of salt

• Vegetable oil for frying

Ingredients for the syrup:

• ¼ cup of sugar
• ¼ cup of water
• ½ cup honey
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 150g chopped walnuts, for garnish

Place the egg whites with a pinch of salt in a bowl and whisk them with your electric mixer until the mixture is thick and glossy and forms a long trailing peak when lifted.

Whilst still mixing, add one egg yolk at the time and wait for it to be absorbed before adding another. Mix the lemon and orange juice with the baking soda until dissolved, and then pour it in the egg mixture. Now add the vinegar and sugar and mix again.

Sift the flour into the mixture; add the oil and knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. If it is too sticky add some more flour.

Now separate the dough into four pieces, cover them with plastic wrap and let them rest for 30 minutes. Use a rolling pin to form the dough into thin rectangle sheets, and then proceed to cut rectangular pieces (approximately 12x25 cm).

Use a deep frying pan to heat the oil. When it is simmering hot place on of the pieces into the oil. With the help of two forks roll the piece and keep in tin the oil until slightly colored. Repeat this step until all of your Diples are fried.

Place them on a kitchen paper to drain. It is advisable to cut all of the dough before starting to fry. To get them nice and crispy let them sit for three days, covered with a linen cloth in a cool and dry place.

For the syrup pour all the ingredients in a pot and let it boil for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Important note; do not stir the syrup.

You can now either drizzle the Diples with the syrup or soak each one of them in the syrup for a few seconds. Afterwards sprinkle with ground walnuts and cinnamon.

An alternative is to warm up the honey, drizzle the Diples and garnish with chopped walnuts.

Enjoy your Δίπλες!