Dahina Fudge
Iraq
Ingredients
Makes 12
1 ½ cups plain flour, sifted
1 ½ cups caster sugar
¼ cup butter*
⅔ cup milk*
4 teaspoons date syrup
A pinch of ground cardamom
½ teaspoon lemon juice
A pinch of salt
1 ⅓ cups desiccated coconut
½ cup pistachios and cashews
Method
Pre-heat oven to 130°C (bake, no fan setting).
Heat milk until it’s hot enough to melt sugar (see below).
Melt butter.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add sugar, date syrup, cardamom, lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
Add hot milk to the mixture and combine until sugar is melted.
Slowly add melted butter and mix.
Slowly add flour to the mixture (in parts, to remove lumps) and mix by hand until the mixture is brown in colour and is the consistency of smooth caramel.
Spray and line square (20-25cm) baking tray with baking paper.
Lightly butter the baking paper and sprinkle desiccated coconut on the base.
Pour the mixture on top of the coconut base and sprinkle nuts on top of the mixture.
Bake for 2 hours at 130°C. If inserting a skewer into the middle, it should seem slightly undercooked (due to fudge texture).
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting and serving.
