Archaeologists and cultural anthropologists have devoted a great deal of effort to explaining precisely why sweet cakes have always enjoyed such a vast level of popularity in Israel and in the nations of the Mediterranean Basin. It is known, for example, that as long ago as 9,000 years, the people of ancient Jericho enjoyed making cakes by dipping unleavened bread into a mixture of honey and herbs. Later, the Pharaohs and citizens of ancient Egypt enjoyed cakes that were filled with dried fruits and spices. There is even evidence that in the city of Ur, located in ancient Sumeria, street vendors sold cakes to passersby and that these cakes were very similar to the modern day Middle-Eastern favorite known today as baklava. So important have cakes been to the everyday and religious life of the region that there are more than 1,700 references to them in the New and Old Testaments and the Koran.

Many social scientists feel that two factors are primarily responsible for the phenomenon. The first is that bees, and therefore honey, have always been plentiful in the entire region bounded by the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The second is that this was probably the part of the world in which men and women discovered how to make and use ovens.

As popular as cakes have been, there is a good chance that no one who ever visited or lived in the Holy Land ever had a greater love of cakes than Queen Helena, the mother of Constantine, Emperor of Byzantium. In 326 CE, Helena visited the Holy Land and for seven years lived in Jerusalem from where she supervised the construction of churches and chapels above sacred Christian sites. Among others of her projects were the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the basilica at Abraham's Oak near Hebron.

The queen was so enamored of cakes that wherever she traveled she always wore robes with especially large pockets, and those pockets were always filled with cakes and cookies. Even more, whenever the queen was invited to dinner, a member of her staff would pay a call on her potential hosts a day or two before the meal, there to inform the servants in the kitchen precisely what kind of cakes should be prepared. According to one of Helena's scribes, on one such occasion "my lady touched not a morsel of the lamb or the quail or the fish that were served ... nor did she partake of the soups or the roasts or the root vegetables, choosing instead to save her energies for the sweets she had requested". When it came to the cakes, the scribe continued, "the queen did not restrain herself and ate the entirety of two large cakes, a large cup of pomegranate seeds in sweet wine, a marvelous amount of sweet biscuits, three portions of flavored ice, and a large plate of berries in honeyed cheese".

Portraits of Queen Helena may be seen today in many of the Greek and Armenian Orthodox Churches of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth. There is nothing surprising in the fact that she is always portrayed as smiling. What is somewhat amazing is that the Queen is invariably portrayed as thin.

Cakes, cookies and sweet biscuits have never gone out of fashion in Israel and many of those that were popular a thousand or more years ago, are still in demand today. Then as now, for example, many of the most beloved cakes of the region are based on phylo dough, those large, rectangular paper thin strips of dough sometimes known as strudel pastry. One of the differences is that because making phylo dough is a process that involves a great deal of mess in the kitchen and many hours of work, few make it at home today. In Israel, as in nearly all of the nations of the world, phylo dough is available either frozen in supermarkets or fresh at the shops of professional bakers.

Baklava

1/4 kilo phylo dough leaves
2 cups pistachio nuts, chopped coarsely
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup honey
juice of 1 large lemon
3 slices each orange and lemon rind
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves

Remove the phylo leaves from the refrigerator about 2 hour before use.

In a mixing bowl combine the pistachio nuts, almonds, 6 Tbsp. of the sugar and the ground cinnamon. Mix well.

In a lightly greased baking pan, about the size of the philo leaves, place 12 sheets of philo, brushing every other sheet with the melted butter. On this spread 1/3 of the nut mixture and then lay on 6 more philo sheets, buttering each. Distribute another 1/3 of the nut mixture on this and again cover with 6 philo sheets, buttering each. On these distribute the final 1/3 of thenut mixture. Cover with 8 - 12 philo sheets, buttering every other sheet. With a sharp, wet knife, cut the Baklava into diamond shaped pieces.

Heat the remaining butter until it begins to brown and pour it over the Baklava. Sprinkle the top with a few drops of water and place in an oven that has been preheated to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 170 degrees Celsius (330 Fahrenheit) and bake for 1 hour longer.

In a large skillet combine the remaining sugar with the honey, lemon juice, fruit rinds, cinnamon sticks and cloves. Add 2 cups of water and then heat over a low flame, stirring constantly, until a boil is obtained. Remove immediately from the heat. Allow to cool, remove the cinnamon sticks and cloves and then pour the liquids over the baklava when it is fully baked. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Yields 24 - 30 portions).

Honey Cake with Nuts

1/4 kilo. sugar
1/2 cup honey
juice of 1 small lemon
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 kilo flour, sifted before measuring
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 kilo walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 eggs, separated, at room temperature

In a small saucepan heat 3/4 cup of water and in this dissolve half the sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in the honey, lemon juice and half of the cinnamon and simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes longer. Remove from the flame and allow to cool for 1/2 hour.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, half the nuts and the remaining cinnamon.

Cream together the remaining sugar and the butter until it is light. To this mixture add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well and then beat in the walnut mixture.

In a separate small bowl beat the egg whites stiff and gently fold these into the nut and flour mixture. Transfer the mixture to a well greased baking tin about 8" (20 cm.) square, sprinkle the top with the remaining nuts and bake in an oven that has been preheated to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) until a wooden toothpick placed in the center comes out clean (about 50 minutes). Remove the cake from the oven and cut into square or diamond portions in the baking tin. Pour the cooled syrup over and let stand, covered, overnight. Serve at room temperature. (Serves 8 - 10).

Yoghurt Cake

3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. lemon rind, grated
4 eggs, separated
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. each baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup yoghurt

In a mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar with the lemon rind until the mixture is light. Add the egg yolks and beat well.

Sift the four, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt 3 times and add to the batter, alternately with the yoghurt. Beat the egg whites stiff and fold into the batter. Pour the mixture into a well buttered and floured tube pan and cook in an oven that has been preheated to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) until a knife inserted comes out clean (about 55 minutes). Cool on a wire rack and dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving. (Serves 6 - 8).

© Daniel Rogov