Feast in the MIddle East

I am not into froofy cheesy displays of Valentine’s affection, but I do like my desserts! Here is your one stop shop for Valentine’s recipe ideas that you can give to your loved ones–and two of the recipes don’t even require any baking!

Let’s start with my most popular video for my no-bake Lazy Cake! I made this one a while back when I was inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. Lazy cake is a chocolate biscuit cake popular in Jordan, Palestine, and the Gulf states–and it tastes sort of like a cookie, candy, and cake all in one! I kicked it up royal pompous style for my video:

Next, another no bake recipe for cocoa date truffles that taste super fudgy and chocolaty while being vegan! The creaminess comes from heart healthy almond butter. Just take a few ingredients and a food processor and watch the magic happen–this makes a great gift!

If you are in a breakfast in bed kind of person, how about a homemade pastry, made easier with store bought puff pastry? I gave this a middle eastern flavor by using fig jam and almonds, with a mascarpone filling.

And finally, if you are entertaining a crowd, you won’t let them down with my lemon lebne cheesecake with ginger almond crust! Lebne is a soft kefir cheese similar to Greek yogurt loaded with probiotics –easy to find in specialty supermarkets these days.  I use a gluten free crust made up of almond meal and spiked with ginger. Whenever I make this there is always NONE left over!

So there you have it, if you decide to make any of these recipes let me know how it went for you, and Happy Valentine’s Day!