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  3. Ballokume

Ballokume

The famous cornmeal cookies of Elbasan, beaten by hand and baked for Dita e Verës, Albania's spring festival. Butter, sugar and egg yolk are worked to a pale cream before fine maize flour goes in, giving a crisp, cracked crust and a sandy, buttery crumb.

SnacksMainsVegetarian25g+ protein8g+ fibre
50 min25 prep · 25 cookEasy1087 kcalper serving
Ballokume

Instructions

  1. Put 40 g of very soft unsalted butter in a wide bowl with 75 g of caster sugar and beat with a wooden spoon, always in the same direction, for a full 10 minutes. The mixture should turn almost white and fluffy and the sugar should no longer feel gritty on the spoon, this long beating is what gives ballokume their texture, and traditionally it is done by hand in a copper pot.
  2. Add 1 egg yolk and a pinch of salt and beat for another 2-3 minutes until the cream is smooth, glossy and pale yellow.
  3. In a teaspoon, dissolve 0.25 tsp of bicarbonate of soda in 0.5 tsp of lemon juice; it will fizz. Stir it straight into the butter cream while it is still foaming.

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Per serving

1087kcal
41gprotein
111gcarbs
58gfat
10gfibre

Computed from the ingredients against a food database, not estimated. The full nutrient table is in the app.

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