Honey, tiger nut and date cakes (shat)
Small soft honey cakes, studded with crushed tiger nuts and dates, sometimes rolled in sesame. An offering sweet, inspired by pastries placed in temples and tombs.
Small soft honey cakes, studded with crushed tiger nuts and dates, sometimes rolled in sesame. An offering sweet, inspired by pastries placed in temples and tombs.
For Amun and for my eternal ka, these cakes are shaped round like the disk of Ra, swollen with honey and crushed tiger nuts. The priests of Soleb place them at dawn before the god; in the evening, they eat them in my name. Taste them, you who read me so many centuries later: you eat the very sweetness I offered to the powers of heaven so that they keep me alive beyond death.
- •Emmer flour — one measure (base)
- •Honey — generously (sweet binder)
- •Crushed tiger nuts (chufa) — a handful (almond flavor)
- •Pitted dates — a few, chopped (fruit)
- •Sesame seeds — for rolling (finish)
Honey, tiger nut and date cakes (shat)
Small soft honey cakes, studded with crushed tiger nuts and dates, sometimes rolled in sesame. An offering sweet, inspired by pastries placed in temples and tombs.
Why this dish? Amenhotep III multiplied temples — Soleb in Nubia, his mortuary temple guarded by the Colossi of Memnon. These sanctuaries received daily offerings of sweet breads and honey cakes, placed before the gods and then shared by the priests.
For Amun and for my eternal ka, these cakes are shaped round like the disk of Ra, swollen with honey and crushed tiger nuts. The priests of Soleb place them at dawn before the god; in the evening, they eat them in my name. Taste them, you who read me so many centuries later: you eat the very sweetness I offered to the powers of heaven so that they keep me alive beyond death.
Ingredients (period version)
- Emmer flour — one measure (base)
- Honey — generously (sweet binder)
- Crushed tiger nuts (chufa) — a handful (almond flavor)
- Pitted dates — a few, chopped (fruit)
- Sesame seeds — for rolling (finish)
Ingredients
- Spelt flour — 250 g (base)
- Honey — 120 g (sweet binder)
- Tiger nut flour or flakes (chufa) — 60 g (almond flavor)
- Chopped soft dates — 80 g (fruit)
- Oil (mild olive) — 3 tbsp (softness)
- Sesame seeds — 4 tbsp (finish)
Method
- Mix the flour, tiger nuts, chopped dates, honey and oil into a thick dough.
- If too dry, add a little warm water; if too soft, a little flour.
- Shape small balls or flattened discs and roll them in sesame seeds.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake at 170 °C for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden.
- Let cool slightly: they harden a little and reveal their honey-almond fragrance.
How it was made : Cakes of this type, some spiral- or cone-shaped, have been found intact in tombs (notably at Deir el-Medina). Tiger nuts (chufa) were crushed and mixed with honey for sweets; since sugar didn't exist, honey, dates and dried fruits made up all pastry.
The contemporary twist : Press a half tiger nut or an almond onto each cake before baking, like a royal 'seal' — a nod to Amenhotep III's commemorative scarabs.
Amenhotep III · Charactorium