flipTiger Nut Honey Sweets (Conical Cakes)
Tiger Nut Honey Sweets (Conical Cakes)
Why this dish? These small sweet pyramids appear painted among the offerings in the tomb of Vizier Rekhmire. They are exactly the type of sweet that was placed before me and before the dead, to sweeten their journey into the afterlife.
Small cone-shaped cakes made from ground tiger nuts (earth almonds) bound with honey, sometimes rolled in crushed nuts — an offering sweet inspired by funerary frescoes.
See these small golden pyramids: they were shaped to be placed on my offering table, before me Anubis, and before the dead that I accompany. My priests ground the tiger nut — this sweet earth almond that the Nile makes grow — and bound it with honey until it could be molded between their palms. Do not think this is frivolous gluttony: sweetening a dead person's palate is sweetening their eternity. Take one, and let its sweetness be an offering to those who are no more.
- •Ground tiger nuts (earth almonds) — a good measure (base)
- •Wild honey — enough to bind (sweet binder)
- •Crushed walnuts or almonds — a handful (coating)
- •Cinnamon or fragrant seeds — a pinch (flavor (optional))
Tiger Nut Honey Sweets (Conical Cakes)
Small cone-shaped cakes made from ground tiger nuts (earth almonds) bound with honey, sometimes rolled in crushed nuts — an offering sweet inspired by funerary frescoes.
Why this dish? These small sweet pyramids appear painted among the offerings in the tomb of Vizier Rekhmire. They are exactly the type of sweet that was placed before me and before the dead, to sweeten their journey into the afterlife.
See these small golden pyramids: they were shaped to be placed on my offering table, before me Anubis, and before the dead that I accompany. My priests ground the tiger nut — this sweet earth almond that the Nile makes grow — and bound it with honey until it could be molded between their palms. Do not think this is frivolous gluttony: sweetening a dead person's palate is sweetening their eternity. Take one, and let its sweetness be an offering to those who are no more.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ground tiger nuts (earth almonds) — a good measure (base)
- Wild honey — enough to bind (sweet binder)
- Crushed walnuts or almonds — a handful (coating)
- Cinnamon or fragrant seeds — a pinch (flavor (optional))
Ingredients
- Tiger nut powder (or chufa flour) — 250 g (base)
- Honey — 4 to 6 tbsp (sweet binder)
- Crushed walnuts — 50 g (coating)
- Blended dates (for extra binding) — 4 (additional binder)
Method
- Blend the dates into a paste, then mix with the tiger nut powder.
- Gradually incorporate the honey until you obtain a malleable dough.
- Shape small cones between your palms (5 cm high).
- Roll the base or sides in the crushed nuts.
- Let firm up for 1 hour in a cool place before serving.
How it was made : The tomb of Rekhmire (15th century BC) shows the making of conical cakes with tiger nuts and honey: they ground tiger nuts, mixed them with honey, and shaped cones. This is one of the rare Egyptian recipes that can be reconstructed from detailed images.
The contemporary twist : Serve the cones on a slate as mini-pyramids and dust with a veil of golden nuts — 'Rekhmire's Pyramids'.
Sources : Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), Thebes — scenes of cake-making · William J. Darby, Food: The Gift of Osiris (Academic Press, 1977)
Anubis · Charactorium
