Pastry Filled with Honey, Walnuts and Cinnamon (Skaltsounia)

We beat the oil with the sugar. We dilute the bicarbonate soda and the baking powder in the cognac and  pour this mixture in the oil and the sugar. We add the rest of the ingredients ( except for the flour ) and mix them well. We pour the  flour little by little ( perhaps  not all of it )  and knead until the dough doesn’t get stuck on our hands. We shape the honey cakes, put them in an oiled baking pan and bake them in a medium temperature for half an hour. We prepare the syrup and let  it be cold. As soon as we remove the honey cakes from the oven, we dip them in the syrup and put them in a platter. We sprinkle them with ground walnut pith.

In a kneading bowl, we sift the flour and then we add the salt, the yeast, the cinnamon, the cloves and the cardamom. We use some lukewarm water to knead them well and in the end we keep a big piece of dough shaped like a punch. In the rest of the dough, we add the olive oil, the raisins, the walnuts and the almonds which must be cut in quarters.

As we know from the writings in the Old Testament, wine acquired distinctive symbolism. After the flood, Noah planted and managed to create his own vineyard. In Exodus, God gave a promise to bless three significant goods for human life: bread, water and wine. The lands and climate in the regions of Hebron and Palestine were conducive for the cultivation of vineyards. Viticulture flourished in a short time and gained great demand, as people cultivated their vines to produce the blessed wine. David hymns wine through his psalms, saying: "And wine that makes glad the heart of man..." (Psalm 104:15) and "You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased" (Psalm 4:7).