Tufahije

This time I am going to write about one of my favorite desserts.  The above picture is not actually mine, but I found it online and it looks very similar to how mine look when they are done.  I do have some of my own photos of the process of making them below.

This dessert is called Tufahija and it is made in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  It is made by cooking apples in water with sugar, then stuffing them with walnuts and baking them until golden.  It is served in a nice bowl or on a nice plate and topped with whipped cream on top and you can even add a cherry on top.

This dessert was actually introduced to the people in Balkans (including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia) during the Ottoman Empire rule, but it originates from Persia.  In fact, the word tufahija originates from the word tuffàh which means apple in Arabic language. 

Here is my recipe for Tufahije:

Ingredients:
- 8 apples (medium sized Golden Delicious or similar)
- 200 grams (~ 1 cup) of sugar
- 80 grams (~ 1/2 cup) of ground walnuts
- 1 egg white
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 liter (~ 4 cups) of water
- 2 packages of vanilla sugar
- whipped cream
- cherries (optional)

Directions:
- Wash and peel apples (save the apple skin for later)
- Take out the middle of the apple with an apple corer or a potato peeler (make enough room so that you can stuff them with the walnut filling at the end, about 1 inch in width)
- Boil water and add 50 grams (1/4 cup) of sugar, 1 vanilla sugar, and lemon juice to it
- Add apples to boiling water and cook until soft (about 8-10 minutes each)

- Take apples out carefully with slotted spoon and let them cool
- To the leftover water, add the rest of the sugar and the apple skins and let it cook until it boils
- Strain the water to get rid of the apple skins and let the syrup cool
- Heat the oven to 360 F (~ 185 C)
- Beat the egg white until stiff, add ground walnuts and 1 vanilla sugar packet and mix well
- Fill the apples with the walnut filling and place them in a baking pan
- Bake apples for about 15 minutes
- When done, take apples out, cover them with the syrup and let them cool

- Serve the apples in a nice bowl or plate with whipped cream on top, and you can even add a cherry!
- Bon Appétit!  Dobar tek! :)