Tyroshi honey fingers (GoT countdown)

Hello sweetlings!
So with there being only 6 weeks to go until series 5 of my favourite TV show ever; Game Of Thrones, and given that I have a Game of Thrones cookbook (A Feast of Ice and Fire) and it containing recipes from the six regions of Westeros, I thought it would be only fitting to try and bake or cook a dish each week to mark the countdown to it's return.

I thought I'd start by making a treat from far away from the capitol, Tyrosh. From across the narrow I see, I made honey fingers. They are basically a very sweet sticky pastry type dish, they seem like they would be made by maybe Greek's or Turk's today due to the amount of lovely honey they contain.

This book is fantastic because for each recipe they have a medieval and a modern version to show variation. I must admit to making the modern version this time just because I thought they looked amazing. They also give you the passage of the A song of ice and fire where the dish is mentioned and pairings for other recipes in the book. For example these honey fingers supposedly go well with sweet pumpkin soup and iced milk with honey which can also be found in the book.

I love how they also link recipes with characters and places too, they have Sansa's favourite lemon cakes and  Arya's snitched tarts and things like 'Breakfast on the wall' you really feel part of the series as you can explore not only food but the lifestyles of the different regions.

The recipe is as follows:

For the syrup-

• 1 cup sugar (I used golden caster)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• 1 tbsp. of fresh grated ginger
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick

(I was slightly sceptical about the fact it contains honey and lemon, sounds slightly medicine like but trust be you will be ecstatic with the results!)

For the dough-
2 cups cake flour (I just used plain)
2 1/2 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp of cold butter
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
oil for frying

(TIP- when combining the wet ingredients do not mix the lemon juice into the milk and water because it will curdle and separate)

The steps are pretty straight forward too

• combine all the syrup ingredients in a pan on a medium hear and bring to the boil, cover with a lid and cook for 1minute. Uncover and simmer for 5minutes.

• Let it cool down and pour into a bowl or jar to chill in the fridge overnight. It should be very cold when you use it.

• For the dough combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and rub the butter in until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre to pour the wet ingredients into and mix with a spoon or your hands.

• Pour onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes for a smooth elastic dough. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 2 hours.

• Roll the dough out into a rectangle of about 1/4 inch thick and cut strips (not too thin as they become hard to work with) about 1/2 inch wide and then get three strips next to each other and braid the dough to make a 4-6inch plait. While doing this make sure the oil (1 inch in a pan) is heating up over medium heat.

• Have the syrup ready in a deep wide bowl and a cooling rack with some baking paper underneath to catch dripping syrup.

• Fry the little pastries for about a minute on each side until golden brown and then dunk into the sweet syrup until it stops sizzling. Carefully place on the rack.

• Serve fresh.

So there you have it, my take on tyroshi honey fingers and I must say they were super yummy. If you're in need of something very sweet and unique this is a winner. I was thinking of re-making them for my grandma next week as they are vegetarian and she loves spiced things like this, you could serve them warm with a cold vanilla ice cream or some crushed nuts like pistachio's on top to make them look ultra impressive.
See you next week for another GoT surprise!