Tiger Nut Cake
Cone-shaped cake made of tiger nuts and honey, topped with date syrup
City/Region: Egypt
Time Period: c. 1400 B.C.E.
This recipe comes from the walls of the tomb of Rekhmire, who was the vizier of the pharaohs Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. With a combination of pictures and hieroglyphs, we can get a rough idea of the ingredients for these cone-shaped cakes and how they were made. As with anything this old, and many historical recipes in general, there is no right way to make it, only many wrong ways. Scholars debate about different parts of the tomb walls, and we’ll never know for sure how it was actually done, but we can give it our best shot.
The cake is very, very sweet. The date syrup overwhelms the other flavors at first, but it fades away and you get the tiger nuts. They have an almost coconutty flavor, and the texture is kind of chewy with a pleasant grittiness to it, like shredded coconut. If you use store bought tiger nut flour, you may lose some of that texture, but the process will be much easier and faster.
“The vizier Rekhmire receives tiger nuts and honey in the treasury of the temple and puts under seal all property given as an offering in the temple of Amun in the function of his office as supervisor of the records.
Crushing tiger nuts in the treasury of Amun, Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, to make offerings at every festival which His majesty has established.
[The crushed nuts are shown to be passed through a sieve to make a flour before being added to some sort of dough with an unknown liquid added]
Add the fat and cook the cakes. ”
Ingredients:
- 2 cups (475 ml) boiling water
- 2 cups (500 g) pitted dates
- 4 cups (500 g) dried tiger nuts*
- 1 cup (325 g) sidr honey*
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) warm water
- 1/2 cup (100 g) ghee, butter, animal fat, or oil
*See notes below.
Instructions:
- Pour the boiling water over the dates and soak for 2 hours.
- Soak the tiger nuts in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain them well. Crush them by hand in a mortar to a very coarse powder. If you go straight to the food processor without crushing them, it’s going to be very hard on your poor food processor.
- Blend the crushed tiger nuts in a food processor until you have a flour. Pass the flour through a sieve and return the larger pieces to the food processor, and blend again. You may have to do this 3 or 4 times until all of the tiger nuts have been made into a flour. Don’t use a fine mesh sieve as the flour will be somewhat coarse, like almond flour.
- Add the honey and mix until incorporated. Mix in the warm water a little at a time, just until it forms a dough. You may need more or less than 1/3 cup, so add it slowly and mix between additions. I recommend using your hands to mix and knead the dough together.
- Melt the fat in a pan over medium heat. Add the tiger nut dough and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn. It will get really aromatic and nutty.
- When the dough has cooked, spread it out onto some foil or parchment and let it cool for 10 minutes.
- Shape the cooled tiger nut mixture into a cone lengthwise on a flat surface. One long side of the cone will be flat from the table or counter. It’s unclear whether or not these were served lying down like they’re shaped or standing up. If you want to stand yours up, make sure the part that will become the base is flat. Cover and let it cool completely. You can put it in the fridge to firm up if you want.
- Put the dates and the water they soaked in into a food processor and blend to a paste.
- Put the paste into some cheesecloth and squeeze out the liquid. Put the liquid in a pot over low heat and simmer until it’s as reduced as you want it, anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour. Keep in mind that the syrup will thicken as it cools.
- Serve the cake forth either upright or lying down. Pour the syrup over the cake, or have it on the side for dipping.
Notes
- Neither tigers nor nuts, tiger nuts are an earthy, slightly sweet tuber that was used in ancient Egypt as food, medicine, or perfume. You can buy tiger nut flour for this recipe, but the texture might be different.
- Sidr honey is more accurate for this and is darker, less sweet, and more aromatic than regular honey. You can use any honey you like.
- Link to tiger nuts: https://amzn.to/2XD3boT
- Link to tiger nut flour: https://amzn.to/3iUaWPi
- Link to sidr honey: https://amzn.to/3mcHiag
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