Weekend Cooking: Elephant Ears

Jan 28th, 2012 by Annie

Weekend Cooking: Elephant Ears

I’ve been reading Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran, which tells the story of sisters, Marjan, Bahar, and Layla, who flee Iran on the eve of the Islamic Revolution, settle in a little Irish village and set up a Persian Cafe against the bitter opposition of the town bully.

This novel is filled with wonderful descriptions of foods and exotic aromas, and loaded with tantalizing recipes.

Weekend Cooking is a fun weekly meme hosted by Beth Fish Reads. What’s cooking at your place this weekend?

The comforting descriptions of Marjan’s Elephant Ears had my mouth watering, so I decided to try my hand at making a batch. The first time I made them, I didn’t roll the elephant ears out thin enough, and while tasty, weren’t the crispy pastries depicted in the novel. My second batch, rolled out paper-thin, turned out light, crispy, and just plain perfect. I did make a couple adaptations to Ms. Mehran’s original recipe, because ingredients, such as rosewater, aren’t carried by my local country grocer.

Elephant Ears (adapted from Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran)

Elephant Ears

1 extra-large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-1/4 cups flour, may not use all
vegetable oil for frying
Powdered sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Combine beaten extra-large egg, milk, vanilla, sugar, cardamom, and salt.
Gradually add 2 cups of the flour. Combine, then knead in remaining flour, 1/4 cup at time, until soft dough forms (you may not need to add all the flour.) Knead dough for about 5 minutes on a floured work surface.
Divide dough into 15 balls. Flatten a dough ball out a bit then with a floured rolling pin, roll dough out to a paper-thin circle. Trim the ragged edges with a sharp knife for a nice circle. Pinch the dough together in the center to form a bow (elephant ear) shape. Set aside and repeat with remaining dough balls. Keep dough balls and elephant ears covered until ready to fry.
Heat 2 inches of oil in a large skillet. When oil is hot (about 365°F), fry the elephant ears for about 1 minutes until golden. Place fried elephant ears on paper towels to cool.
Lightly dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.

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Share your thoughts. We love your comments!

rosewater…I beat one can get it online.
but they look and sound delicious without it.

Comment by caite@a lovely shore breeze on January 28, 2012 at 9:52 am
They look delicious! Wish I was having one with my coffee right now!

Comment by Carol @There's Always Thyme to Cook on January 28, 2012 at 11:07 am
I can get rosewater at Wegman’s but it’s readily available online. These look so good. Perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Comment by Beth F on January 28, 2012 at 11:16 am
Never heard of a recipe that calls for rosewater!
They look yummy!!

Comment by Vicki on January 28, 2012 at 12:36 pm
Yum yes, delicious with tea or coffee. If I could ever get better about planning ahead (don’t see that happening anytime soon), I’d order my hard-to-find ingredients online!

Comment by Annie on January 28, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Wow, those look like they came from a professional bakery. I’m impressed.

Comment by Margot on January 28, 2012 at 2:09 pm
i love elephant ears but did not know the recipe called for rosewater – hmm, wonder how that changes the taste

Comment by Stacy (A Novel Source) on January 28, 2012 at 4:12 pm
They really look delicious, nom… can you taste the rosewater in them, I wonder?

Comment by Chinoiseries on January 29, 2012 at 3:34 am
Wonderful!

Comment by Peggy @ Peggy Ann's Post on January 29, 2012 at 9:31 am
The Elephant Ears look much tastier than I expected them to!

Comment by Marg on January 29, 2012 at 7:59 pm