Recipe review - Pastilla Pge 185 In the Mix

[judydawn]

Having had my tastebuds tempted with talk of this recipe from here but being confused as to how to actually make it from that thread, when I saw this recipe in Dani's book, I had to have a copy of it.
The recipe made 10 logs for me (recipe says 8 but I found smaller logs easier to work with) and apparently lasts months in the fridge so a good one to make for Christmas Hampers.
I was a bit worried with the very long cooking time and the thickness of the mixture and did increase the speed to speed 2 to ensure it was moving better but I was very surprised, after a total of 80 minutes cooking, that the bottom of the bowl was as clean as a whistle. 
It is messy to work with once it cools down (that takes a while) so I used the option of rolling in coconut as it made things a lot easier.  It has firmed up overnight and although I wasn't sure about the taste to start with, after a few visits to the containers in the fridge, I am acquiring quite a taste for it.
Quite a high sugar content so I guess unsuitable for diabetics but you only have a couple of small pieces at a time.
Nice one Lynette MacDonald (contributor of this recipe). I'd love to know how the Russian lady cooks it without a Thermomix.

[AnnaM]

We LOVED this. for a product that normally sells for $80/kg.... we did a blind tasting with 3 different brands and the in the mix version. the general feeling was that the in the mix version needs more walnuts (double) but otherwise was as good. i tried it with pecans but they didnt have the bitter edge that walnut skins provide so not as good. it was easier to roll with wet hands and i put it in logs of glad wrap then picked it up with both ends and spun it round til it was a nice tight sausage.
absolutely a keeper

[teagg]

Thank you for your reviews of this - I tried this out this morning and took it as a gift to someone this afternoon!  It's lovely, delicious and well worth the effort!!!
When you roll it out, make sure it's still warm, if not hot, as it's a right pain to try to do when cooler!!

If you have any thoughts of doing this - do!!!

Regards
Gillian

[DizzyGirl]

At $80 per kg, no wonder why I haven't heard of these or even tasted them. What are they?

[teagg]

Just an extra bit of information - I microwaved a portion of the pastilla, this morning, again to roll up as a gift (only having done the one yesterday!) and as I only did for a short time (10 seconds) it was warm enough to manipulate yet cool enough to handle!

Also - just FYI - here in Sydney, our local fruit / vege / specialist supermarket has the pastilla for $49.99 a kilo.

But make it yourself!  It's so easy!
Gillian