Easter falls on April 12th this year. While those of us living in America may have adopted some new traditions like egg hunts and eating chocolate bunnies, there is always room at the table for these two delicious desserts hailing from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. These recipes and countless others can be found in Anissa Helou's book "Lebanese Cuisine".

Ka'ek el Eed (Easter Galettes)

These are delicious ringed biscuits with an unusual taste. They can be found in Middle Eastern kitchens at any time of year, but are traditionally featured at Easter. This recipe makes about 50.

You will need:
1 cup fine semolina
¼ teaspoon finely ground mastic
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
scant ¼ teaspoon mahlab** finely ground
1/8 teaspoon Quick Rise or active dry yeast
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup golden superfine sugar
scant ½ cup milk

**Mahlab is a black cherry kernel. The grains are small and shaped like pears with a light brown husk and a pale soft core. They are sold whole or ground and are used to add an interesting piquant taste to Lebanese biscuits.

One and a half hours in advance
Put the semolina, mastic, nutmeg, mahlab, and yeast into a mixing bowl and mix together. Add the softened butter and rub together with the tips of your fingers until the fat is fully incorporated.
Put the sugar in a small jug, pour the milk over it and stir until the sugar is diluted.
Pour the sweetened milk over the semolina mixture and knead with your hands until you have a smooth and malleable paste. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest for 1 ½ hours.

Finishing and serving
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pinch off a small piece of semolina pastry and shape into a ball the size of a small walnut. Roll it into a thin sausage about ½ inch thick and 4 ½ inches long. Bring both ends together and slightly press one on top of the other to achieve a ring-like galette about 2 inches in diameter. Lift delicately onto a cookie sheet, taking care not to spoil the shape and continue making and arranging the galettes until you have finished the pastry. You should end up with about 50 galettes.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden. Leave to cool before serving or placing in an airtight container, where they will keep for about two weeks stored in a cool place.

Ma'mool bil-Joz (Walnut Pastries)

These molded pastries are traditionally made for Easter. They can be filled with walnuts or pistachios. The former are made in a round mold, the latter in an oblong one. This recipe yields about 30 pastries.

Pastry
1 ¼ cups semolina
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons superfine sugar
¼ teaspoon Quick Rise or active dry yeast
10 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted sunflower margarine or butter
1 ½ tablespoons orange blossom water
1 ½ tablespoons rose water

Filling
1 cup walnuts or pistachios
about ¼ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon rose water
½ teaspoon orange blossom water

Decoration
confectioners' sugar

Equipment
Special wooden pastry mold known as Tabe' (deeply carved on the inside, size is about 2 inches in diameter at the base), or small conical tea strainer

One and a half hours in advance
Put the semolina, flour, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl and mix well. Add the margarine or softened butter and work it in with the tips of your fingers until fully incorporated.
Add the orange blossom and rose water and knead with your hand until the pastry is smooth and elastic. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest for 1 ½ hours.

Making the pastries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pinch off a small piece of pastry and roll it into a ball the size of a walnut. Put it on your palm and with your index and middle finger flatten it evenly into a round disc about ¼ inch thick and 2 ¾ to 3 ¼ inches wide. Place filling in the middle, flap the pastry over and pinch the sides tightly together, removing any excess pastry to end up with a smooth top.

You can shape the pastry with your hands to produce a flat round cake about 2 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick or you can use the traditional mold (Tabe'). If you are using the traditional mold, gently press the filled cake into the mold, unpinched side down, making sure you do not press it in too hard; if not, the molded pastry may not come out intact. Tap the pastry out onto the tip of your fingers and slide it onto the baking sheet. Continue filling and shaping the pastries until you have finished both pastry and paste. Scrape the inside of the mold every now and then to get rid of the residue pastry from inside the grooves. You should end up with about 40 pastries. Bake the pastries in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden. Leave to rest for 1 ½ hours.

The filling
Put the walnuts in a food processor and grind until medium-fine. Transfer into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and cinnamon and mix together. Pour in the rose and orange blossom water and mix again. The mixture should be slightly sticky and dark brown in color.

The pastries
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Pinch off a small piece of pastry and roll in into a ball the size of a walnut. Place it in the cup of your hand and with the index finger of your other hand burrow a hole into the pastry (be careful not to pierce the bottom) while rotating it to make the hollowing out easier and more even. You should produce a pastry shell resembling a topless egg with walls about ¼ inch thick.

Fill the hollowed pastry with a teaspoon of the nut mixture and pinch the dough over it until it is tightly stuck together. Carefully shape the filled dough into a ball and press it lightly into the special decorated mold (Tabe') or a conical tea strainer 2 ½ inches wide, putting the unpinched side on the inside so that you get a perfect top. Tap the pastry out onto the tip of your fingers and slide it onto the baking sheet. You can also shape the pastries with your hands and decorate them by lightly dragging a fork over the top of each. Repeat the above process until you have finished both pastry and filling. You should end up with about 30 pastries each measuring approximately 2 inches wide and 1 ½ inches high. If you have any leftover filling, eat it as a snack; and if you are left with any extra pastry, shape and bake it as dry biscuits.
Put the pastries in the preheated oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until cooked but without having acquired any color.

Finishing and serving
Take the pastries out of the oven and transfer them onto a rack. Leave to cool for a
few minutes, then sprinkle them lightly with confectioners' sugar (sift the sugar through a tea strainer to get an even dusting). When the pastries are cold, lift them carefully and arrange on a serving dish or pack them in an airtight container where they will keep for about one week stored in a cool place.