I know it’s New Year’s Eve and 2012 is just moments away, but it’s never too early to start preparing for Easter. A while ago, I received a request for Zadig Kahke (Easter Cookies) from Hermine Kabbendjian.


Hermine wrote:
 “Hello Robyn,
I come from Beirut and have been looking for Zadig Kahke that we used to make while I was a little girl.  I helped shaped the dough to many forms, shapes and designs.  They were heaven and I still smell them.  They were different than the ordinary ones as we made these for  Easter ( Zadig) only and shared them with all.

I asked Hermine for more detailed information and she responded:
“It was a sweet dough.  Not cookie like. It was more like choreg but a bit different! It had yeast, we did brush it with egg wash as the top was golden brown and we even took the kahkes to special bakers during Zadig for a wonderful bake.  I am certain it had milk, yeast and may be some eggs! I cannot quite remember the eggs!  My mom and grandmother kneaded the dough and even let it rise overnight and we started real early next morning for an all day affair of making them, taking them to the baker. Brothers would carry them back and forth and we would sneak one or two in our pockets to eat them secretly as we were not allowed to eat them before they got blessed or after we had gone to Easter service.  This was that special!  We rolled some in smaller pieces and some in shapes closer to open face like lahmajoun – a bit smaller size- with many different designs on top and made lace edges like apple pie edges…..They were close to 1/2 inch thick when open faced!”

I sent Hermine a butter kahke recipe from Rose Baboian’s “Armenian -American Cookbook”, but just by reading it, she could tell it wasn’t exactly right.


So with her permission, I’m asking readers for help in finding a Zadig Kahke recipe. If this strikes a chord with any of you, please email your recipe suggestions to robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com .


Thanks, and Happy New Year!