Homemade Cezerye; Caramalised Carrot Paste Delight with Nuts
 
 
A delicious and healthy caramalised carrot paste & walnuts dessert from Mersin, Turkey. I hope you can have a go and treat yourself, family and friends with these delicious carrot delights. Cezerye keeps well in an air tight container for a week.
Author:
Recipe type: Turkish desserts
Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 medium to large carrots (app. 400 gr), cleaned and grated
  • 200 gr / 7 oz. / 1 cup white sugar (or 1¼ cup brown sugar)
  • 50 gr / 2 oz. walnuts, chopped into small pieces
  • 8 fl. oz./1 cup water
  • 50 gr/ 2 oz./1/3 cup desiccated coconut flakes to decorate
  • Bowl of water to shape cezerye squares or balls
Instructions
  1. Place the grated carrots, ½ cup water and sugar in a wide, heavy pan.
  2. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, stirring often. Cook this way for about 30 minutes or until all the liquid evaporated.
  3. Stir in the rest of the ½ cup water and cook again on medium heat, stirring continuously (carrots also release their own juice, therefore I prefer to add the liquid a step at a time so that the carrots won’t become mushy).
  4. Cook the carrots until all the juice evaporated and they are softened, this should take another 30 minutes. Using your stirring spoon, mash the cooked carrots to turn into a thick, chunky paste. At this point, they should also thicken, start to caramalise and get sticky (you can take a little bit between your fingers to test whether it sticks or not). Turn the heat off.
  5. Stir in the chopped walnuts to the carrot paste and mix well. Again using your stirring spoon, blend them all well and turn into a thick paste.
  6. Cover a small rectangular dish or tray with parchment paper. Spread the carrot paste evenly and tightly, making sure they stay intact, with a height of 1,5 cm (0.6”).
  7. Cover with a cling film and rest the mixture to settle for 2 hours in fridge.
  8. After 2 hours, start shaping the carrot paste. Have a bowl of water near you. Wet your hands, take a dessert spoonful and shape into small round balls. Or wet your knife and cut into small squares.
  9. Spread the desiccated coconut flakes on a dry surface and coat the carrot balls and squares with the flakes to coat all over.
  10. Cezerye is ready to serve. Cezerye keeps well in an air tight container for a week.
Recipe by Ozlem's Turkish Table at https://ozlemsturkishtable.com/2014/04/homemade-cezerye-caramalised-carrot-paste-delight-with-nuts/