Greek honey and orange Christmas cookies (Melomakarona)

1. For the syrup, bring the honey and sugar to the boil with 200 ml water and the cinnamon stick, cook for 5 minutes, skim and let cool to lukewarm.

2. Grate the zest of the oranges and squeeze the juice (about 150 ml); in a bowl whisk the olive oil, orange juice, orange zest and sugar together.

3. Mix the flour with the baking powder, ground cinnamon and cloves and add gradually to the liquid; knead only until you have a soft, oily dough – overworking makes hard cookies.

4. Shape walnut-sized pieces into 5 cm ovals, press the tops with a fork and place on a lined baking tray.

5. Bake at 180 °C for 20-25 minutes until golden.

6. Dip the hot cookies in batches into the lukewarm syrup for 20-30 seconds, lift onto a rack and sprinkle with finely chopped walnuts.

Tip: Melomakarona are an essential Greek Christmas sweet, the partner of kourabiedes. They keep for 2 weeks in an airtight container and get better day by day.