Ballokume Elbasani

Ballokume is an Albanian biscuit originating from the city of Elbasan that was, and still is, traditionally prepared on Dita e Verës, a pagan holiday celebrated annually on March 14, first only in Elbasan, and from 2004 throughout Albania as a national holiday. The necessary ingredients are simple: only butter, sugar, eggs, and cornflour, but when it comes to equipment, it is advised to use a copper bowl which will help in making the dough smooth and silky as it gets heated from kneading. Sweet and chewy, this traditional cookie is also called kulaç me finj as it may (optionally) contain finj, a mixture of ashes from a wood stove boiled in water.