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AI-generated photograph: A thick warm wedge of golden domed bread with a soft open crumb flecked with black nigella seeds, on a small round plate of dark speckled stoneware, a spoonful of white fresh cheese beside it with amber honey trickled over, seen from a low side angle

Home · Recipes · Honey dabo with ayib and cardamom honey

Ethiopian · Desserts

Honey dabo with ayib and cardamom honey

cardamom and honey bread · fresh cheese · warm honey

AI-generated photograph

Desserts are not a big tradition in Ethiopia, where a meal usually ends with coffee, so we do not pretend otherwise: this is dabo, a round celebration bread scented with cardamom and sweetened with honey. We serve it warm in thick slices with ayib (a mild, fresh Ethiopian curd cheese) and a trickle of cardamom honey.

Contains: cereals containing gluten and milk, as written. Gluten (the strong white bread flour, wheat) and milk (the whole milk, the butter and the ricotta). Yeast, salt, cardamom, nigella seeds and honey contain none of the 14. Some honey blends and nigella seeds are packed alongside sesame, so check the label if that matters. Honey means this is not vegan.

Ingredients

  • 500g strong white bread flour, plus a little for dusting
  • 7g sachet fast action dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon nigella seeds (small black onion seeds)
  • 250ml whole milk, lukewarm
  • 3 tablespoons runny honey, for the dough
  • 40g unsalted butter, melted, plus a little for the tin
  • 250g ricotta, as a stand in for ayib (a soft, mild Ethiopian fresh cheese)
  • 4 tablespoons runny honey, for the cardamom honey

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Let's cook

  1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, salt, 1 and a half teaspoons of the cardamom and the nigella seeds.
  2. Stir the 3 tablespoons of honey into the warm milk with 75ml lukewarm water and the melted butter. Pour it into the flour and mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough.
  3. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes until smooth and springy. Put it back in the bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour, until doubled in size.
  4. Butter a 23cm round cake tin. Knock the dough back, shape it into a smooth ball and press it into the tin. Cover and leave for 45 minutes until risen and puffy. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).
  5. Score a cross on the top with a sharp knife and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until deep golden and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap the bottom. If it browns too fast, cover it loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
  6. Cool the dabo in the tin for 10 minutes, then on a rack. Meanwhile drain the ricotta in a sieve for 15 minutes so it is firm and crumbly, like ayib.
  7. Warm the 4 tablespoons of honey with the rest of the cardamom in a small pan for 1 minute, just until runny.
  8. Serve the dabo warm, in thick wedges, with a spoonful of the drained ricotta on the side and the cardamom honey trickled over the cheese.

Tips

  • Dabo is best the day it is baked. Wrap leftovers and keep them at room temperature for up to 2 days, then toast slices to serve.
  • Keep the ricotta covered in the fridge and use it within 2 days of opening.

Swaps

  • Real ayib: gently heat 1 litre of cultured buttermilk until it splits into curds, about 70C, then drain the curds in a cloth for an hour.
  • Dairy free: use oat milk and a plant based spread in the bread and serve with a thick coconut yoghurt.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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