Every city has a smell, and the smell of Jerusalem’s Old City is ka’ak al-Quds: long, ring-shaped sesame breads stacked on wooden carts outside Damascus Gate, sold with a twist of paper holding za’atar and a boiled egg if you know to ask. The crumb is soft and faintly sweet, the crust plastered edge to edge with toasted sesame.
Jerusalemites will tell you it cannot truly be made outside the city — something about the stone ovens, or the air. This home version gets remarkably close, and your kitchen will smell like the Old City for the rest of the day.
Eat it the Jerusalem way: torn, dipped in za’atar, with tea. Or split lengthwise and stuffed with falafel.
Ingredients
- 4 cups bread flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for the sesame wash
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1⅓ cups warm milk (or water)
- 1 cup sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons flour + 3 tablespoons water + 1 teaspoon molasses, for the sesame paste
Instructions
- Knead the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, oil, and milk into a soft, smooth dough, about 10 minutes. Cover and rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Divide into 6 pieces. Roll each into a rope, then join the ends to form a long oval ring — the signature elongated ka’ak shape.
- Whisk the flour, water, and molasses into a thin paste. Brush it over the tops, then press each ring generously into the sesame seeds.
- Rest the rings 20 minutes on parchment while the oven heats to 240°C with a baking stone or inverted tray inside.
- Bake until deep golden and hollow-sounding, 15–18 minutes.
- Cool briefly on a rack — they are best warm, the same day, in generous company.