Kaab Ghzal,Moroccan Sweet
INGREDIENTS
For the dough
- 2¼ cups flour
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 2 teaspoons liquid honey
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons orange blossom water
For the almond paste
- 4 cups whole almonds, blanched and peeled
- 1½ cups sugar
- ½ cup orange blossom water
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ½ teaspoon mastic (Arabic gum), ground
For the top
- ¼ cup sunflower oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Dough
- In a large dish, pour the flour, salt, melted butter, oil, honey and egg. Mix all ingredients and slowly add enough water to make a smooth dough.
- Knead vigorously for 10 minutes until it becomes elastic and not sticky. Cover with a clean cloth and let stand while preparing the marzipan.
Almond paste
- Mix the blanched and peeled almonds with the sugar and grind them ideally with a meat grinder (or food processor) to make marzipan.
- Stir in the orange blossom water, butter and mastic. Knead the marzipan and make 2-inch (5cm) long and 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick strands (about ¾ oz / 20g).
Assembly
- Divide the dough into 6 small balls.
- Place a ball on an oiled work surface and, using a very smooth and oiled pastry roll (without imperfection), roll the dough thinly.
- Place a strand of marzipan in the center of the pastry dough and fold it. Shape the dough in the shape of a crescent by firmly pressing with your fingers to make the dough adhere to almond paste.
- Seal the edges by pressing strongly and cut the crescent with a serrated wheel leaving about a ⅛ inch (3 mm) edge.
- Repeat this process until you run out of dough and marzipan.
- Place the cornes de gazelle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rest uncovered at room temperature for 15 hours, until they dry.
- Using a thin needle, poke each corne de gazelle 3 times on top, spacing the holes equally.
- Preheat the oven to 340 F (170˚C).
- Lightly brush oil on each corne de gazelle.
- Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until obtaining a light beige color, making sure that they do not turn brown.
- It is very important to closely monitor the baking so that the cornes de gazelle are very light.
- Let them cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in a sealed metal box to keep them in a cool place.
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