Dziriette

Ingredients

Pastry

• 300 gplain flour
• 100 gunsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 pinchsalt
• 1egg yolk
• 1 tbsporange-flower water
• About 90 ml cold water

Almond filling

• 400 gground almonds
• 150 gcaster sugar
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsporange-flower water
• 1egg
• 1 tbspmelted butter

To finish

• 1egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water, for glazing
• 300 gmild honey
• 1 tbsporange-flower water
• icing sugar, for dusting
• sugar pearls or slivered almonds, to decorate

Directions

1. Rub the melted butter into the flour and salt with your fingertips until the mixture looks like damp sand, then work in the egg yolk, orange-flower water and enough cold water to make a soft, supple dough.
2. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic, wrap and rest for 30 minutes; the rest is what lets you roll it paper-thin without it springing back.
3. Knead the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, orange-flower water, egg and melted butter to a firm paste that holds a shape when squeezed, then roll it into finger-thick ropes.
4. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, or pass it through a pasta machine down to the second-thinnest setting, until you can read print through it.
5. Lay a rope of almond paste along one edge, roll it up snugly in the pastry, and cut into 5 cm lengths; pinch each end closed and curve them slightly into the classic Algiers shape.
6. Set them seam-side down on a lined tray, brush with egg-yolk glaze and press a sugar pearl or almond sliver into the top of each.
7. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops are pale gold and the bases are set and dry; take them out while still blond, since over-baking dries the almond inside.
8. Warm the honey with the orange-flower water in a wide pan until it is runny but not boiling, around 60°C (140°F).
9. Drop the hot pastries into the warm honey for 30 to 60 seconds, turning once, lift onto a rack to drain, then dust with icing sugar once cool. Store in a tin between paper.

Technique

• Hot pastry into warm honey is the rule that governs every Algerian honey-dipped sweet. If both are cold, the honey sits on the surface in a sticky skin instead of soaking in.
• The pastry must be genuinely thin. Thick dough tastes of raw flour and ruins the contrast with the soft almond centre.
• Dziriette means simply from Algiers, and the pastry is a fixture of wedding trays and Aid tables, always cut small and served with mint tea or coffee.

Substitutions

• No orange-flower water: rose water works, though it is a Tlemcen flavour rather than an Algiers one, and the pastries will taste noticeably different.
• Ground almonds can be replaced by half almonds, half ground pistachios for a green-centred version.

Variations

• Dziriette can be shaped into small closed crescents or into flat rounds pressed with a stamp; both are traditional.
• Some pastry cooks skip the honey and finish only with icing sugar, giving a drier, longer-keeping sweet.
• A cinnamon-heavy Blida version scents the filling with a little ground clove as well.

History

Named for Dzair, Algiers; the pastry belongs to the capital’s wedding and Eid trays, made in the old Casbah households.

Frequently asked questions

What is Dziriette?

Dziriette is a dessert from Algeria: almond-filled Algiers pastries glazed with honey and dusted with sugar. Named for Dzair, Algiers; the pastry belongs to the capital’s wedding and Eid trays, made in the old Casbah households.

How long does Dziriette take to make?

Dziriette takes 50 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pastries. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Dziriette?

Yes, within limits. No orange-flower water: rose water works, though it is a Tlemcen flavour rather than an Algiers one, and the pastries will taste noticeably different. Ground almonds can be replaced by half almonds, half ground pistachios for a green-centred version.

What is the most important thing to get right in Dziriette?

Hot pastry into warm honey is the rule that governs every Algerian honey-dipped sweet. If both are cold, the honey sits on the surface in a sticky skin instead of soaking in.