Ingredients
Dough
- 250 gghee, soft but not melted
- 150 gicing sugar
- 400 gplain flour
- 1 tspvanilla extract
- pinch of salt
To finish
- about 30 whole blanched almonds
Directions
- Beat the ghee with the icing sugar for a full 10 minutes, until it is white, light and looks like whipped cream.
- Beat it for far longer than seems necessary. There is no egg and no raising agent in ghorayeba, so the only lift comes from air beaten into the fat, and those ten minutes are the difference between melting and dense.
- The ghee must be soft and creamy at room temperature, never melted. Melted fat will not hold air and the dough turns oily.
- Beat in the vanilla, then check the mixture: it should be visibly paler than the ghee you started with and hold a soft peak.
- Sift the flour and salt over the top and fold it in with a light hand, stopping the moment it comes together.
- Do not knead it. Working the flour develops gluten and the cookie bakes hard, when the entire point is that it collapses on the tongue.
- Rest the dough for 30 minutes somewhere cool, but not in the fridge, which sets the ghee too hard to shape.
- Roll walnut-sized balls, set them well apart on a lined tray, and flatten each very slightly.
- Press a blanched almond into the centre of each, just deep enough to seat it.
- Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 18 to 20 minutes.
- They must not colour. A proper ghorayeba is pale ivory, the surface matt and set and the base barely tinged, and a golden one has been overbaked and has lost its texture.
- Leave them on the tray until completely cold before moving them, because they are extremely fragile while warm and will break apart if lifted.
- They are baked alongside kahk for Eid al-Fitr, and the two go out on the same tray to visitors.
Technique
- Ghee rather than butter. It carries no water, and that is what gives the short, sandy crumb the name describes.
- Icing sugar rather than granulated, which would leave the texture grainy and make the cookies spread.
- Stored in an airtight tin they are better on the second day than the first.
Substitutions
- Unsalted butter, clarified at home and cooled to a soft cream.
- Walnut or pistachio in place of the almond.
Variations
- Ghraybeh, the Levantine version, often shaped into rings and marked with a pistachio.
- With a spoonful of fine semolina in the flour for a sandier bite.
- Dusted with icing sugar once cold.
History
Baked with kahk for Eid al-Fitr, its short crumb coming from a high ratio of ghee to flour.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ghorayeba?
Ghorayeba is a dessert from Egypt: pale melting butter cookie topped with a single almond. Baked with kahk for Eid al-Fitr, its short crumb coming from a high ratio of ghee to flour.
How long does Ghorayeba take to make?
Ghorayeba takes 30 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 cookies. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Ghorayeba?
Yes, within limits. Unsalted butter, clarified at home and cooled to a soft cream. Walnut or pistachio in place of the almond.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ghorayeba?
Beat it for far longer than seems necessary. There is no egg and no raising agent in ghorayeba, so the only lift comes from air beaten into the fat, and those ten minutes are the difference between melting and dense.
