Kaab el ghazal

Ingredients

Almond filling

• 500 gblanched almonds
• 250 gicing sugar
• 80 gbutter, softened
• 3 tablespoonsorange blossom water
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• the zest of 1 lemon
• 1egg yolk, if needed

Pastry

• 400 gplain flour
• 50 gbutter, melted
• 1egg yolk
• 3 tablespoonsorange blossom water
• about 120 ml warm water
• a pinch of salt

To finish

• orange blossom water, to brush
• icing sugar, to dust, optional

Directions

1. Pour boiling water over all of them. Leave them two minutes and drain them. Dry them thoroughly before grinding. Grind the almonds finely in a processor. It should be fine and slightly damp looking. Mix the ground almonds with the icing sugar. Add the softened butter to them. Add the orange blossom water in. Add the cinnamon and lemon zest.
2. Work it together with your hands. It should hold together when squeezed. Add an egg yolk if it will not hold. Add more icing sugar if it is sticky. Roll the paste into thin ropes. Aim for about a centimetre thick. Cut them into lengths of eight centimetres. Set them all aside on a clean tray. Put the flour and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the melted butter and the egg yolk. Add the orange blossom water to it. Add warm water gradually until it comes together. Knead it for a good fifteen minutes. That is longer than most pastries need. Wrap the dough and let it rest. Give it at least one full hour.
4. Divide the dough into small pieces. Keep the rest covered as you work. Roll one piece out very thin indeed. Take it down to under a millimetre. You should see your hand through it.
5. Lay a rope of almond paste on the pastry. Set it down near one long edge. Fold the pastry over the filling. Press it down around the paste. Press out all the trapped air. Press firmly all around the filling.
6. Cut around the filled shape with a wheel. Leave a narrow border of pastry. Bring the two pointed ends towards each other. Pinch the surface lightly with tweezers if you like. Prick the top two or three times. Use a needle or else a clean pin. It stops them from splitting open. Heat the oven to 170C before baking. Set them out on lined baking trays.
7. Bake them for about twelve minutes. They should be set but still pale. Take them out before they brown. Brush them with orange blossom water while warm. Stack them on a tray or a tiered plate. They keep two weeks in a sealed tin. Layer them with paper between.

Technique

• Kaab means ankle or heel and ghazal means gazelle, so the name is gazelle’s ankle; it is very often translated as gazelle horns, which is simply wrong even though the crescent resembles one.
• The shell must be rolled almost transparently thin and must stay pale in the oven, and a browned kaab el ghazal is considered a failure; those two together are what bakers are judged on.
• The dough is kneaded for fifteen minutes, longer than most pastries need, because that gluten is what lets it roll paper thin; under-kneaded dough tears as you roll it.

Substitutions

• Ground almonds can be bought ready ground, though freshly ground gives a better texture.
• Rose water stands in for orange blossom water, giving a different perfume.

Variations

• Some bakers pinch the surface decoratively with tweezers.
• A version dusted with icing sugar is made alongside the plain one.
• Kaak warka in Tunisia is the close relative with the same pale standard.

History

The name means gazelle’s ankle, not horn; the almond crescent is a Fassi wedding and Eid pastry, judged by how thin the pale shell is.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kaab el ghazal?

Kaab el ghazal is a dessert from Morocco: crescent gazelle-horn pastries filled with almond paste and orange-blossom water. The name means gazelle’s ankle, not horn; the almond crescent is a Fassi wedding and Eid pastry, judged by how thin the pale shell is.

How long does Kaab el ghazal take to make?

Kaab el ghazal takes 1 hour 30 minutes plus resting of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 pastries. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kaab el ghazal?

Yes, within limits. Ground almonds can be bought ready ground, though freshly ground gives a better texture. Rose water stands in for orange blossom water, giving a different perfume.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kaab el ghazal?

The shell must be rolled almost transparently thin and must stay pale in the oven, and a browned kaab el ghazal is considered a failure; those two together are what bakers are judged on.