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Your support makes all the difference.This Moroccan pastry is a long coil of filo pastry - hence the name - filled with a ground almond paste. It is stunning to look at and delicious. Make it for a grand occasion.
This Moroccan pastry is a long coil of filo pastry - hence the name - filled with a ground almond paste. It is stunning to look at and delicious. Make it for a grand occasion.
For the filling
1 1/ 2kg ground almonds
1kg castor sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
200ml orange-flower water
a few drops of almond essence (optional)
For the pastry
500g filo pastry
125g butter, melted
2 egg yolks for glazing
To garnish
icing sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Mix all the filling ingredients and work into a paste with your hands. Open out the sheets of filo when you are ready to use them and keep them in a pile so that they do not dry out.
Brush the top one lightly with melted butter. Take lumps of the almond pate and roll into fingers. Place them end to end in a line about two centimetres thick along one long edge and roll the sheet of filo up over the filling into a thin long roll, tucking the ends in to stop the filling oozing out.
Lift the roll up carefully with both hands and place it in the middle of a piece of greaseproof paper or greased sheet of foil on the largest possible oven sheet or tray.
Curve the roll very gently like a snail - to do so without tearing the filo, you have to crease the pastry first like an accordion by pushing the ends of the rolls and placing them end to end to make a long tight coil.
Brush the top of the pastry with the egg yolks mixed with two teaspoons of water and bake in a 180C oven for 35-40 minutes until crisp and lightly browned. Serve cold, sprinkled with icing sugar and with lines of cinnamon in the shape of the spokes of a wheel.
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