Kaab el Ghazal (كعب الغزال)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy rolling pin
• •Pastry wheel or sharp paring knife
• •Fine needle or toothpick
• •Parchment-lined baking tray
• •Food processor or nut grinder

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the almonds

   Spread the blanched almonds on a clean towel and let them dry very well before grinding. If they go into the grinder damp, the paste turns heavy and oily before it turns fine. You want almond meal that smells fresh and sweet, not wet.

2. 2

   Make almond paste

   Grind the almonds with the sugar in pulses until very fine, stopping before the oils run out. Work in the softened butter, orange blossom water, cinnamon, and salt with your hands until the paste holds when pressed. It should feel like soft clay, fragrant but not perfumed like soap.

   If the paste crumbles, add orange blossom water a few drops at a time. If it sticks to your fingers, rest it 15 minutes before shaping.
3. 3

   Shape the logs

   Divide the almond paste into about 28 small pieces and roll each into a short tapered log, thicker in the middle and slimmer at the ends. Cover them while you make the dough so the surface doesn't dry and crack.

4. 4

   Mix the dough

   Put the flour in a wide bowl and rub in the melted butter and oil until the flour feels lightly sandy. Add the egg white, then the orange blossom water mixture little by little, kneading until the dough is smooth, supple, and no longer sticky. Stop adding liquid as soon as it gathers cleanly.

5. 5

   Rest the dough

   Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, then cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes. This rest matters: the dough relaxes, and relaxed dough rolls thin without fighting you.

6. 6

   Roll tissue-thin

   On a lightly floured surface, roll a small piece of dough as thin as you can, almost translucent but not torn. Keep the rest covered. Lay one almond log on the dough, fold the dough over it, and press around the filling with your fingers to push out trapped air.

7. 7

   Cut crescents

   Trim around the filled log with a pastry wheel or sharp knife, leaving a narrow border of dough. Pinch the seam closed, then bend the pastry gently into a crescent. The curve should look alive, not forced flat.

8. 8

   Prick and dry

   Set each crescent on a parchment-lined tray and prick the top two or three times with a fine needle or toothpick. Those tiny holes let the air escape, so the pastry stays smooth instead of swelling and splitting. Let the shaped pastries rest uncovered for 20 minutes while the oven heats to 170°C.

9. 9

   Bake pale

   Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, watching closely. Kaab el Ghazal should stay pale ivory with only a faint color underneath. If you use the egg-yolk glaze, brush it very lightly before baking; too much glaze turns the surface hard and dark.

10. 10

    Cool and serve

    Let the crescents cool on the tray for 10 minutes before moving them, then serve with mint tea. The pastry settles as it cools, and the orange blossom comes forward without taking over the almond.

Chef Tips

• •Buy almonds that smell sweet and clean. No perfume rescues tired nuts, and this sweet has nowhere to hide them.
• •Roll only a small piece of dough at a time and keep the rest covered. Thin dough dries fast, then it cracks when you bend the crescent.
• •Orange blossom water should scent the almond, not flood it. Add it slowly. La balance est dans les yeux, and in the fingertips too.
• •Do not brown these like ordinary cookies. Their beauty is pale, tender pastry and almond at the center.

Advance Preparation

• •The almond paste can be made 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it back to room temperature before shaping.
• •The shaped pastries can rest, covered loosely, for up to 2 hours before baking.
• •Baked kaab el ghazal keep 5 to 7 days in an airtight tin. Put parchment between layers so the crescents stay neat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 29g)