I had some filo pastry left over from another recipe and was looking to cook something with it. I also wanted to make something sweet but healthy for dessert. I found this recipe in my cookbook 'The food of Morocco'. Easy to make and delicious. M'Hanncha means 'snake' and is an almond-filled pastry that it is served at celebrations with guests breaking off pieces from the coil. It is normally served with coffee or tea. Here I served it with some yoghurt and blackberries. It was just delicious.
INGREDIENTS
1 small egg, separated
2 cups (200g) ground almonds (almond meal)
1/3 cup (30g) flaked almonds
1 cup (125g) icing sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 Tbsp rosewater or orange blossom water
90g unsalted butter, melted
9 sheets filo pastry
pinch of ground cinnamon
To serve
icing sugar, extra
cinnamon, extra
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 20cm round spring-form tin.
Put the egg white in a bowl and beat lightly with a fork.
Add the ground and flaked almonds, the icing sugar, the lemon zest, almond extract and rosewater.
Mix well to a paste.
Divide the mixture into four and roll each portion on a cutting board into a sausage shape about 5 cm shorter than the length of the filo pastry - about 42 cm long and 1 cm thick. If the paste is too sticky to roll, dust the cutting board with icing sugar.
Keep the melted butter warm. Remove one sheet of filo pastry and brush with the butter, then cover with another sheet and brush again with butter.
Ease one almond 'sausage' onto the buttered pastry, laying it along the length of the pastry, 2.5cm in from the base and sides.
Roll up to enclose the filling.
Continue in this manner to make three more pastry 'snakes', shaping each around the smaller coil to make a large coil. If the coil breaks, cut small pieces of the remaining filo sheet, brush with a little egg yolk and press the filo onto the breaks.
Add the cinnamon to the remaining egg yolk and brush over the coil.
Place the tin on top of a flat baking dish, lined with baking paper and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 8
TM recipe
Ingredients
500 g of blanched almonds (I used raw almonds)
200 g caster sugar
30 g orange blossom water
1 pinch of salt
85 g melted butter
½ tsp. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 pastry sheets
1 beaten egg
100 g of honey, warmed beforehand
Preparation
Bake and roast 250 g of blanched almonds for 40 minutes at 140 ° C. (I used toasted almonds, so I didn't have to roast them)
Separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Beat the egg white lightlyt with a fork.
Meanwhile, put the remaining 250 g almonds and sugar in mixing bowl, then mix 1 min / speed 10 . Scrape down sides of bowl with spatula.
Add the orange blossom water, the egg white, salt, 25 g melted butter and cinnamon, then mix 20 sec / speed 5 . Transfer to a container and set aside in the refrigerator.
Take the almonds out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 200 ° C. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and set aside.
Place 50 g roasted almonds in mixing bowl and crush 7 sec / speed 5 . Transfer to a container and set aside for finishing.
Place remaining 200g roasted almonds in mixing bowl and crush 15 sec / speed 5.
Add the almond-orange blossom preparation, then mix 15 sec / speed 4. (I had to do that twice!) Transfer the dough to a work surface, then roll it into a long sausage 2 cm thick. (I followed the traditional way from this point onwards.)
Using a kitchen brush, brush the pastry sheets with the remaining 60 g of melted butter. Superimpose the pastry sheets by staggering them, so as to form a straight line of the same length as the sausage.
Place the sausage in the middle of the row of bricks, then roll lengthwise into a tight snail. Place on the prepared baking sheet. If the snail does not hold well, hold the end with a toothpick.
Brush the entire surface with the beaten egg, then put in the oven and cook for 15 minutes at 200 ° C.
Out of the oven, sprinkle with the warmed honey and sprinkle with crushed almonds.
Serve warm or cold.
Serves 16
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