Almond – Honey – Briouates

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg almond(s)
• 380 g sugar and 50 ml orange blossom water
• 2 tsp cinnamon and 1 pinch of mastic
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 kg honey
• 10 sheets of dough, Yufka
• Oil for frying
• Almonds or pistachios, chopped, or
• sesame

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour

Pastries, Moroccan specialty

Briouates: The crispy pastry shell encloses a soft filling of almonds, cinnamon, and orange blossom water. The most common briouates resemble small, triangular shoes with a spherical filling. The filling can also be shaped into small “sausages” and then rolled into the pastry like a “cigar.” They are then deep-fried in oil and immediately dipped gently in honey. A simple method for cutting the yufka pastry sheets into equal-sized pieces: Unroll the sheet and then cut it into pieces with a small knife. Then unroll the strips and brush the rest of the pastry with oil. This way, the briouates hold together nicely during frying and the filling doesn’t fall out. Once the briouates have turned a nice golden brown in the oil, remove them and dip them in honey: This ensures the honey is absorbed best, and the surface gets its special texture from the temperature difference between the hot oil and the cold honey. (I would recommend thyme honey.) You can garnish them by dipping the edges in chopped almonds, pistachios, or sesame seeds. Place 1 kg of almonds in a pot of boiling water and wait until the skins start to peel. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon, let them cool, and then press them out of the skins. Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add 250 g of peeled almonds and fry for 5 minutes. Grind in a food processor and set aside. Then add the remaining almonds to the food processor. Add the sugar (380 g) and start the processor. Place the almond-sugar mixture on a plate. Add the fried, chopped almonds and mix everything together. Roll into a roll. Add the mastic, butter, orange blossom water, and cinnamon to the dough and knead again until smooth. Then break the eggs into a bowl. Cut the yufka dough into strips. Place a ball of filling on the end of a strip. Fold the strips over each other in triangles until they reach the end. Brush with egg yolk. Briefly fry the briouates and then dip them in the honey.