KAAB EL GHZAL

Kaab el Ghzal image

Yield makes 24-26

Number Of Ingredients 10

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6-8 tablespoons fresh orange juice, or as required
3 1/4 cups ground almonds
1 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 egg yolk
The zest of 1 lemon or 1 orange
1-2 drops of vanilla extract or almond extract (optional)

Steps:

For the pastry, mix the flour with the eggs and the oil very thoroughly. Then bind with just enough orange juice to hold it together in a soft malleable dough. Wrap in plastic and leave to rest for 1/2 hour.
Mix the filling ingredients to a soft paste.
Divide the pastry dough into 4 for easier handling, then roll out into sheets as thinly as possible (about 1/8 inch) on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin. Cut into 4-inch squares. Take a walnut-sized lump of almond paste and shape into a sausage about 4 1/2 inches long, fatter in the middle and tapering off towards the ends. Place it in the middle of a square, diagonally, on the bias, about 1/3 inch from the corners. Fold the dough over the filling (a wide-bladed knife helps to lift the dough) and roll up, then very gently curve into a crescent, turning the ends away from the point in the middle. Repeat with all the pastry squares and the rest of the paste.
Arrange on oiled baking sheets and bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 30 minutes. The crescents should not turn brown, but only just begin to color. They will be soft. Do not try to move them until they are cool and firm.
Dip in confectioners' sugar so that they are entirely covered.
Some people cut the pastry into rounds, place a line of filling in the middle, and fold the pastry over the filling to make a half-moon shape. They pinch the edges together, trim some of the excess rounded edge, and curve the pastries slightly into a crescent.