PISTACHIO PASTE STUFFED WITH CREAM

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Pistachio Paste Stuffed with Cream image

I had never come across this pastry before. I tasted it in Beirut, where a few patisseries claim to have invented it. One called Bohsali gave it the name Bohsalino; another calls it Taj el Malek. It involves a little skill-akin to pottery making-that improves with practice. In Lebanon they are filled with the thick cream that rises to the top when rich buffaloes' milk is boiled. They do not keep more than a few days because of the cream and must be kept in the refrigerator.

Number Of Ingredients 5

1 1/2 cups shelled pistachios
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 tablespoons rose water (see page 7)
About 1/4 cup thick clotted cream or crème fraîche
Confectioners' sugar to sprinkle on

Steps:

  • Grind the pistachios in the food processor, then add the sugar and rose water (don't be tempted to put in any more rose water) and blend until it forms a soft, malleable, slightly oily paste. The mix will appear like wet sand at first, but the oil released by the pistachios will bind it into a workable paste.
  • Rub your hands with oil so that the paste does not stick. Take little lumps the size of a small egg, roll each into a ball, then make a hole in it with your finger and enlarge it by pinching the sides and pulling them up to make a little dome-shaped pot.
  • Fill the hole with about 1 tablespoon clotted cream. Put the pot down on a plate rubbed with oil and make a lid for it: take a lump of paste the size of a large olive, flatten it between the palms of your hands, and lay it over the cream. Stick the edges well together and place the pastry flat-side down in a pastry case.
  • Alternatively, you can line tiny cake molds with plastic wrap and press the paste around the sides, fill the hollow with the cream, and cover with a lid.
  • Keep the pastries in the refrigerator-the cream needs to be refrigerated and the paste will firm-until you are ready to serve them, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.
  • Do the same with almonds and use 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water instead of rose water.

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