Traditional Meals of Morocco: Ramadan sweets and cookies Part 2

Kaab el Ghazal

Another signature Moroccan sweet the Gazelle Horns are often cooked for the Iftar meals when Muslim break the fast late in the evening and also for special occasions and celebrations Kaab el Ghazal is tasty, rich and it’s also my personal favorite because it’s light, nutritious and it lacks the overall sweetness of the other sweets.  I’m glad to share its recipe here with you: did my best to make it as straightforward as I can. This recipe should be good to make around 50 Kaab

Ingredients for the pastry:

375 g (3 cups) flour 1/2 tbsp salt 1/2 large or 2 small eggs 170 g (3/4 cup) melted butter 4 – 5 t tbsp orange blossom water

• Use your hands to mix all ingredients together to make a soft and well-elastic dough.
• Divide the dough into 5-6 portions and let them rest for around 15 mins, covered
• Roll the doughs out one at a time ( make sure there’s a light amount of flour on the working surface for you to do this)
• Roll them until they get around 1 mm thin 

Ingredients for the filling

500 g (1 lb) almonds 275 g (1 1/3 cups) sugar 75 ml (1/3 cup) orange blossom water 60 g (1/4 cup) melted butter 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon Gum Arabic/mastic powder (optional)

• Blend the almonds until they become a paste
• Take this paste out from the blender and put it in a pot to add the rest of the ingredients finish it up with the orange water
• You should get a paste you can shape. Divide the paste into portions and make as many sticks as you can from it. Each stick should be around the size of a little finger.
• When you are ready put the sticks in the fridge

Making the cookies:  fluted pastry wheel for forming and baking sheet for baking

• First make sure your portions of doughs are easy to move and they did not stick to the work surface. Help them with some flour so you can work more easily with them.
• Start placing one stick of the paste near the top so you can fold it easily. Fold it fine. Use a knife or the pastry wheel to cut this out then use your fingers to seal them tight. Put each piece aside while you are working with the rest.
• When you are ready and used up all the sticks go ahead and start making each one sticks of dough with the pastry inside to bend them into a crescent shape. You can work and tighten them with your hands ( work them for them to look like the ones on the photo and don’t worry if they’re not exactly like that – this all needs expertise )
• When ready let the crescents rest in the fridge
• If you feel like you can beat up and egg and add some drops of Orange Water to it and go through each crescent with a baking brush and pat them gently with the egg-mix. This will give the cookies and extra shimmer after being baked.
• When time comes to bake preheat oven to 180 C /350F place the crescents carefully on the baking sheet. Keep in mind that they will grow a bit so let some space in-between them.
• Baking time is 10-12 mins. You must keep your eyes open as these cookies need only a very light baking or they lose their elasticity they are so popular for.

When ready:

• You can prepare “M’Fenned” which basically means, that right after baking you will dip each piece in orange water, quickly shake off the excess and put the cookie in powdered sugar. Or use only sugar
• After properly cooled down to room temperature, you can store these cookies in the fridge for a couple of days. Some families would go ahead and freeze the excess.

If you need a step-by-step guide with pics please click here to learn more. 

Bon apétit!