Maamoul: Fragrant Middle Eastern Pastries

Tags

Date, Fig, Maamool, Maamoul, Mahlab, Mahlep, Mastika, Pistachio, semolina, Walnut

How a cake or a biscuit or a loaf looks is important to me. Maybe not as important as how it tastes, but almost. So if I see a recipe that requires a special mould or tin or contraption to make it I find it very hard to resist the temptation to rush out and buy it. This is all too clear from my collection of madeleine and friand trays, biscuit and moon cake presses, and tins for bundts, pandoro, angel cake, milk loaf, and more. At present I am trying very hard not to buy a set of copper cannelé moulds. I might succeed. I might not. Watch this space.

Anyway, when I saw David Lebovitz’s post about the glorious pastries on offer at Al Bohsali in Lebanon, I knew I just had to buy a Maamoul mould. That, as it turned out, was quite a challenge in the UK. Using the thing was quite a challenge too. But more of that later.

These fragrant little pastries are found in Lebanon and several other countries of the Middle East and beyond. A filling of nuts, dates or figs is enclosed in a beautifully sculpted case of crumbly semolina pastry. I won’t lie; they are not the easiest or quickest things to make. But they are definitely rather special, and well worth the effort.

Delightful…! Preposterous…! Brioche Feuilletée

Tags

Bertinet, brioche, Feuilletee, Hamelman, Hazelnut, Pistachio

When I first got my iPad, I became addicted for a while to a game called Cruel Jewels. It was very amusing the way a kind of posh butler would comment with increasing excitement on how well you were doing. A good move might earn a “Delightful!”, a better one a more enthusiastic “Splendid!”, but if you had done particularly well he would work himself up to an almost hysterical “Absurd! Preposterous!! INCONCEIVABLE!!!”

I fear that some people might view this Brioche Feuilletée recipe in the same light. For it takes a dough that is already very rich, packed as it is with eggs and butter, and adds yet more butter in the form of a croissant-style lamination. The dough is then wrapped around a rich nutty filling, and finally the loaf is glazed with apricot jam, drizzled with icing and sprinkled with more nuts.

Portuguese Custard Tarts

Tags

custard tarts, natas, Pastel de nata, Tea Time Treats

These Portuguese Custard Tarts, or Pasteis de Nata, are often referred to simply as Natas. There is no denying that they are quite time consuming and fiddly to make, but the end result is delicious. The way the pastry is worked and rolled makes it especially flaky, and some of the cases end up with attractive spirals in them. The custard is not too rich, and is delicately flavoured with cinnamon, lemon and vanilla.