M'hencha (Almond Snake)
I am on a mission to test different Middle Eastern desserts for a restaurant (because their chefs won't touch baking with a ten foot pole for some reason) and this was yesterday's endeavour:
M'hencha (Almond Snake), filo pastry filled with an almond paste.
Ingredients:
300g / 3 cups gound almonds
150g / 1.5 cups powdered sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons orange blossom water
filo pastry
about 50g / 1/4 cup melted butter
egg wash for glazing (beat one egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water)
Whole almonds and flaked almonds for decoration.
Mix almonds, sugar, cinnamon and orange blossom water to form a smooth paste.
I was a bit alarmed when the orange blossom water smelled rather like the eau de cologne my grandmother used to put on her handkerchiefs but the paste tastes delicious and absolutely not perfume-like.
Cut filo pastry into manageable pieces, I used about 6 inch wide ones (I halved the sheets as they came out of the packet but that will depend on the size you buy or *gasp* make).
Be really careful with the pastry and read the instructions on the packet. I did not and found things a bit difficult to get used to. Next time I will do better.
Brush pastry with butter, Roll almond paste into fingers. Place on edge of pastry and roll pastry over filling. I meant to use more filo, to get a layered baklavah effect but that made the "snakes" too inflexible.
Curve rolls and place in spring form or on a baking sheet, forming a spiral. I found it easier using a spring form.
Glaze with egg wash, tuck some almonds in between folds, sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake at 190 Celsius or 170 Celsius for a fan/convection oven for about 25 minutes.
It is really easy to overbake this! You can't really test whether it's done but as soon as it's lightly browned I'd take it out. The recipe calls for 30-40 minutes baking but at least in my oven that was far too long.
I made two because I needed to experiment with the filling a bit and the outer ring of the one baked on a baking sheet overbaked and turned out quite hard.
Still, very delicious!
If you want, you can pour some orange blossom syrup over it. (Boil 75g sugar, 125 ml water and a bit of lemon juice for ten minutes, add a tablespoon of orange blossom water and set aside until cake is cooled.)
