Caxton magazines staffWhen Kundra Bowley entertains, she gathers her friends around a decorative Moroccan table to eat slow-cooked tagine with home-baked bread. What else would you expect from the owner of the decor shop Moroccan Warehouse (021 461 8318)?
INGREDIENTS
- 500g blanched almonds, shelled
- 250g sugar
- 70g butter
- 1t ground cinnamon
- 1t orange flower oil or orange essence
- 200g phyllo pastry
- 1 egg white
- flour, for dusting
- olive oil, for greasing the pan
- 150g honey
- flaked almonds
METHOD
1. Whizz the almonds and sugar together in a blender.
2. Melt the butter and combine half with the almonds and sugar. Add the cinnamon and the orange flower oil and mix until you have a malleable paste.
3. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
4. Line up the sheets of phyllo pastry on a floured surface so that the edges (brushed with egg white) overlap slightly. Shape the almond paste into a long sausage and put it lengthwise along one side of the pastry. Roll it up into a tube about 2cm thick that you can twist into a spiral.
5. Grease a round oven pan with olive oil, put the rolled-up pastry in it and brush with the remaining melted butter. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. In the meantime, liquefy the honey over a low heat and once the almond spiral is done and while still hot, pour the honey over it, then scatter with the flaked almonds. Serve at room temperature.
This recipe serves 6 – 10.
