414 – Almond Mhencha Pastry / محنشة باللوز

Ingredients :

• 250 grams Warka (or Phyllo Dough)
• 250 grams almond paste 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons (56 grams) butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• Honey

Directions :

1- First, let’s prepare the ingredients.
Mix the almond paste with the ground cinnamon.
In a saucepan, on medium heat, melt the butter and the vegetable oil together; then place in a bowl.
Break the egg into a small bowl an beat with a fork.
2- On your workstation, drizzle a little bit of the butter-oil mixture, split the almond paste into two, and roll each portion into a log about the thickness of your thumb.
3- Place a pastilla leaf into your work station. If you are using large pastille, fold it into two. If your pastille leaf is small, superpose one on top of the other.
4- Place an almond paste log on the pastille dough edge closest to you.
5- Drizzle a little bit of the butter-oil mixture on the pastille dough.
6- Fold the side edges on the pastilla dough over the almond paste rod, and roll the pastilla dough along with the almond paste, as if you were rolling a carpet.
7- Brush the top the pastille roll with the egg wash
8-Do the same for the other almond paste log.
9- Cut the rolls into bite size pieces, but you don’t have to cut all the way through. The rolls should still hold their shapes together.
Place the rolls in a buttered baking pan.
10- Bake in a preheated oven to 400 F / 200 C for 15 minutes or until the rolls get a beautiful golden color.
As soon as your remove the rolls from the oven, drizzle honey on top of them.
11- Slice and separate the bite size pieces, and place them in small paper cups.
12- Let the Mhencha pieces cool completely before serving!
Bon appetite