Cornes de Gazelle

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Moroccan Cuisine
Cornes De Gazelle

INGREDIENTS

For the dough.
2¼ cups flour.
4 tablespoons butter, melted.
1 tablespoon sunflower oil.
2 teaspoons liquid honey.
1 egg.
1 pinch salt.
2 teaspoons orange blossom water.
For the almond paste.
4 cups whole almonds, blanched and peeled
1½ cups sugar.
½ cup orange blossom water.
6 tablespoons butter.
½ teaspoon mastic (Arabic gum), ground.
For the top.
¼ cup sunflower oil.

INSTRUCTIONS

Dough
In a large dish, pour the flour, salt, melted butter, oil, honey and egg. Mix all ingredients and slowly add enough water to make a smooth dough.
Knead vigorously for 10 minutes until it becomes elastic and not sticky. Cover with a clean cloth and let stand while preparing the marzipan.

Almond paste
Mix the blanched and peeled almonds with the sugar and grind them ideally with a meat grinder (or food processor) to make marzipan.
Stir in the orange blossom water, butter and mastic. Knead the marzipan and make 2-inch long and 1-inch thick strands (about ¾ oz).

Assembly
Divide the dough into 6 small balls.
Place a ball on an oiled work surface and, using a very smooth and oiled pastry roll (without imperfection), roll the dough thinly.
Place a strand of marzipan in the centre of the pastry dough and fold it. Shape the dough in the shape of a crescent by firmly pressing with your fingers to make the dough adhere to almond paste.
Seal the edges by pressing strongly and cut the crescent with a serrated wheel leaving about a ⅛ inch edge.
Repeat this process until you run out of dough and marzipan.
Place the cornes de gazelle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let them rest uncovered at room temperature for 15 hours, until they dry.
Using a thin needle, poke each corne de gazelle 3 times on top, spacing the holes equally.
Preheat oven to 340 F.
Lightly brush oil on each corne de gazelle.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes until obtaining a light beige colour, making sure that they do not turn brown.
It is very important to closely monitor the baking so that the cornes de gazelle are very light.
Let them cool completely on a wire rack before placing them in a sealed metal box to keep them in a cool place.