The most famous of Moroccan pastries are best known abroad by their French name, cornes de gazelle, or gazelle’s horns. They are stuffed with ground almond paste and curved into horn-shaped crescents. They are ubiquitous wedding party fare.

　　

Ingredients

makes 24 to 26 crescents

　　

For the pastry

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

　　1/2 cup vegetable oil

　　2 eggs, lightly beaten

　　About 6 tablespoons fresh orange juice

　　Confectioners’ sugar

　　

For the filling

3 1/3 cups ground almonds

　　1 cup superfine sugar

　　1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

　　Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon or orange

　　2 to 3 drops of almond or vanilla essence

　　

Step 1

For the pastry, mix the flour with the oil and the eggs very thoroughly. Bind with just enough orange juice to hold it together, adding it by the tablespoon, then knead into a soft, malleable dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Mix all the filling ingredients together and work with your hands into a soft paste.

　　

Step 3

Divide the pastry dough into four for easy handling. Then roll it out into thin sheets on a clean surface (it does not need flouring because the dough is very oily and does not stick). Cut the sheets into 4-inch squares. Take a lump of almond paste and shape it into a thin, little sausage 3 1/2 inches long. Place it in the middle of a square, diagonally, on the bias, about 1/2 inch from the corners. Lift the dough up over the filling (a wide-bladed knife helps to lift the dough) and roll up, then very gently curve the roll into a crescent. Pinch the dough to seal the openings at the end. Repeat, making crescents with the remaining dough and filling.

　　

Step 4

Arrange the crescents on oiled trays. Bake them in an oven preheated to 325°F for 30 minutes. The crescents should not turn brown, but only just begin to color. When cool, dip them in plenty of confectioners’ sugar so that they are entirely covered.

　　

variations

Step 5

Another way of making the crescents is to cut the pastry into rounds, place a line of filling on one half and fold the other half of the pastry over the filling to make a half-moon shape. Then pinch the edges together, trim some of the excess rounded edge, and curve the pastries slightly into crescents.

　　

Step 6

Instead of dusting with confectioners’ sugar, dip the pastries in warmed honey mixed with a drop of water to make it runnier (see page 127).

　　Arabesque