Sunday, February 3, 2013

Gazelle's horn (cornes de gazelle)

I won't lie to you ... 
I'll always be honest, you know.
I'll always tell you the truth...

If you want to do those wonderful little cakes, be sure BEFORE, to love completely, totally the people you'll bake it for. 
And most of all, be extremely sure, this person likes arabian pastry. 

Because it takes one million hours to prepare ! 
Because you'll need a lot of energy, if, like me, your arms muscle are under them and not INTO them...  
Because your kitchen, after this cooking moment, will looks like a kitchen you would have left to four or five undisciplined children, or children you couldn't catch ! 

At the beginning, I baked those little cakes for one of my uncles who just loves them. 
I don't see him too often, so I try to make them for him, each time he came, with his wife. 
Yesterday, while they were spending 2 days with us, my mother (her sister) cooked one of her fabulous couscous, so Cornes de Gazelles, were perfect to go with. 
And it gives me a lot of pleasure to see that, finally, all my family loved them, even my children. 
I'm the only one to not eat them, because I don't like almond, and orange blossoms extract, which are the two main ingredient of this recipe. 

If, in spite of all my warning, you're still here, with me, aaaaaall, right, here we go ! 

For 30 (or so) horn's gazelle, you'll need :

  • 500 grammes of almond powder
  • 400 grammes of flour
  • 160 grammes of melted unsalted butter
  • 200 grammes of icing sugar
  • 30 ml of orange blossoms extract
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 lemon zest
Your oven must be preheat at 180°C (350°F / th 6)



Step 1 :
In a large bowl, pour flour, melted butter, the zest of the half lemon and enough orange blossoms extract to make the pastry supple. I used 7 cl or so. Knead it to make a ball. 




Leave this pastry for 15 minutes. During the meantime, you'll bake the stuffing. 

Step 2 : 
In another bowl, pour the almond powder, 140 grammes of icing powder, 7 cl of orange blossoms extract, cinnamon and the rest of the lemon zest. 
Once again, knead it to make a ball. 



Step 3 : 
After 15 minutes, cut your pastry in 4 pieces, and spread it with a roll, very thinly. 
... This is WHEN you're supposed to use your MUSCLES ! I hate this step...


Use a large glass (10 cm of diameter, for example) and cut some circles. 

Step 4 : 
Take some almond stuffing and pour it on one side of the circle ...What ?? Yes ! In THIS recipe, circle have side. Another question ?

Like a smile ...A blind smiley :)

Step 5 : 
Close the circle, forming a croissant. Close very carefully your croissant, gripping with your fingertips, to close it correctly. 



In the oven for 12 minutes, no more. They must not be golden. 


As you can notice, some are still open ... I don't even have strength in my fingertips . What a pity ... 
But this is not a real problem, because the stuffing won't go away through the cake. 
Let them cool. 

Step 6 : 
Pour the rest of icing sugar in a plate and the rest of orange blossoms extract in a bowl. 
With a brush, paint your horn and roll it immediately in the sugar. 




Your kitchen is a mess, your arms made sport without expecting it, you're totally exhausted, but YOU'VE MADE IT :) ! 

And your family will eat it, if they like, in some minutes !! ...
What a cruel life ... :)

Bon appétit !


Recapitulative for 30 (or so) horn's gazelle :
  • 500 grammes of almond powder
  • 400 grammes of flour
  • 160 grammes of melted unsalted butter
  • 200 grammes of icing sugar
  • 30 cl of orange blossoms extract
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 lemon zest
Your oven must be preheat at 180°C (350°F / th 6)

In a large bowl, pour flour, melted butter, the zest of the half lemon and enough orange blossoms extract to make the pastry supple. I used 7 cl or so. Knead it to make a ball. 

Leave this pastry for 15 minutes. During the meantime, you'll bake the stuffing. 

In another bowl, pour the almond powder, 140 grammes of icing powder, 7 cl of orange blossoms extract, cinnamon and the rest of the lemon zest. 
Once again, knead it to make a ball. 

After 15 minutes, cut your pastry in 4 pieces, and spread it with a roll, very thinly. 

Use a large glass (10 cm of diameter, for example) and cut some circles. 

Take some almond stuffing and pour it on one side of the circle 

Close the circle, forming a croissant. Close very carefully your croissant, gripping with your fingertips, to close it correctly. 

In the oven for 12 minutes, no more. They must not be golden. 

Let them cool. 

Pour the rest of icing sugar in a plate and the rest of orange blossoms extract in a bowl. 
With a brush, paint your horn and roll it immediately in the sugar. 

11 comments:

  1. Hi Axelle,
    Lovely! If I make this, it would not make much difference to the appearance of my kitchen, most of the time, my kitchen is kinda messy anyway! Haha!
    I bet your kitchen must have a very nice aroma from the orange flower extract! I love anything citrusy and almonds, so I'll just eat your share!
    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Joyce, how are you ?
      Thank you for what you say about your messy kitchen, it helps me to feel less guilty :D
      Thank you for your words ! :)

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  2. Dear Axelle,
    If only I could eat these delicious looking and sounding goodies, I would! You are kind and loving to your family. They are blessed. I so enjoy coming here to read and pick up hints about cooking. You are entertaining and instructive all at the same time.
    I thank you! love and prayers, jep

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jep, thank you for all your sweet words, all the time.
      It makes me feel more confident.
      Friendly :)

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Muchas gracias ! No puedo decir mas in espanol ;) And you're right, this is a very very rich dish !

      Delete
  4. Dear Axelle-a labor of love! Almond powder is not available here. Would it work to finely grind almonds? It is interesting how we spend so much time cooking and preparing food and then -poof-it is gone! Regards, Jamie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, dear Jamie, you can finely grind almond too. Very finely. And you're soooooooo right ! So much time to prepare all that, so few time to eat it ! But, in a sense, it's a good thing, don't you think ? Better watch it disappear quickly than stay in a plate :)

      Delete
  5. I love the not so sweet flavors of middle eastern pastry. Need to try this immediately!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Choose one day you'll have time to spend :D and tell me, please !!

      Delete
  6. The package is finally sent!! Don't get your hopes too high when you see it, though, I made a mistake on the label and wrote "books, candy" because that's what I was sending to my nephew in another package... But there is no book and no candy in your package, sorry ;) Let me know when you get it.

    ReplyDelete