Recipe: Almond cigars

I love Almond Cigars. When I was a kid, my mom and my grand mother use to make them: it was driving me crazy! Well, it still does...

It is a treat that comes from North Africa, but in fact, as cuisine traveled, you can easily compare it to the baklava found in Greece or Middle East. It is a delicious dessert, served with a hot tea (best is with mint tea in fact).

The recipe below is very easy to make. In France, we used to make it with Feuilles de brick (brick sheets or dough) that are closed to phyllo sheets, but a bit different. You can find Brick sheets in the US, but it is way overpriced. So I decided to try with Phyllo dough. I admit that it was a bit challenging as the phyllo sheets were very thin!

So, here is the recipe for 14 cigars:

Phyllo dough

8.8 Oz (250 g) of almond powder.

5.3 Oz (150 g) of powdered sugar.

2 whole eggs and 1 egg white.

Put the almond powder, powdered sugar and eggs in a bowl.

Mix well until obtaining a uniform paste.

Now, let me explain how to shape the cigars. Take a 6 x 12 inches phyllo sheet. Fold it into two.

On one of the extremities (smaller length), place two to three tablespoons of almond paste.

Fold the phyllo on each side of the almond paste.

Then roll tight! Put a bit of water at the end to stick the edge to the cigar and maintain the flap down on a plate.

In a pan, put some vegetable oil on medium to high heat. Do not put it too hot as you want the almond paste to cook a little. Turn the cigars so they are cooked on all sides and remove them once golden brown.

Put them in a tray and add honey on top of it. Eat them at room temperature.

Et Voila! Bon appétit!

Enjoy (I did)!