Algeria: Makroud Tmar

Name: Algeria: Makroud Tmar
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 36
Cuisine: Algeria
Ingredients: semolina: 4 cups; butter: 1 cup; orange blossom water: 8 Tbsp; dried medjool dates: 1 lb; ground cinnamon: 1 tsp; cloves: 1/4 tsp; honey: 3/4 cup; lemon juice: of 1 lemon; Kosher Salt: pinch

المقروض - Semolina Pastries Stuffed with Date Paste

Cuisine:

Algeria

90 minutes
Serves 36
Medium

Ingredients

4 cups semolina
melted
1 cup butter
8 Tbsp orange blossom water
divided
1 lb dried medjool dates
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
3/4 cup honey
of 1 lemon lemon juice
pinch Kosher Salt

Directions

Makroud (sometimes makrout, maqroud, or maqrout) means diamond, describing the shape of this semolina pastry, common across North Africa and the Middle East. You’ll find the most varieties in Algeria, and this one filled with dates (tmar) and dipped in a honey/orange blossom mixture is one of the most traditional. Orange blossom water sounds obscure to most American chefs, but it’s fairly common in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern baking. You can get it at a specialty store, or online. Surprisingly, it doesn’t actually taste like orange but has more of a floral note.

While you’ll find makroud both baked and deep fried, I went with the former at the recommendation of the cookbook author. While I followed the instructions within my book to make the cookies by layering the date paste between thin slabs of the semolina dough, most of the photos I see of Makroud look like they were made by making a long strip of dough, filling it with date paste, wrapping it around to create a sausage like log and then slicing to make the individual pastries. Either option works when baking, but if you were to deep fry the cookies I would guess the log method may stay together better.

Recipe Source: The New Book of Middle Eastern Food

Steps

1 Done	Semolina Dough Mix the semolina with melted butter, 4 Tbsp orange blossom water and a pinch of salt. Add just enough water to make the dough hold together in a malleable ball - about 2/3 cup. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for two hours (less time is probable fine).
2 Done	Filling Put the dates in a pan and add 1/2 - 3/4 cup water (depending on how moist the dates are), 2 Tbsp orange blossom water, cinnamon and cloves and simmer on low until the dates are soft and have evaporated the water. Transfer to a blender or food processor and blend.
3 Done	To Assemble Divide the semolina pastry in half. On a large cutting board, roll out of one into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread date paste evenly all the way to the edge. Roll out the other half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper, making it as similar in size and shape as possible; place it on top of the date paste. Using a sharp knife, cut horizontally into 4-5 strips; take the knife and cut diagonally, creating diamonds (the corners will be misshapen!)
4 Done	Cooking Transfer diamonds to a greased baking sheet. Baking at 350 for 50 minutes, flipping once at the half way point. They should be golden on each side. Remove from oven and set aside.
5 Done	Honey Dip Heat the honey, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp orange blossom water in a sauce pan over very low heat. Once mixture has thinned enough to mix, whisk and turn off heat. Dip the cookies one at a time, turning to coat each side and transfer to a plate.