Almond Pastries in Honey Syrup
- ½ pound clear honey
- ½ cup water
- 2 cups ground almonds
- ½ to 2/3 cup superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
- 14 sheets of fillo
- 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions:
These exquisite pastries called “the bride's fingers” feature in medieval Arab manuscripts found in Baghdad, fried and sprinkled with syrup and chopped pistachios.
- Make the syrup by bringing the honey and water to the boil in a pan and simmering it for half a minute. Then let it cool.
- Mix the ground almonds with the sugar, cinnamon, and orange blossom water. Open the package of fillo only when you are ready to make the pastries. Keep them in a pile so that they do not dry out. Lightly brush the top one with melted butter.
- Put a line of about 2 to 2½ tablespoons of the almond mixture at one of the short ends of the rectangle, into a line about ¾ inch from the short and long edges. Roll up loosely into a fat cigar shape. Turn the ends in about one-third of the way along to trap the filling, then continue to roll with the ends opened out. Continue with the remaining sheets of fillo.
- Place the pastries on a baking sheet, brush them with melted butter, and bake them in an oven preheated to 300°F for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and crisp.
- Turn each pastry, while still warm, very quickly in the syrup and arrange on a dish. Serve cold with the remaining syrup poured all over.