Kitchen Stories: M'Hanncha - Almond Filo Pastry

M'Hanncha is a traditional Moroccan dessert very popular and internationally known, made with crusty phyllo pastry sheets and marzipan filling. Wrapped in spiral and soaked with hot honey syrup flavored with orange zest, and rosewater.
Wonderful flavors and aromas of buttered, crunching phyllo sheets, essential oils of citrus, cinnamon and gentle sweetness of honey.
It is the Moroccan version of Greek Baklava.
M'Hanncha in Arabic means «snake» because of its shape.
Yours!

work: 30′

time: 1h:00′

medium:

Ingredients (16 pieces) 450g (1 lbs) Phyllo Pastry Sheets (12 Sheets) 100g (3.5 oz) butter melted 200g (7.1 oz) almond ground 120g (4.2 oz) icing sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 2 tbsp rose or orange blossom water 3 tbsp melted butter 200g (7.1 oz) honey 1 orange zest 2 tbsp rose or orange blossom water some blanched almonds for decoration	In a bowl add the almonds, icing sugar, cinnamon, rose water and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Mix well, with spoon. In the beginning it seems to be a small amount of liquid, but after a while it would become a tight blend of marzipan.	Using disposable gloves knead briefly the marzipan. Divide into 4 equal balls.
Open the sheets onto the worktop and divide three. Butter the first, place the second on top, butter it too, and cover with one third without buttering.	We take a marzipan ball and put it along the edge of the sheet of the long side, as long cord.	We lift the edge of the three sheets, blanketing the filling and we roll loosely without grit, to the opposite end to a long roll.
Place the roll, wrapped in a spiral, with the joint down, in the center of a buttered pan.	Repeat the same steps for wrapping the remaining sheets and every time wrap around the last. Bake in preheated oven at 180°C (356°F, Gas 4.2) for 35'-40' or until they are golden-red color.	Honey's Syrup In a small saucepan and over a medium heat, add honey, rosewater and orange zest.
Let them make a single boil, to dilute the honey.	Remove the pan from the oven…	… and as it is hot coat it with a brush, with scalding hot honey syrup. Sprinkle with whitened almonds. Eaten immediately after or continuously!