Dough for Sweet Pastries / Pâte Pour Pâtisseries et petits-fours!

عجينة كعب الغزال

عْجينَة الكْعَّابَة أَوْ عْجينَة الكْعْبَة

This is a dough made from a few ingredients and is widely used in Morocco to make sweet pastries, especially Moroccan Cornes de Gazelle or Kâab al-ghazal or Kâaba =  الكَعْبَة أَوْ كعب الغزال.  The most important part of making this, is the kneading and the rolling of the dough.  It is amazing how a small ball of this dough could be stretched thin and thinner that you could "read the newspaper through it"!  I can still remember my mother who in minutes could roll this magic dough around the rolling pin and spin out a THIN sheet of this dough that almost covered our large family table. She could not give any exact measurements of ingredients, she relied on her eyes. 

This dough should be stiffer and drier than normal bread dough, however it should be moist enough so that the rest of the ingredients will be well blended. Don't add too much water; for this typical dough, a little too dry is better than too wet and sticky.  Add extra cold water only if the dough is really too stiff and you can't get all the dry ingredient incorporated.  Since the dough is quite stiff, it will be difficult to knead it at the beginning, but just keep kneading and you will notice the consistency of the dough changing gradually, and becoming smooth. Kneading should take at least 30 to 45 minutes and if you decide for some reasons, NOT TO KNEAD the dough long enough, it will be tough and break apart easily.

The rest period is as important as the kneading process, to let the gluten relax, so it is necessary to let the dough rest to get a more malleable dough.
K. El Mary, Mamatkamal

Ingredients:

Note:   The dough obtained was divided into 5 balls, weighing about 110 gr each. / Avec ces mesures, j'ai eu 5 boules, chacune pesant presque 110 gr.

 -450 to 500 gr sifted white flour known in Morocco as "Force or Forsse" / 450 à 500 gr de farine blanche tamisée connue sous le nom de "Force ou Forsse" au Maroc

-3 medium egg yolks / 3 jaunes d'oeuf

-1 teaspoon salt / 1 c à  thé ou à café de sel

-60 ml honey / 60 ml de miel

-1 tablespoon caster sugar /  1 c à soupe de sucre semoule

-1 tablespoon olive oil or sunflower oil  /  1 c à soupe de l'huile d'olive ou l'huile de tournesol

-140 ml melted and clarified butter / 140 ml du beurre fondu et clarifié

-90 ml orange water / 90 ml de l'eau de fleur d'oranger

-About 50 to 70 ml cold water / Environ 50 à 70 ml de l'eau froide

N.B.  To bring out the  flavor even more, add pinch of ground cinnamon and gum arabic. / Rajouter une pincée de cannelle moulue et gomme arabique pour rehausser encore plus le goût.

Method / Préparation:

1-To make this home-made pastry dough the old-fashioned way,  put the sifted flour on a Kasriya or a large bowl, make a well or hole in the center, then add all the ingredients except water and orange water.  Mixing all the ingredients together, then add slowly the liquid.  Form the mixture into a ball of dough and knead for about 30 minutes or until the dough is smooth and slightly malleable.  Form a ball and then place it in a container. Cover loosely but thoroughly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or for 8 hours.  For those who have a Kitchen Aid Machine or any other type of Electric Kneaders, the process is simple and I don't think any further explanation is required.  However,  it is recommended to knead the dough with your hands for a few minutes even if you choose to use an electric machine. / Pour préparer cette pâte à l'ancienne, placer la farine tamisée dans une Kasriya ou un grand bol, faire un puits au centre, puis ajouter tous les ingrédients sauf l'eau et l'eau de fleur d'oranger, puis mélanger tous les ingredients ensemble, en ajoutant graduellement de l'eau et l'eau de fleur d'oranger. Continuer ainsi jusqu' à obtention d'une boule de pâte, puis commencer à pétrir avec les mains pendant environ 30 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que la pâte soit lisse et légèrement souple. Formez une boule, bien couvrir avec un film alimentaire et et laisser au réfrigérateur toute une nuit ou pendant 8 heures.  Pour celles et ceux qui ont un Kitchen Aid ou tout autre type de pétrin électrique, le processus est bien simple et nécessite aucune explication.  Pourtant, il est recommandé de pétrir la  pâte avec les mains quelques minutes même si vous décidiez d'utiliser la machine

2-Remove dough from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes.  Knead the "rested" dough for 8 to 10 minutes before using it. / Retirer la pâte "bien reposée" du réfrigérateur, puis laisser reposer à température ambiante pendant 30 à 45 minutes. Pétrir la pâte de nouveau pendant 8 à 10 minutes avant de l'utiliser.

3-The dough can be divided into small plastic bags and frozen until needed. / Diviser la  pâte en petits sacs de congélation, puis congeler pour utilisation ultérieure.