"The Snake" (M'Hanncha)

The almond paste filling made up nicely. I followed the suggestion to let the almonds sit in the water for an hour so that they would be softer to grind. Removing the skins which had filled with water, dark water spurted out that stained everything it touched. The almonds too had taken on a dark hue. The next time I wouldn’t let the almonds sit in the water for more than 5 minutes. The small pieces of mastic exploded under my pestle and ground nicely. I did try one as you can chew this sap as gum and it reminded my of the all natural spruce gum that I used to buy in Maine; I think it could make a good substitute that is easier to obtain, but I checked on-line and it was not cheaper. I used half of the suggested amount of rose water. I took Zosia’s suggestion to use the filo dough. But it also was difficult to manipulate. One sheet makes such a thin covering that it would tear while rolling and also when trying to shape it into a spiral (especially in the beginning which dissuaded me from trying to make individual snakes.). You can see the tears in my picture taken before coating with powdered sugar. I worried that the heavy concentration of cinnamon in the egg yolk would overwhelm the delicate taste of the almond paste filling, but it did not. I had planned to use the chopped almonds instead of the powdered sugar, but am glad that I did not want to peel any more almonds as that would have been overkill. There were definitely enough almonds in the filling. After baking, the filling tasted a little caramelized and amazingly good in the delicate crisp pastry. I do think you could bake it to look like a rattle snake with a little manipulation and that could also be stunning.

Crisp layers of delicate pastry envelope a moist, lightly sweetened almond filling flavoured with orange flower water. This cake is surprisingly easy to assemble and results in a really impressive presentation.

The almond paste is very easy to make in the food processor: blanched almonds are ground with granulated sugar, mixed with powdered sugar, rose or orange flower water, clarified butter, gum arabic and chilled. The author suggests you make the filling a few days in advance to allow the flavour to improve.

A word about the gum arabic...... I found it in powdered form but had no idea what quantity "2 small pieces” represented. The ingredient is used as an emulsifier and also imparts an elastic or chewy quality to a mixture. I would guess it’s for this latter property that it’s called for in this filling. The almond paste is quite crumbly and I can see how a little elasticity would help in the formation and the bending of the cylinders of paste. I omitted the ingredient.

I used warqa sheets (page 130) but must admit to having a backup package of fillo in the freezer : ). 2 rounds of warqa are placed side by side with a slight overlap. 1/8 of the almond filling is divided in 2, each piece rolled into a cylinder ~6” long and placed end to end along the width of the warqa sheets. This is then rolled to create a tube, tucking the pastry in at the end. The first piece becomes the centre of the coil. 7 more tubes are made and coiled around the original. I started the snake in a 12” cake pan but switched to the ring of a 10” springform pan which was a much better fit.

I found the assembly instructions to be quite clear. All I would add is that the cylinders of paste don’t need to be perfect…a little squarish is okay….it’s easier to roll the almond filled pastry tube to form a perfectly round cylinder. Also, I would suggest keeping the filling chilled as it becomes more difficult to work with as it warms up.

Once the coil is formed, it’s brushed with a cinnamon/egg wash and baked. Part way through baking, the coil is inverted and baked until done. I chose to decorate with powdered sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon, though chopped almonds are suggested as well.

This was a really special treat that I served with Moroccan mint tea. I wouldn’t hesitate to make it again, though I would use that backup package of fillo in my freezer next time!