When do Moroccans eat gazelle horns ? And how can we cook These Moroccan Sweets ?

Religious holidays are  holidays associated with our Moroccan traditions and especially with our religion ,  where we do not only prepare  to  practice  cults or religious rituals , but we have become attached to these holidays . Thanks to other habits and rituals that we have become accustomed to repeat and make each time an opportunity  comes . Such as preparing  traditional outfits or  preparing to host Eid al Adha or other  parties ,  preparations can last days and nights before the arrival of the day of celebration . And who  says preparation also says Moroccan cuisine and  Moroccan sweets ,  these  delicious cookies that have the power to make you happy  thanks to their variety of flavors  and their exceptional taste  .

         On these occasions ,  there are several types of special Moroccan cakes  that we do not find through – out the year , including : Gazelle Horns ,  which is present on the list of several Moroccan families , if not  most  families  .

              You may be surprised by the name of this delicious dessert ,  which , wherever it exists ,  young people and adults alike are surprised by its name .  And when they taste it , they immediately fell in love with its taste .

          This name,  on one hand , some  think  that it was given to us because it resembles the shape of the deer\’s horns , which also takes a crescent shape.

         Gazelle Horns is a pastry of Moroccan origin in the form of a small  croissant  stuffed with almond paste ,   cinnamon and orange blossom water , and like the rest of other Moroccan sweets ,  it has become customary to serve it with  mint tea ,  which  adds a special  flavor to it .  – because of its amazing taste , this sweet pastry can be very addictive ) .

                 This Moroccan dessert  , contains  almonds , which is a common point with  all the rest of the  other Moroccan sweets . It contains crushed almonds  like the briwates, it has become as famous as the Moroccan couscous and the  tagine due to the fact that Morocco is a tourist country with  excellence  and two , due to the migration of  locals to different countries of the world , which has allowed this dessert to travel and travel the world taking with it a profile of what we can do and innovate .

• To prepare almond paste you will need :

• 125 g of icing sugar .
• 125 g of powdered almonds ( you can use whole almonds but increase the amount ) .
• 1 egg white .

For preparation :

1- In a blender, put your almonds , then  add the sugar and mix this mixture by gradually adding the egg white.Keep 2- mixing until you get  a paste

3-let it rest a little bit and after that you can use it .

Now , here’s the best way to make delicious gazelle horns  cookies :

To prepare the dough , you will need :

• 250 g of flour  .
• 2 tablespoons of table oil  .
• 1 gram of glazed sugar  .
• 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water  .
• 1 cup of salt .
• 1 egg yolk  .
• 12 cl  of water .

To prepare the almond filling , you will need :

• 650 g of almond paste  .
• 1 gram of cinnamon.
• 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water  .
• 3 grains of Arabic incense or what Moroccans call , pure musk .  
• 50 g of butter  .

Method to prepare Gazelle Horns :

1. Put flour , salt , add oil, the powdered sugar,  an egg yolk after mixing all the ingredients  add water in a bowl .

2- Gradually add water until you have a homogeneous dough mixture .

3-Knead the dough well for at least a few minutes .

4- Divide the dough into small equal balls   and wrap it – it in plastic wrap and let – rest it for at least 2 hours to loosen the dough .

5-Mix the almond paste  with butter ,  cinnamon,    orange blossom water and pure musc  in a bowl .

6- Spread a ball of dough on a work surface sprinkled with a little flour in a thin layer so that the dough won’ t stick .

7- Place a finger of almond paste on the pastry . Fold the dough on the almond paste finger .

8- Pinch the edges and glue the pastry dough , giving it the shape of a half -crescent moon .

9- Cut the  Gazelle horns using a toothed cylinder .

10- Repeat this process for the rest of the existing pates .  

11- Place the gazelle horns   on a cooking tray greased in oil or wrapped in butter paper , then leave it for 12 hours .

12- Grease the biscuits that you had prepared with oil and prick it with a needle to allow steam to come out during cooking .

13- Bake in the oven preheated to 180 °C .

14 Leave it until it takes the straw color .

15- Remove the Gazelle horns from the oven and let  them cool down  before removing them from the baking tray

( do not force moving them other – wise they will break ) .  

And here it is your cakes are ready . Let them cool and serve them cold , accompanied with Moroccan mint tea .

            It is not the cakes  themselves   that make us happy but rather the atmosphere in which they are prepared and the simple rituals that each family has adopted for centuries , this , will fulfill us with joy and excitement .

What about you dear readers?  what are the rituals and  little things that you do and that makes you  happy?   SHARE with us in comments , we like

reading  your feedbacks 😉 .