Pastries

I had never come across this pastry before. I tasted it in Beirut, where a few patisseries claim to have invented it. One called Bohsali gave it the name Bohsalino; another calls it Taj el Malek. It involves a little skill—akin to pottery making—that improves with practice. In Lebanon they are filled with the thick cream that rises to the top when rich buffaloes’ milk is boiled. They do not keep more than a few days because of the cream and must be kept in the refrigerator.

Osmaliyah has been known for generations in my family in Egypt as konafa and I have featured it before. I include it here again because, of all the Lebanese pastries that are good to make at home and to serve at a dinner party, this is one of the best; it is my mother’s recipe. It is meant to be served hot but it is also good cold. You can buy the soft white vermicelli-like dough frozen in Lebanese, Turkish, and Greek stores. In Lebanon, it is called knafe but in America it is sold by its Greek name, kataifi, usually in 1-pound packages; it should be defrosted for 2 to 3 hours. The quantities below will make one large pastry to serve 10, but you can also make two half the size—one to serve fewer people and one to put in the freezer to bake at a later date. It freezes well uncooked.

These melt-in-the-mouth cheese pies make good party food. They can be eaten hot or warm. You can make them in advance and heat them through before serving. Use fresh or frozen and defrosted puff pastry.

These dainty little rolls, or “cigars,” make ideal appetizers and canapés. The cheese used is beyaz peynir, or “white cheese,” which is salty and much like feta cheese. Use large sheets of fillo measuring about 19 inches × 12 inches, cut into strips, but if the fillo sheets are too thin, the pastry is liable to tear and the filling to burst out during the cooking. In that case, use 2 strips together, brushing with butter in between. You will then need to double the number of sheets. I prefer using only one strip if possible, as it makes for a lighter pastry. (See page 9 for information about fillo.) Serve the rolls hot. They can be made in advance and reheated.

This splendid Moroccan pastry filled with a ground almond paste is a very long coil, hence the name m’hencha, meaning snake. It is stunning to look at and exquisite to eat. In Morocco, it is made with the pastry called warka or brick (see page 29). This is available vacuum-packed and frozen in North African stores, but turns out tough if it is baked and not fried. It is better to use fillo pastry. I give very large quantities because it is the kind of thing to make for a great festive occasion, but of course you can make it smaller and reduce the quantities accordingly. The finished “snake” will be about 14 inches in diameter. If your oven is not large enough to take it, you can make two small ones. You need large fillo sheets measuring about 19 × 12 inches (and if the fillo is frozen, you will need to allow 3 hours for it to defrost, see page 9).

The most famous of Moroccan pastries are best known abroad by their French name, cornes de gazelle, or gazelle’s horns. They are stuffed with ground almond paste and curved into horn-shaped crescents. They are ubiquitous wedding party fare.

These exquisite pastries called “the bride’s fingers” feature in medieval Arab manuscripts found in Baghdad, fried and sprinkled with syrup and chopped pistachios. In Morocco, they are made with the thin pastry called warka or brick (see page 29) and deep-fried. I prefer to make them with fillo and to bake them. For a large-size version of the pastries, I use a supermarket brand where the sheets are about 12 inches × 7 inches. I especially recommend you try the dainty little “bride’s fingers” (see Variation). I make them for parties and I keep some in a cookie tin to serve with coffee. They are great favorites in our family; my mother always made them and now my children make them, too.

In Morocco, these briwat bil kefta are made with warka (see page 29) and deep-fried, but it is not only much easier to use fillo and to bake them, but the result is very good. See the note on fillo on page 9. I used sheets measuring about 6 inches × 12 inches. It is very good finger food to serve at a party.

Use a soft, fresh-tasting, mild goat cheese for these little pies. Use the fillo in sheets that measure 12 inches × 7 inches, which you can find fresh in some supermarkets, or use the large sheets measuring 19 inches × 12 inches and cut them in half. See the note on fillo on page 9. You can freeze these pies and you can put them straight from the freezer into the oven without thawing, but they will need a little more cooking time. They make elegant and tasty party fare.

These are scones, not stones, the hard, crumbly things you may be used to. Avoid using frozen blueberries because the color bleeds too much into the dough and spoils the look of the scone. This is a side note to all the guys out there. If you bring your woman warm blueberry scones for breakfast in bed, you’ll thank me later.

Being a kid from South Carolina, I always had fresh biscuits growing up. This recipe is as close to my grandmother’s as I could get without having a spiritual adviser. They’re big, fat, and light as a cloud, just like I remember them. The peach and rosemary spoon fruit adds a little contemporary twist.

This is a quick throw-together that should always be in your brunch recipe arsenal. The muffins look and taste great—and you won’t have to spend $2.50 in a coffee shop.

Biscuits have been an American favorite since the early 1800s. Anything so well known has as many variations as there are enthusiasts. My favorite recipe includes an egg for lightness. As expected, when they’re baked in the convection oven, they bake more quickly at a lower temperature.

Muffins used to be a healthy breakfast option, but in recent years they have become jumbo sources of fats and sugar. There’s no reason why a medium muffin shouldn’t be a reliable breakfast staple. Here’s a basic recipe that’s relatively low in butter and sugar but still completely satisfying. Once you master (and memorize) the basic formula, you can create anything you desire. Six variations follow. Rather than reduce the oven temperature here, I prefer to keep it the same as in the conventional oven, but reduce the baking time so you can bake them even on a workday morning.

There isn’t much difference in baking time between convection and regular ovens when you bake scones, only 5 to 10 minutes. The difference is in the wonderful texture, moist tender crumb, and golden, delicate crust that you can expect from the convection oven.

This is a special bread/cake that Danes like to make for the holiday season. It’s a quick version of flaky Danish pastry.

Simple to make, the unfilled cream puffs freeze easily, then can be reheated and stuffed with this tasty smoked salmon filling just before serving. You can also serve the cream puffs for dessert filled with vanilla ice cream and covered with chocolate sauce—the French bistro classic, profiteroles.