This year, the Bake Off team marked the halfway point of the series in style: with a new theme! Spice week was a Bake Off first in 2018. It saw the bakers tackle a ginger cake signature, a spiced biscuit chandelier showstopper, and a technical that judge Paul Hollywood said was “all about delicate baking”: the ma’amoul. If you’d never heard of a ma’amoul before the bakers were asked to make them, then you’re not alone. If, though, you fancy one, then we can not only explain what they are, but show you how to make them – on a budget – too! Just what you want, what you really really want!*
*Sorry, we couldn’t help a little Spice Girls/ Spice week pun!
What is a ma’amoul?
Ma’amouls are a pastry filled with dates and nuts that originate from the ancient Levantine region of the Middle East. In today’s world, that’s around Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Ma’amouls are often eaten on religious holidays in this part of the world. Traditionally, they’re made to celebrate the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid. However, Christians in this region also enjoy a celebratory Ma’amoul, and often make these cookies to celebrate Easter. Ma’amoul cookies are usually beautifully patterned using a Ma’amoul mould. While many families have their own traditional wooden moulds that give their cookies authentic patterns, you can pick them up relatively easily online. Or, you can forego patterning them altogether – after all, it is what’s inside that counts, right?
How to make Ma’amouls for 41p per cookie
Image courtesy of marthastewart.com
What you’ll need
A pinch of mastic
20g caster sugar
175g fine semolina
20g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon of ground mahleb
90g ghee
2 teaspoons of orange blossom water
2 teaspoons & 1 tablespoon of rose water
75g medjool dates, stoned
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
25g walnuts
25g golden raisins
1 tablespoon of orange blossom honey
1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom
Icing sugar for dusting
Where do I get such specialist ingredients?
Some of the ingredients that go into Ma’amouls are quite unusual, it’s true. You certainly won’t find them easily in the home baking section of your local supermarket! Unless you happen to know of a specialist Middle Eastern grocery store in your area, then chances are that Amazon will be your best chance at finding ingredients like mastic, mahleb and the orange blossom and rose waters at a reasonable price.
How to make Ma’amouls
Unless you’ve got ground mastic, you’ll need to turn your lump of mastic resin into a powder. In a pestle and mortar, grind it up with a little of the sugar to form a fine powder. Then, add it to a bowl with the rest of the sugar, the flour, semolina and 1/2 a teaspoon of mahleb and mix together well.
Add the ghee to the bowl and rub it into the dry mixture with your fingertips until it resembles fine crumbs. Add two teaspoons each of the orange blossom and rose waters and, using your hands, bring the dough together. Tip it out onto a floured worktop, knead it for 5 minutes until you have a nice, smooth ball of dough, then wrap it in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. The dough, not you, that is!
While the dough is chilling, you can make the fillings!
In a mini food processor, whizz together the dates, tablespoon of rose water, cinnamon and the remaining mahleb until they form a paste. Divide the mixture into 6 and roll into balls.
Top tip: If you wet your hands before handling your date paste, the mixture won’t stick to you as much as you roll it into balls!
Rinse the food processor clean, then whizz together the walnuts, raisins, honey and cardamom. As with the dates, divide the mixture into 6 and roll it into balls
Now it’s time to get your oven on – at 200 degrees, or 180 degrees if you have a fan assisted oven. It’s also time to line a baking sheet with grease-proof paper.
Retrieve your dough from the fridge, and divide it up into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
With damp hands (so the dough doesn’t stick to you), flatten each ball of dough in the palm of one hand, turning it around as you go and using the other hand to lift the edges so you have a little cookie cup. Each one should be about 3mm thick and 3cm high.
Fill your cups with the fillings you made earlier – put your date mixture in 6 of the cookie cups, and the walnut mixture in the others. Pinch the dough over the filling to seal.
Roll each one into a ball again, then either pop it into your ma’amoul mould and press down so that it comes out slightly flattened and patterned, or flatten each ball slightly in your hands. Place them on your lined baking tray as you go.
When you’ve been through all 12 of your cookies, pop the tray in the oven for 12-14 minutes until the ma’amoul are golden on the bottom, but still pale round the edges. Remove them from the oven and leave them to cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust each cookie with a little icing sugar before serving. Enjoy!
