Cream pastilla with orange-blossom water

Name: Cream pastilla with orange-blossom water (Pastilla au lait)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 2–3 tbsp bitter orange marmalade, diluted with 1–2 tbsp water; 6 mint sprigs; 1 orange, peeled and divided into segments; 100 g (3½ oz) blanched almonds, toasted, and coarsely chopped; 3–4 tbsp icing sugar; 4 tsp ground cinnamon; salt, to taste; 2–3 tbsp caster sugar; 3–4 tbsp orange-blossom water; 125 ml (4 fl oz) full fat milk; vegetable oil, for deep frying; 250 g (9 oz) white short-grain rice; 6–9 sheets of filo pastry

Pastilla au lait

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The North African Kitchen

By Fiona Dunlop

Published 2008

About

Light as the froth of a daydream, this layered spectacle of alternate creaminess and crisp pastry is a great party piece, although quite fiddly to make. The taste of the orange-blossom water comes through loud and clear, cutting through the sweetness of the cream.

Ingredients

vegetable oil, for deep frying
6–9 sheets of filo pastry
250 g (9

Africa
Morocco
Fez
Cake
Dessert
Mediterranean
North Africa
Vegetarian

Method

Cut each filo pastry sheet into two or three equal-sized rectangles, depending on the original size of the sheet. Heat a deep frying pan half-filled with vegetable oil over a medium heat and deep-fry the pastry sheets one by one until they are golden and crisp, stacking them with pieces of paper towel placed in between to separate them. Set aside.
Boil the rice