Othellos

Othellos are a classic pastry whose name comes from the Shakespearean tragedy in which the title character, a Moor, is made mad with jealousy by the evil Iago and subsequently kills his loving and faithful wife, Desdemona. The brown glaze symbolizes the color of Othello’s skin; in fact, these pastries are known as mohrenkopf (“Moor’s head”) in most of Europe. While I use plain pastry cream for the filling, a chocolate-flavored pastry cream or custard is traditional.

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