Ingredients

For the dough:

• 16 puff pastry sheets
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water
• 5½ oz unsalted, melted butter
• 10 tablespoons liquid honey

For decoration:

• Icing sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• White sesame seeds
• Rose petals

Almond filling:

• 2 cups almonds
• 10 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons orange blossom water*
• 5½ oz soft, unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (ground)

Springform pan:

• Size 26 or 28, depending on the size of the rolled spirals

M'hanncha with almond filling and rose petals

Directions

1. First turn on your oven so it has enough time to preheat to 200°C/400°F. Now mix the almonds and sugar in a blender to make a paste and add the orange blossom water. Keep blending until everything is evenly mixed together.

2. Next, heat the 5½ oz of butter in a skillet over a medium heat and then add the almond paste. Stir evenly for at least 5 minutes until everything takes on a slightly darker color. Remove the almond butter from the heat and let cool completely before mixing in the yolk and the teaspoon of cinnamon. Now divide the almond filling into eight equal pieces, which should all be about 13" long and 1¼" thick.

3. Now you can take your first puff pastry sheet. Rub it lightly with the egg yolk/water mixture and place another puff pastry sheet on top of the coated one. Now put a dollop of almond filling in the middle and wrap the puff pastry sheets around it to create a roll of pastry. Repeat this process with the remaining 14 sheets of puff pastry and dollops of almond filling so that you end up with eight oblong pastry rolls in front of you. You can then join these together into tightly packed, small spiral shapes which you place into a springform pan (making a large spiral from many small ones). Tip: it's best to work from the inside out!

4. Rub melted butter over the snail and bake the whole thing for 20 minutes at 200°C/400°F until your M'hanncha turns a light golden brown color.

5. Now coat the surface with the honey and let it cool before garnishing your M'hanncha with rose petals, white sesame seeds and icing sugar.

*You can order orange blossom water for baking and cooking from most drugstores.