Moroccan Guava Almond Phyllo Cake aka Snake cake/ M'hanncha
 
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Traditional Moroccan dessert, Moroccan Guava Almond Phyllo Cake M'hanncha/snake cake is made with filo pastry and almond filling, scented with orange blossom water and cardamom. Here we've used guava paste and cream cheese for that nontraditional modern touch. M'hanncha means coiled snake, name given because of the shape. It is easy to make and the taste is simply divine!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Moroccon
Serves: 12-16
Ingredients
Stuffing
  • 200g almonds
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 1½ Tbsp orange blossom water
  • 3 tbsp guava paste, more if you like the flavor
  • ½ Tsp cardamom
  • 1 Tsp orange zest
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tbsp cream cheese
  • 10-15 filo sheets
  • 3 tbsp cup unsalted butter (melted) to brush over filo sheets
For the syrup
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • pinch saffron
  • 1 tbsp orange blossom water
  • ⅓ cup water
Instructions
  1. To Make the Orange-Almond-Guava Paste:
  2. Combine the almonds, sugar, and cardamom in a food processor or blender and pulse to grind into a coarse meal. Add the guava paste and cream cheese and egg and pulse until blended. Scrape the paste into a bowl, and stir in the orange-flower water, orange zest. Divide the paste into 12 balls, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Set the balls on a work surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. Roll each one into a 3½-inch-long log. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To Assemble the Cake:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a large baking sheet. Dust a work surface with confectioners' sugar. Place a sheet of phyllo pastry on the sugared work surface, and fold it in thirds to form a 4- by 17-inch rectangle. Brush the sheet with melted butter. Add another folded phyllo sheet, brush with butter, and repeat, until you have four buttered sheets.
  2. Set four guava paste-orange-almond paste logs in a row down one long end of the phyllo, and roll the pastry up over them into a cylinder. Fold over the ends and brush on some melted butter to seal the seams. Shape the cylinder into a small, tight coil and place on the baking sheet, seam side down.
  3. Repeat to prepare two more phyllo rolls. Add each to the end of the coil on the baking sheet, forming a large coil. Brush the butter over the top of the cake.
To Bake:
  1. Bake for 45- 50 minutes, or until golden. Remove the cake from the oven, and let cool on the baking sheet.
  2. While it's baking, mix everything for the syrup and boil it for 10 minutes until it is a syrupy consistency.
To Serve:
  1. Pour the syrup over the cake. Sprinkle some pistachios and let it sit for 2-3 hours before serving. Serve with some icecream.
Notes
For the paste, reduce the almonds to 1½ cups, add 1½ cups chopped dates, and replace the orange juice and zest with lime juice and zest. Individual Snake Cakes
Cut the folded phyllo sheets into 4- by 10-inch pieces, and stack and butter as directed. Place one almond paste log on top of each stack, roll into a cylinder, and shape into a small coil. Walnut-Lemon Snake Cake
For the paste, replace the almonds with walnuts, replace the orange juice and zest with lemon juice and zest, and add ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom.
Recipe by Food Fashion Party at https://www.foodfashionparty.com/2018/12/17/moroccan-guava-almond-phyllo-cake-mhanncha/