Moroccanpoundcake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Cream margarine and sugar until light.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each.
• Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with milk, beating until smooth.
• Add vanilla, raisins and nuts. Pour 3/4 of batter into a 10-inch tube pan lined on bottom with waxed paper.
• Mix remaining batter with cocoa and cinnamon and spoon onto batter in pan. Run a knife through batter to marbleize.
• Bake at 350° about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Let stand in pan 5 minutes, then turn out on rack; peel off paper. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Steps:

• THE CRUST: If frozen, thaw out 1/2 pound (half a package) philo dough in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours.
• THE MEAT FILLING: In a large pan, combine 4 chicken breasts (cubed); 1 small onion (coarsely chopped); 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1/8 teaspoons dried); and 2 cups of water. At this point, you could also add any vegetables you like such as mushrooms (sliced); green peas, a potato (peeled and cubed); a carrot (peeled and diced); kernels of corn; etc. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the vegetables and meat are thoroughly cooked (20-30 minutes).
• THE NUTS: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place 1 cup almonds (finely chopped) in a shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally until golden brown (10-15 minutes). Cool.
• THE SPICES: In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger, and 1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg.
• THE ONION MIXTURE: In a large frying pan, cook 1 small onion (finely chopped), in 3 tablespoons butter or margarine until limp but not browned.
• THE OTHER FILLING: In a medium bowl, whisk together 6 eggs; 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped); 1 teaspoons salt; 1/4 teaspoons black pepper (freshly ground); and 2 tablespoons fresh mild mint or parsley (chopped). Add to the ONION MIXTURE (from above) and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until eggs are softly set. Remove from heat.
• THE PASTILLA: Melt 1 cup butter or margarine. Use a brush to grease a 9-inch springform pan generously. Unroll the sheets of the phyllo dough so that they lie flat. Cover the dough with waxed paper and a wet paper towel so that they don't dry out. Line the pan with 1 sheet of dough, allowing the dough to extend over the edge of the pan. Brush the piece of dough generously with butter. Top with another piece of dough and brush with butter. Continue this until you have 8 layers of butter-brushed phyllo dough.
• FILLING THE PASTILLA: For the filling, add a layer of THE MEAT FILLING (from above), THE OTHER FILLING (from above), and then THE NUTS (from above). Sprinkle THE SPICES (from above) over the nuts.
• Fold the remaining sheets of phyllo dough to fit the pan. Reserve 2 sheets for the topping. Stack the phyllo over THE NUTS, brushing each layer with butter. Fold the edges of the phyllo that extend beyond the pan in toward the center. Top with the last 2 sheets of phyllo, folded to fit the pan; tuck any protruding edges down inside the rim of the pan. Brush with the remaining butter.
• Using a razor blade or small sharp knife, cut through the top layers of the dough down to THE NUTS to mark the pie in 8 wedge shapes.
• Bake until well browned and heated through (45 minutes to an hour).
• Remove the pan sides.
• Sift confectioner's sugar and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon over the top.
• Serve immediately, cut into the marked wedges.

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine dried fruits. Pour tea over the top. Cover and let stand in a cool place overnight to plump and absorb tea.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment, leaving a 1 1/2-inch overhang on long sides.
• Sift flour, ras el hanout, and salt into a large bowl; add brown sugar. Stir in fruit mixture (including any liquid) and egg until combined. Batter should be a dropping consistency (if you pick up a spoonful, it should drop off easily). If it is too thick, add a little milk. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Slice cake and serve, spread generously with butter, if desired. Cake can be stored, well wrapped in plastic, at room temperature up to 3 days; toast slices before serving, if desired.