Moroccanpoundcake Recipes

MOROCCAN POTATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, paprika, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor bowl. Process until mixture forms a paste. Add herbs, and pulse a few times to blend. Add lemon juice, vinegar, and 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil; blend. Season to taste with salt.
• In a large bowl, combine potatoes, peppers, and celery. Season with salt, and toss with herb sauce. Transfer to a large shallow baking dish. Scatter tomatoes among the potato mixture. Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons oil over top, and cover with foil.
• Bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil. Continue baking until vegetables are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

MOROCCAN PANCAKES

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine yeast and sugar. Stir in 1/4 cup warm water and let it rest about 10 minutes, until bubbling. In another bowl, combine the three flours, salt and turmeric (if using) and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine baking powder and 3 tablespoons warm water, stirring to dissolve. Pour into a blender and add 1 1/2 cups warm water, the milk and the yeast mixture. Blend on low speed just to combine. With the blender running, gradually add the dry ingredients.
• Pour batter into a bowl, cover with a towel and set aside at least 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size and very bubbly. Batter can be used immediately or refrigerated overnight.
• When ready to cook, stir to deflate. Batter should be a little thicker than heavy cream; thin with warm water if necessary. Heat a heavy nonstick (or very well seasoned cast-iron) skillet over medium heat. (If you have a nonstick pan for silver dollar pancakes, use that.) Pour 1/4 cup batter into the pan (or, for silver-dollar size, a heaping tablespoon). Cook at a very gentle sizzle for about 3 minutes, until the top is covered with holes and completely set; the bottom should be golden and lacy. Repeat with remaining batter.
• Meanwhile, combine equal amounts of honey and butter in a small microwaveable pitcher or bowl. Heat until hot, smooth and pourable; thin with warm water if necessary.
• Serve pancakes immediately, with hot honey-butter mixture. Or slide onto a baking sheet covered with a kitchen towel and top with another towel to keep warm. Cooled pancakes can be briefly reheated in microwave.

MOROCCAN MOUFLETA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Make a well in the center, and slowly add 3 to 3 1/2 cups warm water, mixing and kneading gently, at first with a wooden spoon and then with your hands, until a light and elastic dough is formed. (Add a little extra water if dough seems too dry; it should be pretty wet.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest for about 30 minutes.
• Generously coat a baking sheet with oil and set aside. Coat your hands with oil and divide the dough into about 20 balls, each slightly smaller than a tennis ball. Dip each ball in the oil and set on the baking sheet. (Don't worry if the balls lose their shape). Let rest for another 15 minutes.
• Lightly oil your work surface. Place 1 ball at time on the surface and flatten with your palm. Using your fingers, stretch the dough out, as thin as possible, into a 7- or 8-inch disc. Keep dipping your fingers in the oil as needed to help get the moufleta as thin as possible and to keep it from sticking to the work surface or your hands.
• Place a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, carefully pick up the first moufleta (it will be stretchy and have a hard time holding its shape) and place it on the hot skillet. Cook on one side, about 1 to 2 minutes, until the underside has golden-brown patches. Flip the pancake over, roll out the next ball of dough and place it on top of the first one. When the bottom side has golden-brown patches, flip both pancakes together to cook the new one. Roll out another moufleta and place on top of the moufleta pack in the skillet. Flip to cook. Repeat for all moufletas, starting over again when you have a pack of 7 or 8. Except for the first one, they are all getting cooked only on one side. (Alternatively, the moufletas can be cooked one at a time for about 1 to 2 minutes per side and removed to a plate, each one going underneath the one cooked before it to help keep them from drying out. Cover the plate with a towel as you work.)
• Serve immediately, while warm, with butter and honey.

MOROCCAN POUND CAKE

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.

MOROCCAN FRUITCAKE

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.

MOROCCAN STREET POTATO CAKES

Steps:

• Mix all but flour and oil together in a large bowl.
• Form 16 patties using 1/4 cup of the mix to about 1/3 inch thick. Use floured hands if necessary.
• Coat each patty with the flour, hitting to knock off any excess of flour.
• Shallow fry in vegetable oil on medium to medium high heat until deep golden brown.
• If you need to, you can refrigerate the floured patties to cook off an hour or so later or for ease in handling if you have difficulty. I have not found the need to do either.
• These are a simple cake and not meant to be fancy; just really tasty. You can also replace the scallions with onions if you have no scallions. In Morocco and The Maghreb, we use what we have and don't worry about what we don't have. Fresh garlic is the best alternative you can use though as we don't have dried powdered here.