Ingredients
Rye bread dough:
- 500g bread flour
- 500g rye flour
- 2 x 10g yeast, instant
- 20g sea salt
- 60ml black treacle
- 100ml water, hot
- 600ml water, lukewarm
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 egg white, large, beaten
Almond stars:
- 250g cake flour
- 35g castor sugar
- 160ml milk
- 10g yeast, instant
- 1 egg, large
- 60g butter, softened
Filling:
- 125g butter, softened
- 125g sugar, demerara
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cardamom, ground
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 50g almonds, nibbed
Honey glaze:
- 45ml honey
- 15ml water, hot
Garnish:
- 5ml orange zest
- 5ml almonds, nibbed
Preparation method
Rye bread dough:
- Preheat oven to 180 C
- Dissolve treacle in 100ml hot water
- Top up to 600ml with lukewarm water
- Combine flours, yeast and salt in a large bowl
- Stir water into flour mixture
- Knead in the bowl until dough comes together, adding more water if too dry
- Dough should be sticky
- Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth
- Place in an oiled bowl, sprinkle over a little flour, cover with plastic wrap
- Leave to prove for 60 minutes or until doubled in size
Tagine base:
- Use any shallow, ovenproof bowl with a circumference of not more than 75cm
- Cover the upturned part of the bowl with tin foil, spray with Spray n Cook
- Place onto a lined baking tray dusted with flour
- Knock back the dough and work in the caraway seeds, divide into 2 pieces
- Roll out one piece into a large rectangle of about 30 x 50cm to just under 1cm thick
- Cut into long strips 1,5cm wide
- On a piece of baking paper, weave a lattice large enough to cover the bowl
- Flip lattice over the bowl and cut around outer edge to fit
- Plait another piece of dough to fit around the outer edge of the lattice
- Cover with a large plastic bag and prove for 10 minutes
- Brush with egg white and bake for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through
Tagine cone:
- Preheat oven to 180 C
- Make a cardboard cone with a circumference of 80cm
- Cover inside and outside with tin foil
- Use a glue of flour and water to stick into place
- Grease cone and place onto a greased and floured baking sheet
- Use any offcuts from the 1st piece of dough and combine with the 2nd piece
- Roll out dough to a rectangle of 40 x 60cm, just under 1cm thick
- Using a pizza cutter, cut into long strips 1cm wide
- Take 3 lengths of dough and plait to 40cm long. Make 2
- Place plaits around the base of cone onto the tin foil
- Make another 2 plaits, slightly shorter and place above the first plait
- Make sure the joins are in the same place, on opposite sides of the cone
- Continue plaiting and wrapping around and up the cone until the top
- Leave a 3cm gap from the peak of the cone
- Make 2 more plaits and place them to cover the joins on either side of the cone
- Cover with a large plastic bag and prove for 10 minutes
- Brush with egg white and bake for 30-40 minutes until cooked through
- Cool, then remove from cone
Almond stars:
- Heat milk to lukewarm, stir in yeast
- Combine flour, sugar and egg in mixing bowl of electric mixer with dough hook
- Mix until a crumble texture
- With mixer on low, add the milk/yeast mixture
- Beat on low for 5 minutes
- Slowly add butter until all incorporated
- Beat until dough no longer sticks to the bowl and is smooth, 10 minutes
- Cover dough and leave to prove for 90 minutes or until doubled in size
Filling:
- Mix all ingredients, except almonds to a smooth paste
Almond stars:
- Pre-heat oven to 170 C
- Knock back dough and divide into 12 equal sized balls
- Work with 4 balls at a time, cover the rest
- Roll each ball out to a circle, 5mm thick
- Use a saucer (16cm) to make an imprint on one circle
- Spread 1 1/2 tsp of butter filling inside the circle
- Leave a 1cm border around the outer edge
- Sprinkle 0.5ml of almonds over butter
- Put the 2nd circle on top and repeat the layers leaving the top (4th) layer plain
- Use the plate as a guide
- Cut through the 4 layers of dough with a sharp knife into a neat circle
- Transfer to a greased and lined baking sheet
- Repeat with the other 8 balls of dough
- Place a 4cm cutter in the centre of one circle and make an imprint in the dough
- Repeat with the other 2 circles of dough
- With a sharp knife divide each circle into 16 equal pieces
- Cut up to the mark left by the cutter only - do not cut through the centre of the circle
- Take 2 pieces of dough, one in left hand and one in right hand
- Twist around twice, left hand anti-clockwise and right hand clockwise
- Pinch the outer edges together to form a rough point
- Repeat with all the pieces - this is an 8-pointed star
- Repeat with the other 2 circles of dough
- Cover loosely with a plastic bag and prove for 10-15 minutes
- Brush with egg white and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and cooked through
- Cool, then glaze with honey glaze and garnish with orange zest and almonds
Assembly:
- Place tagine base onto a serving platter, put almond stars inside and put the cone on top