INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

tucking in sheets). Brush entire pie again with butter and pour any
remaining butter around the edge. (Use the same procedure for warka)
12. Bake the pie in 425 oven until the top pastry leaves are golden brown,
about 20 minutes. Shake the pan to loosen the pie and run a spatula around
the edges. If necessary, tilt the pan to pour off excess butter (which
should be reserved). Invert the pie onto a large, buttered baking sheet.
Brush the pie with the reserved butter and return to the oven to continue
baking another 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. (You can bake the
pie made with warka leaves, but it is more traditional to gently fry the
pie over low heat until golden brown on both sides.)
13. Remove the bisteeya from the oven. Tilt to pour off any excess butter.
Put a serving plate over the pie and, holding it firmly, invert. (The
traditional upper filling is always the almond layer.) Dust the top of the
pie with a little confectioners' sugar and run crisscrossing lines of
cinnamon over the top. Serve very hot.
Note: Bisteeya is customarily served as a first course, and should be hot
to the fingertips. To eat it Moroccan style, plunge into the burning pastry
with the thumb and first two fingers of your right hand and tear out a
piece as large or as delicate as you want. You will burn your fingers, of
course, but you will have a lot of fun and the pain will be justified by
the taste. Note that the sugar and cinnamon design on the top is always
abstract, it is definitely NOT traditional to stencil on pictures of
animals or other recognizable motifs - Muslim practice forbids it. Lattice
designs of crisscrossed ground cinnamon always looks good.
Posted to Bakery-Shoppe Digest V1 #253 by Tami@jex.com (Tami Boyack) on Sep
19, 1997

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