Morocco | Dessert

Chebakia

Name: Chebakia
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 135 min
Yield: 20 servings
Cuisine: Morocco, North Africa
Ingredients: 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup toasted sesame seeds, ground; ½ cup almonds, ground; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 tsp anise seed, ground; ½ cup melted butter; ½ cup orange blossom water; 1 whole egg; 4 cups oil; 3 cups honey, warmed; ¼ cup sesame seeds

Moroccan sesame, almond, honey, and orange blossom pastries folded into flowers and fried for Ramadan.

Country

Morocco

Region

North Africa

Time

135 min

Serves

Level

hard

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Recipe overview

What to know before you cook

Chebakia is Morocco's Ramadan pastry jewel. Toasted sesame, almonds, spices, orange blossom water, and honey become folded flower pastries that are fried, soaked, and sprinkled with sesame.

What the dish tastes like

Moroccan sesame, almond, honey, and orange blossom pastries folded into flowers and fried for Ramadan.

When to cook it

Best for Best for Ramadan iftar, Eid trays, and tea tables., with a hard cooking level and about 135 minutes total.

What to serve alongside it

Harira, mint tea, dates, or sellou.

Regional lane

Soups, salads, and dips. Harira, fava bean soup, cooked salads, and vegetable sides for bread-led meals.

Chef watch-outs

Rushing the base before the raw edge has cooked out.
Adding all seasoning early and forgetting to adjust at the end.
Cooking on heat that is too high once the dish should be steaming or simmering.

How you know it is ready

The aroma should smell rounded rather than raw or sharp.
Oil, sauce, broth, or steam should look settled and deliberate.
The final texture should match the dish style before you plate it.

Pantry lane

preserved lemon, green olives, saffron, ras el hanout, semolina

Chef board

Build the table around Chebakia

Harira, mint tea, dates, or sellou.

Best route from here

Soups, salads, and dips

Collections to keep cooking

Moroccan Salads, Soups, and Breads Breakfast and Tea Table

Servings 20

Scale the dish before you shop, then use the checklist while you cook.

Ingredients

For 20 servings

Dessert

How to cook it

Step-by-step method

Keep the rhythm calm, watch the texture, and adjust seasoning at the end.

Back to Morocco

4 steps 135 min total hard

Make the dough

Mix flour, ground sesame, almonds, spices, butter, egg, and orange blossom water into a firm dough.

dough 18:00

Rest and roll

Rest the dough, then roll thin and cut into rectangles for folding.

rest 30:00

Shape flowers

Slit and fold each rectangle into a chebakia flower shape.

shape 35:00

Fry and honey

Fry until deep golden, soak in warm honey, and sprinkle with sesame.

fry 25:00

Shapes and spice blends vary, but sesame, honey, orange blossom water, cinnamon, anise, and mastic are common markers.

Chebakia

What to know before you cook

Build the table around Chebakia

Step-by-step method

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