M'hencha (literally 'the coiled one' in Moroccan Arabic, from the root for serpent) is a Fassi specialty served on celebrations. Almond paste flavored with orange-flower water and cinnamon is rolled inside thin warqa pastry, coiled into a long spiral, and baked golden. After baking it's brushed with warm honey and dusted with cinnamon — sweet, fragrant, and as visually striking as the medina itself.
A coiled almond-paste pastry shaped like a snake — flaky phyllo on the outside, sticky almond-rosewater on the inside. Sliced like a wheel, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
M'hencha ('serpent') is rolled from a long phyllo strip filled with almond paste — the coil creates 5+ layers of pastry around each bite. The almond paste must be at room temperature; cold paste cracks the phyllo, hot paste melts through.
Variations
Fes m'hencha uses almond paste scented with orange-flower water; the Marrakech version leans even more heavily on orange-flower water; the Tangier version adds pistachio.
On the Palate
Where M'hencha sits in the Moroccan flavor cloud
Bring the almond paste to room temperature before you roll — cold paste cracks the fragile phyllo and hot paste melts through it, so its texture is what makes or breaks the coil.
Ingredients
How it's made
5 steps · 1 hour 30 min
- 111 min
Filling: blend 400g blanched almonds with 200g powdered sugar, 80g butter, 1 tbsp rosewater, 1 tbsp orange-flower water, 1 tsp cinnamon, 2 egg yolks — should form a soft paste.
- 211 min
Roll the paste into a long rope about 70cm long, 2cm thick.
Watch outThe paste should roll smoothly into a long even rope without cracking — that tells you it's the right temperature.
- 34 min
Brush 6 sheets of phyllo (or warqa if available) with melted butter, overlapping along the long edge to form one continuous strip.
- 411 min
Place the almond rope along the strip and roll up tightly. Coil the resulting tube into a flat spiral on a buttered baking sheet.
Watch outRoll and coil tightly so each turn hugs the next; a snug spiral holds its shape in the oven.
- 554 min
Brush with beaten egg and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes until deeply golden. Drizzle with warm honey, dust with cinnamon and confectioner's sugar.
Watch outPull it when the top is deeply golden all over, then brush the warm honey on while it's still hot so it soaks in.
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