Jawhara

Jawhara — 'jewel' — is one of the most refined Moroccan pastries, served at weddings and high-end celebrations. It consists of an almond-milk cream, set with gelatin or agar, cut into diamonds, soaked briefly in a light sugar syrup, and topped with crushed pistachios. The dish belongs to the tradition of almond-milk sweets that runs through Moroccan and Andalusi cookery, and its delicacy, its translucent appearance, and its name all point to a courtly origin. It is rarely made at home because the technique of setting a cream without curdling and cutting it cleanly requires practice.

Silky and cool, the almond cream dissolves on the tongue with a faint floral sweetness; the syrup is light, the pistachios add a green crunch. Delicate, perfumed and gone in one bite.

The almond cream is made by infusing milk with ground almonds, straining it, and setting the infused liquid with gelatin. The gelatin forms a network of protein chains that traps the liquid into a firm but tender gel, and the almond fat is suspended in this gel as an emulsion. The syrup soak must be brief, a few seconds, because the gelatin gel softens and dissolves in warm liquid. The diamonds are cut with a hot knife, which melts through the gel cleanly without tearing.