Fig and Pistachio Ma'amoul

Make the jam: Place all the ingredients except the pistachio and almond essence in a medium size pot and bring to a boil, before reducing to a gentle simmer and cooking for 20 – 30 minutes. The figs will go all jammy and the sugar would have dissolved and thickened at this time. It will be much thicker than a regular jam.

Let the jam cool and purée: Once the jam has cooled, remove the aromatics and weigh out 150g of the jam. Use a stick blender to purée the jam. It turns into a beautiful pink colour.

Blitz the pistachios: Pulse the pistachios in a food processor until they are coarsely ground. Do not make this too fine.

Add in the ground pistachios and almond essence: Add the ground pistachios and almond essence to the figs.

Shape into balls: Shape the mixture into 15g balls and set aside to use later.

Combine all the dry ingredients: Mix all the ingredients except the milk and butter and whisk to combine.

Add in wet ingredients: Add in the melted butter and milk and mix to form a dough.

Let it rest: Let it rest in the fridge for an hour.

Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Shape the ma'amoul: Divide the pastry into 30g balls and then flatten them to be about 8cm in diameter. Place the filling into the ball and pinch to enclose. Then add the ma'amoul into a mould and press out.

Bake: Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let it cool, then dust with icing sugar.