These cigars will be popular with young and old! The recipe can easily be doubled to ensure that there is enough.
Filling
75 g/75 ml butter
115 g/250 ml dark chocolate, broken into smaller pieces
115 g/250 ml ground almonds
200 g/250 ml chopped dates
75 g/160 ml icing sugar
10 ml rose water
2.5 ml ground cinnamon
Pastry
14 – 16 sheets phyllo pastry (40 cm x 30 cm)
200 g butter or margarine, melted
- To make the filling, melt the butter or margarine and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the rest if the ingredients to make a thick paste. Leave to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 200 °C.
- To make phyllo rolls, cut the phyllo into 15 x 15 cm squares and place the phyllo squares under a clean, dry kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out.
- Lay out 2 squares of phyllo pastry on the work surface at an angle. Use a pastry brush and lightly brush one of the squares with the melted butter and cover with the second square.
- Place 30 – 50 ml of the filling on the bottom corner of the sheet and enclose it with the corner of the sheet. Fold in the sides and roll the pastry up like a cigar. Do not roll it up to tightly as some fillings expand during baking. Continue until all the filling has been used.
- Brush each pastry with a little of the melted butter or margarine and transfer to a greased baking tray.
- Bake the pastries for 15 – 20 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Transfer the pastries to a serving dish and serve hot or at room temperature.
20 – 24 pastries.
Recipe by Carolié de Koster.