Tunisian samsa

Step 1: Make the syrup first so it can cool: boil 10 ½ oz sugar, ¾ cup water and 1 tbsp lemon juice over a medium heat for 8 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir in 1 tbsp orange-flower water and leave to cool completely.

Step 2: Mix 9 oz ground almonds, 2 ⅛ oz sesame seeds, 3 ½ oz caster sugar, 1 orange, 2 tbsp orange-flower water and ⅔ oz butter into a firm paste that holds when squeezed. Roll into 36 small logs about 3 cm long.

Step 3: Heat the oven to 350°F (fan 325°F). Cut 12 malsouka, brick or filo pastry sheets into strips about 7 cm wide and brush each strip lightly with 2 oz butter.

Step 4: Put a log of filling at one end of a strip and fold the corner over to make a triangle, then keep folding the triangle up the strip, like folding a flag, until you reach the end. Trim and tuck in the last bit with a dab of butter.

Step 5: Lay the triangles on lined trays, brush the tops with the rest of ⅞ oz butter and bake for 18–22 minutes, until deep golden and crisp. A common mistake is pulling them when pale gold; they soften in the syrup, so they need to go into it well crisped.

Step 6: While still hot from the oven, drop the samsa a few at a time into the cooled syrup for 30 seconds, turn, then lift onto a rack to drain. Sprinkle with a few extra sesame seeds.

Step 7: Cool completely before serving. They keep for a week in an airtight tin.