The reason I joined the Daring challenges was so that I could learn more about different types of everything. I like to research what we are meant to be making, and find an unusual or different recipe to the one we are presented with in the challenge. This is so that the world is not inundated with the same recipe from hundreds of people, all in one day. While researching griwech I discovered that these sweet treats form part of a group of pastries including baklava. Griwech are deep fried, and it is the shape that gives them their name. One site I found informed the reader to shape the griwech by watching someone do it in front of you! Well, I don’t have any Algerian friends living close to me and in South Africa, our deep fried pastry treats are koeksisters. But, I gather you can make any shape and as long as the pastry is fried, and then soaked in honey, they can be called griwech. I might be wrong about this, so please if someone knows better, feel free to correct me. I chose to use a cookie cutter to make my griwech shapes as this was the easiest option for me. These sweet treats were enjoyed by everyone who tried them.

Griwech | Algerian Pastry
Ingredients
for the pastry
- 15 mls orange flower water
- 3 strands saffron
- 500 g flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1.25 mls fine salt
- 5 mls baking powder
- 25 g sesame seeds, finely ground
- 125 g butter, melted
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 60 mls cold water
for frying
- 500 mls canola oil
for soaking
- 280 g honey
- 5 mls orange flower water
Method
for the pastry
- Place the orange flower water and saffron into a small container and set aside
- Place the flour,salt, baking powder and ground sesame seeds into a food processor
- Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
- Add the egg, orange flower water and water
- Mix until a dough forms
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface
- Knead lightly into a ball and divide into 4
- Roll out each portion until nice and thin
- Cut out shapes - traditionally you cut a rectangle, and then 3 slits into the rectangle and shape them, but I used a cookie cutter
for frying
- Place the oil into a heavy bottomed sauce pan
- Heat to 150° Celsius on a medium to high temperature
- Fry the pastry in batches for 2 minutes, turning them over half way through
- Remove from the oil and dry on paper towel
for soaking
- Place the honey and orange flower water into a small sauce pan
- Heat over a low temperature
- Soak the pastry in batches in the honey
- Remove and allow to drip dry on a wire rack
- Remove from the rack before cold
Notes
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Blog checking lines: For the July daring cooks challenge, Kouky from “Cuisine à 4 mains“, challenged us to make Griwech, a popular Algerian dessert that is a full flavoured delicacy that has both a melt-in-the-mouth and a crispy texture
What I blogged July 14:
- one year ago – Bibimbap
- two years ago – Waiting For Wednesday
- three years ago – Friday’s Food Quiz
- four years ago – Sweet Chilli Sauce Duck
- five years ago – Roast Chicken
These sound fabulous Tandy.
Have a wonderful day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy xx
Love the look and sound of these Tandy!
Thanks Tanya 🙂
Pastry soaked in honey sounds absolutely delicious, Tandy, no matter what shape they come in. 🙂
Shape does not matter at all 🙂
These sound absolutely delicious! Love that they’re soaked in honey – always a good thing.
For sure!
These are so beautiful! They look perfect for a summer wedding shower 🙂
They do indeed 🙂
I love the idea of using the cookie cutter. It makes the recipe a little bit easier and has a great presentation. Very nice job Tandy.
Thanks Kia 🙂
Yum! These look so fancy and delectable, while still being so easy to make! These look absolutely delicious! Great share, Tandy!
Thanks so much 🙂
Looks delicious Tandy, my Italian mother-in law makes something similar to this and we all look forward to it around the holidays!
Do you know what they are called Cheri?
I love learning about new things and these look fantastic! I was thinking of koeksisters when you mentioned deep fried pastry 😀
Koeksisters are the epitome of deep fried pastries here 🙂
I never say “no” to deep fried pastry. This looks delicious.
They were very delicious Doreen 🙂
These pastries look super yummy Tandy. Eek! Saffron! The price of which makes me want to cry :(.
It is so expensive, but worth it if you only use a little, and when necessary 🙂
The great thing about TDB is discovering other blogs who participate, great blog. And love how cute your griwech turned out.
Thanks Evelyne for the visit and the compliment 🙂
Pastry flavored with orange water and saffron and fried and soaked in honey sounds pretty heavenly, Tandy!
They were heavenly indeed Shashi 🙂
I believe there’s a special cutter for the traditional griwech, at least that’s what my Algerian friend told me. Having said that, I have seen them in different shapes for those who don’t have the cutter and wanted to make life simple.
Doesn’t really matter, they are delicious in any shape or fashion, and besides they have orange blossom water, no need for anything else 🙂
Thanks so much for the visit! I am not sure I would buy the cutter for a once off, but if I made these often it would be a great investment 🙂
These look so fancy and tasty! I have never heard of griwech, now I need to investigate further. Thank you for sharing!
This is the main reason I love these challenges, as I learn something new 🙂