Iraqi · dessert

Klaicha (Date-Filled Cardamom Pastries)

Name: Klaicha (Date-Filled Cardamom Pastries)
Prep time: 58 min
Total time: 2 h 8 min
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: all-purpose flour — 500 g; unsalted butter — 200 g; sunflower oil — 55 g; caster sugar — 25 g; salt — 5 g; yeast — 7 g; regular milk — 180 g; ground cardamom — 15 g; nigella seeds — 5 g; dates — 400 g; unsalted butter — 40 g; fennel seed — 5 g; yolk — 18 g; regular milk — 15 g; sesame seeds — 30 g

Klaicha (Date-Filled Cardamom Pastries) reads sweetness 7.5, richness 6.0 and fruity 5.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Iraqi dessert, about 2 hr 8 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.2 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 9.3 / 10
Sour & Bright — 0.3 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.2 / 10
Rich & Fat — 6.8 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 2.6 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.5 · Richness 6.0 · Fruity 5.8 · Salinity 3.7 · Umami 2.8 · Funk & Ferment 2.8 · Nutty 2.6 · Floral 2.3 · Warm Spice 1.6 · Herbaceous 1.4 · Earthy 1.0 · Bitterness 0.8

What's in it (15)

all-purpose flour — 500 g
unsalted butter — 200 g
sunflower oil — 55 g
caster sugar — 25 g
salt — 5 g
yeast — 7 g
regular milk — 180 g
ground cardamom — 15 g
nigella seeds — 5 g
dates — 400 g
unsalted butter — 40 g
fennel seed — 5 g
yolk — 18 g
regular milk — 15 g
sesame seeds — 30 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 8 min (58 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 270.3 kcal, 9.7 g protein, 15.1 g fat, 55.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

Rub the melted butter and the oil into the flour with your fingertips for 5 minutes until it looks like damp sand — this long rubbing is what makes klaicha short and sandy rather than bready.
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milk, leave 10 minutes until frothy, then add to the flour with the salt, half the cardamom and the nigella seeds. Bring together into a soft dough without kneading hard; 3 minutes is enough.
Cover and rest 1 hour at room temperature. The yeast here is for tenderness and aroma, not much lift.
For the filling, warm the dates with the filling butter, the remaining cardamom and the ground fennel in a pan over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, mashing with a fork until you have a smooth, thick, spreadable paste. Cool 15 minutes.
Roll the dough out to 3 mm on a floured surface into a long rectangle. Spread the date paste evenly over it, leaving a 2 cm margin, then roll up tightly from the long side into a log.
Cut the log on a slight diagonal into 2 cm slices and lay them cut side up on lined trays, pressing each very gently so the spiral shows.
Brush with the egg wash and scatter with sesame seeds. Bake at 180°C for 20 to 22 minutes until the pastry is pale gold — klaicha is not meant to brown deeply.
Cool 20 minutes on a rack. They are made in quantity for Eid and keep two weeks in a tin.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Sweet Potato Pudding (Hell a Top, Hell a Bottom) — Jamaican
Himbasha with Raisins — Eritrean
Lamb Kefta With Dates And Sage Recipe — Middle Eastern
Plantain Tarts — Jamaican
Roast Breadfruit — Jamaican

Keep reading: what sweetness, richness, fruity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.