Marrakech Moroccan Pastry Class — Kaab el Ghazal & Chebakia

Moroccan pastries are the sweet heart of hospitality — brought out with mint tea for guests, stacked in pyramids at weddings, and made in huge batches for Ramadan. This class focuses on the classics a Marrakchi household is proudest of, built around almonds, honey, orange-blossom water and sesame rather than heavy cream.

The centrepiece is kaab el ghazal, "gazelle horns": a delicate crescent of thin pastry wrapped around an almond paste scented with orange-blossom water and cinnamon. They are fiddly to shape well, and learning the roll-and-curve is genuinely satisfying. You will also make chebakia — flower-shaped strips of sesame dough that are fried and immediately bathed in warm honey, the essential Ramadan sweet eaten alongside harira.

Depending on the session you add briouat (crisp filled triangles of warqa pastry, sweet with almond or savoury with cheese), ghriba (crumbly almond or coconut shortbread) or sellou, the toasted-flour, almond and honey energy paste. The host explains the role of orange-blossom and rosewater, how to handle warqa (the near-transparent Moroccan filo), and how to get honey to the right temperature so chebakia drink it up without going soggy.

It is a slower, more precise class than a tagine session, which is exactly its appeal for keen bakers and for families with older children. You box up what you make to take away, so the pastries become an edible souvenir, and you leave with recipes scaled for a home kitchen.