Mouloud Sweets Table menu
Mouloud Sweets Table — The Full Spread for Visitors
Where the main Mawlid meal is a family matter, the sweets table is what greets everyone else — a standing spread of sellou, chebakia, ghriba, makrout and dried fruit kept ready for the steady stream of visitors who call in through Mouloud week. Nothing here is plated individually; it is a shared table, refreshed rather than served in courses. This menu is purely that sweets table, built to survive a week of visitors rather than one sitting.
The menu
Centrepiece
Sellou by the bowl
Offered in small saucers by the spoonful rather than plated, the richest and most closely associated sweet of the whole week.
Fried sweet
Chebakia
Sesame-honey pastries, made in bulk since they keep for weeks and are expected on any Moroccan sweets table this time of year.
Cookie
Ghriba
Crumbly, crackle-topped almond or semolina cookies, simple to keep restocked throughout the week.
Date pastry
Makrout
Semolina diamonds filled with date paste, fried or baked, offering a different texture to the softer sellou and ghriba.
Biscuit
Fekkas
Twice-baked, anise-and-almond biscuits that keep exceptionally well and suit dunking in tea.
Dried fruit and nuts
Dates, almonds and dried figs, set out in bowls
A simpler addition to the table for guests who prefer something plainer than the pastries.
To drink
Mint tea, poured continuously
The table is not complete without tea circulating for every visitor who sits down.
Shopping list
- Flour, almonds and sesame seeds for sellou
- Honey and cinnamon
- Sesame seeds and flour for chebakia, plus oil for frying
- Ground almonds and semolina for ghriba
- Semolina and dates for makrout filling
- Anise seeds and almonds for fekkas
- Extra dates, almonds and dried figs for the simple bowls
- Orange-blossom water
- A good stock of serving trays and small bowls
- Gunpowder green tea and plenty of fresh mint
- Airtight tins for keeping everything through the week
Prep timeline
-
1-2 weeks before
Bake the fekkas and ghriba first, since both keep the longest and can be made well ahead without losing quality.
-
1 week before
Fry the chebakia and store it in syrup; it also keeps for weeks and only improves as it sits.
-
A few days before
Make the sellou, toasting the flour patiently over low heat, and portion the makrout filling.
-
The day before Mouloud
Assemble the full table, arranging everything in trays and bowls ready to top up.
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Through the week
Refresh trays as they empty and keep tea going for every visitor who calls.
Host's tips
- Bake in the order things keep best — fekkas and ghriba first, chebakia next, sellou last since it is quickest to make fresh.
- Store everything in airtight tins; a Mouloud sweets table needs to survive a week of visitors, not just one sitting.
- Do not plate individual portions — keep everything as a shared table that guests help themselves from.
- Make more than feels necessary; a sweets table that runs out partway through the week reflects poorly on the household's hospitality.
Questions about this menu
What is on a traditional Mouloud sweets table?
Sellou, chebakia, ghriba, makrout and fekkas are the core of most tables, often alongside bowls of dates, almonds and dried figs, all kept out together rather than served as individual desserts.
How far ahead can Mouloud sweets be made?
Most keep very well — fekkas and ghriba can be baked a week or two ahead, chebakia keeps for weeks in its syrup, and sellou is best made a few days before so it has time to settle.
Why is the sweets table left out for so long?
Mouloud (Mawlid) is marked over several days of visiting between family and neighbours, so the sweets table is designed to be refreshed and restocked throughout the week rather than served once.
Is sellou eaten differently from the other sweets?
Yes — it is usually offered by the spoonful in small saucers rather than plated like a cookie, since it is a dense paste rather than an individual pastry.
Can Mouloud sweets be bought instead of homemade?
Absolutely — many households buy some or all of the table from local pastry shops, particularly chebakia and makrout, and reserve homemade effort for whichever sweet matters most to them personally.
Learn to cook this menu with a local in Marrakech
Every dish here is taught, hands-on, in a Marrakech cooking class — or taste them across the medina on a guided food tour.