Kaber Ellouz (Tunisian Almond Balls)

A recipe for Kaber Ellouz (Tunisian Almond Balls)! These sweet treats are made by braiding together a red, green, and plain almond-based dough and forming into balls.

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I came across the idea for these Kaber Ellouz in the cookbook, Culina Mediterranea, and immediately had to try them.

Kaber Ellouz are sweet almond treats from Tunisia. They are made by braiding together 3 pieces of almond dough- one plain, one dyed red, and one dyed green together, then forming into balls and coating in a superfine sugar.

They are popular for special occasions and quite the delicious no-bake dessert.

I used a natural beet food coloring for the red dough. I attempted to make green food coloring, but it did not work out so I used store-bought.

Notable Ingredients

Rose water is created by collecting the liquid from distilled roses. I have been able to locate it in markets (make sure it is culinary rose water) with Middle Eastern and South Asian ingredients and on Amazon: Cortas Rose Water.

Vanilla sugar adds a wonderful light vanilla flavor to the Kaber Ellouz. You can buy small packets of vanilla sugar in the European section of many larger supermarkets, but it is easy to make at home.

Scrape out the seeds of one vanilla bean and mix well with 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar. Store in an airtight container with the scraped out vanilla beans.

The original recipe called for ground almonds. I used a pre-made fine almond meal. You can use almonds and grind them yourself, but they need to be fine and not too oily to make a smooth, workable dough.

Looking for more recipes with almonds?

Try my:

• Chocolate Almond Toffee
• Badam Paal (Indian Almond Milk)
• Almond Sanbuseh (Qotab)

Kaber Ellouz (Tunisian Almond Balls) Recipe

Adapted from Culina Mediterranea

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Kaber Ellouz (Tunisian Almond Balls)

A recipe for Kaber Ellouz (Tunisian Almond Balls)! These sweet treats are made by braiding together a red, green, and plain almond-based dough and forming into balls.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Tunisian

Keyword Africa, African, almond, dessert, Tunisia, Tunisian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Almond balls

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup superfine (caster) sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 7 tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons rosewater
• 2 1/2 cups almond meal
• 1/2 teaspoon red food color
• 1/2 teaspoon green food color

Garnish:

• Superfine sugar
• Pine nuts

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, combine sugar and vanilla sugar. Stir in the water and heat over medium. Cook, whisking occasionally, until all sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the rosewater.
• Place almond meal in a medium bowl. Use a wooden spoon to slowly stir in syrup. Once dough has come together, knead on work surface lightly dusted with almond meal until smooth.
• Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. To one piece, knead in red food coloring. Knead in green to another piece. Leave the third piece plain.
• Roll each piece into a 3/4 inch wide rope. Place the ropes side by side and braid together. Push the braid together to seal and cut into about 1 inch long pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
• On a plate, sprinkle some superfine sugar. Roll each ball in the sugar and place on serving plate. Sprinkle with pine nuts, if using, and serve.