Sellou

Step 1: Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan). Spread 10 ½ oz plain flour in a roasting tin and bake for 25–30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes and breaking up any lumps, until evenly golden-beige and smelling like toasted biscuits. Alternatively stir it in a wide dry pan over a low heat. Sift once cool. Rushing this over a high heat is the most common mistake: scorched flour tastes bitter.

Step 2: At the same time, toast 9 oz blanched almonds on a separate tray for 10–12 minutes until golden through, and toast 5 ½ oz sesame seeds in a dry pan over a medium-low heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring, until golden and starting to pop.

Step 3: Let everything cool. Grind the almonds and three-quarters of the sesame seeds in a food processor in short bursts until they look like coarse sand. Stop before they turn oily and pasty, which happens fast.

Step 4: In a big bowl mix the toasted flour, ground almonds and sesame, the remaining whole sesame, 2 tsp ground anise, 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp gum arabic (mastic), 2 ⅞ oz icing sugar and 1 pinch salt.

Step 5: Pour in 4 oz butter and 3 tbsp honey and rub everything together with your fingers until it looks like moist sand and a pinch holds its shape when squeezed. Add a spoon more melted butter if it is too dry.

Step 6: Pile into a dome on a plate, smooth it with a spoon, dust with a little icing sugar and decorate with 12 whole blanched almonds. Store in an airtight jar for up to a month.