Instructions: Referred to by family members as just Messapine. It is a traditional treat at Christmas. Mother mixes up the pastry and dough and invites one of the daughters to help her roll it out the following day. The notable differences in our recipes are the addition of baking powder and the way it is rolled out. Some of the younger family members use your method but there is a significant loss to the traditional flakiness of the pastry. Well worth the effort and a fun evening for mother and daughter.

Pastry Dough: Sift together the flour and baking powder. Cut in the butter till it is fine as meal. Add the COLD water and mix into a smooth dough.

Cover and refrigerate.

Filling: Blend the almond paste and sugar in a blender or food processor.

Add the eggs to the almond sugar mixture and mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate.

REFRIGERATE both the pastry and filling overnight. To prepare for baking: Remove filling from fridge and allow to warm to room temperature. Keep dough refrigerated. Divide the dough into 8 parts. Shape each part into a ball and roll into a very large rectangle. The pastry should be almost paper thin. Carefully spread the filling evenly over the pastry: Divide the filling into 8 portions. The filling is sticky and the fragile pastry tears easily. Use small dollops of filling and spread with a spatula. Roll up like a jelly roll. Starting from a long side. Place on large baking sheets.

Brush with egg slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 425 degrees F. for 25 minutes.

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