Mouna is a round, fragrant brioche from the Maghreb — originally from Oran in Algeria, brought to France by the Pieds-Noirs community. Lightly sweet, perfumed with orange blossom and anise, and scattered with pearl sugar, it’s traditionally made at Easter but deserves to be baked all year round.
Ingredients (makes 1 large mouna)
- 500 g strong bread flour
- 100 g caster sugar
- 7 g instant dried yeast
- 3 eggs
- 100 ml warm milk
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 2 tbsp orange blossom water
- 1 tsp anise seeds (or ground anise)
- Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- Pearl sugar (for topping)
Instructions
- Mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs, warm milk, sunflower oil, orange blossom water, anise seeds and citrus zests. Mix until a soft dough forms.
- Knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise for 2 hours until doubled.
- Knock back the dough and shape into a large round or a few smaller rounds. Place on a lined baking tray.
- Leave to prove for another 1–1.5 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Brush with beaten egg and scatter generously with pearl sugar.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden. If it browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil.
Enjoy! 🌸🫓🇩🇿