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1. In a large chilled bowl, combine the butter bits, flour and salt. With your fingertips, rub the flour and butter together until they look like flakes of coarse meal. Do not let the mixture become oily.
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2. Pour 6 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture all at once, toss together lightly, and gather the dough into a ball. If the dough crumbles, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water by drops until the particles adhere.
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3. Divide the dough into halves, dust each half with a little flour, and wrapit in wax paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
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4. Meanwhile, preheat the ovento 350°F. Spread the almonds out in a shallowbaking pan and, turning them occasionally, toast them in the middle of the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until they are lightly browned.
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5. Pulverizethe almonds in an electric blender or with a nut grinder or mortar and pestle.Then, with the back of a spoon, rub them through a fine sieve into adeep bowl.
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6. Add the almond paste, 4 tablespoons of butter, sugar, eggand 1 tablespoon of the orange-blossom water, and beat vigorously with a spoon until the mixture is smooth.
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7. Raise the oven heat to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, pat half of the dough into a rough rectangle about 1 inch thick. Dust a little flour over and under it, and roll it out from the center to within an inch of the far edge of the pastry.
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8. Lift the dough and turn it in the opposite direction; roll again from the center to within an inch or so of the far edge.
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9. Repeat-lifting, turning, rolling-until the rectangle is a little less than Y8inch thick. If the dough sticks at any point during the rolling, lift it gently with a metal spatula and sprinkle a little flour under it.
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10. With a ruler and a pastry wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 3-inch squares. For each kab el ghzal, roll 1 teaspoon of the almond paste between your palms to make a cylinder about 2 inches long and ½ inch in diameter.
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11. Place the cylinder diagonally across one corner of a dough square, about ½ inch from the point, and lift the point over the paste.
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12. Then, starting with the folded edge, roll the dough up tightly jelly-roll fashion, tucking in the ends as you proceed. Pinch the ends firmly together and gently shape the pastry roll into a crescent.
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13. Arrange the crescents about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
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14. Transfer the baked kab el ghzal to wire cake racks and sprinkle them evenly with 1 tablespoon of orange-blossom water. One at a time, dip the pastries in the confectioners' sugar to coat them lightly, andreturn them to the racks to cool.
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15. While the first batch of pastries is baking, roll and cut the remaininghalf of the dough and fill and shape the squares in the identical fashion.
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16. While the first batch is cooling, bake the second batch in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, transfer them to racks and sprinkle them with the rest of the orange-blossom water. Roll in confectioners' sugar and pastries cool to room temperature before serving.
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