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1
Blanch and peel the almonds if not pre-blanched, then toast them in a dry pan over medium heat until very lightly coloured and fragrant — the heat drives off residual moisture so the finished almond layer stays dry and distinct inside the cream rather than turning to paste. Transfer to a food processor with the 60 g caster sugar and pulse to a coarse, sandy crumb. Add the single teaspoon of orange-blossom water and pulse once more; the mixture must remain dry and crumbly, not cohesive, so that it holds its texture as a separate layer rather than melting into the cream above and below it.
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2
Brush each warqa or phyllo sheet generously on both sides with clarified butter, using clarified rather than whole butter so that no water reaches the pastry and softens it during crisping. Crisp each sheet individually in a wide dry pan over medium heat, or in an oven, until fully golden and shattering, then lay flat on a rack to cool. The sheet must snap cleanly when broken — a sheet that bends is not ready and will collapse under the weight of the cream.
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3
Combine the whole milk and 100 g caster sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; whisk the semolina flour or cornflour into a small amount of cold milk first to form a lump-free slurry, so that the starch disperses evenly through the warm milk rather than seizing into lumps on contact. Whisk the slurry into the warming milk, add the cinnamon and orange-blossom water, and stir continuously as the mixture heats. This is where the dish lives or dies: continue stirring until the cream thickens substantially and holds a clear trail from the spoon, mounding briefly on the surface before settling — a cream that is too loose will weep into the pastry layers and the assembled bastilla will collapse when cut, while one taken too far will set rigid and crack.
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4
Line a round cake mould with slightly high sides with cling film, leaving generous overhang on all sides so that the finished bastilla can be lifted clear without disturbing the layers. Lay two or three crisped pastry sheets to form an even base, trimming to fit, then pour approximately one-third of the warm cream over the base and spread level. The layered order, from base upward, is: pastry — cream — almond paste — pastry — cream — almond paste — cream — pastry; distribute each element evenly so that every slice carries an equal balance of crunch, cream, and almond.
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5
Fold the cling-film overhang over the top surface to cover, then set a flat plate or board directly on the surface and press down firmly with even weight, so that the layers compress together and the pastry bonds to the cream rather than sliding apart when the bastilla is cut. Refrigerate for a minimum of two hours. The cream must be fully set and the layers compressed before unmoulding — the pastry will not hold its shape if served warm or insufficiently chilled.
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6
When ready to serve, unmould the bastilla onto a flat serving plate by inverting and lifting the mould, then peel away the cling film. Apply a light spray of orange-blossom water over the surface so that the icing sugar adheres cleanly and the scent blooms at the moment of serving. Using a stencil cut to the desired motif — interlocking triangles or a star — dust the top first with the 30 g icing sugar, then with the ground cinnamon to create a geometric pattern; serve immediately on the day of assembly, as by twenty-four hours the outer crunch is irretrievably lost.