Umm Ali ~ Egyptian Dessert
Servings 6 -8
Ingredients
- 400 gm pack of puff pastry sheets
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1/4 cup pine seeds*
- 1/2 cup cashew-nuts
- 1/2 cup sultanas
- 1/4 cup coconut grated
- 500 ml pack whipping cream
- 150 ml full fat milk
- 150 ml water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
Instructions
- Cook the puff pastry sheets till crisp, as per pack instructions. I baked the pasty sheets in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.
- Meanwhile, roast the nuts (almonds to cashewnuts) in the hot oven for around 5 minutes.
- Cool. Put the nuts into a bag and crush using a rolling pin till it breaks into bits - do not powder!
- In a saucepan, combine the whipping cream, milk, water, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to heat. Keep stirring till the sugar is melted - no need to boil, it just needs to warm. Switch off the flame.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for around 10 minutes (the oven may already be warm from the previous puff pastry cooking).
- In a deep glass dish, crush the puff pastry.
- Add the crushed nuts, coconut and sultanas and mix well till evenly distributed.
- Slowly pour the sweetened milk all over the puff pastry. Bake for 30 minutes till top is golden.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm!!!
Notes
You can replace the puff pastry with many many other options - croissants, baked bread, Millefoglie puff pastry biscuits, even cornflakes! But I assure you that puff pastry takes the dish to another level.
Adjust sugar to your requirements. 1 cup sugar was a tad on the higher side for us, just a tad...
The milk mixture is your choice - you can use a mixture of milk and condensed milk, without using the sugar. Or you can even use just milk and sugar.
I really wanted to add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder as well, but just missed out! Would have given a lovely flavor...
I missed to use pine nuts!!! This is a nut used in almost all Arabic baking, whether sweet or savory. Though it was not missed much as there was enough of crunch in the dessert, I would have loved to add it to give it a more authentic feel.
Adjust sugar to your requirements. 1 cup sugar was a tad on the higher side for us, just a tad...
The milk mixture is your choice - you can use a mixture of milk and condensed milk, without using the sugar. Or you can even use just milk and sugar.
I really wanted to add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder as well, but just missed out! Would have given a lovely flavor...
I missed to use pine nuts!!! This is a nut used in almost all Arabic baking, whether sweet or savory. Though it was not missed much as there was enough of crunch in the dessert, I would have loved to add it to give it a more authentic feel.