Um Ali

Um Ali is  an Egyptian dessert that is just unbelievably delicious. Um Ali translates to Ali's mother.

I moved to the Abu Dhabi this year, and it was here that I was introduced to this amazingly delicious dessert. Every buffet I went to aaaaaaaaaaalways served Um Ali,  and these were five star buffets. My first experience of Um Ali was just perfect, and I looked forward to the next time I would taste it again. But for some reason, the other Um Alis werent quite the same standard as that of my very first Um Ali experience. They just didn't seem to get it right. So I started experimenting at home, trying to make my own perfect version of it, and I finally did. This is a very very very tasty and so easy to make, 
What you need

1 package of frozen puff pastry (about 500g) OR about 6 large croissants

1  can of sweetened condensed milk

3 cups water

nestle thick cream (usually comes in a 170g can)

3/4 cup mixed nuts finally chopped (pistachio, almonds, peanuts..etc)

1/2 - 3/4 cups coconut flakes (depending on taste)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 200 C/ Gas 6. Cook puff pastry sheets as per instructions on greased baking sheets til they are puffed and golden.  Dont turn off the oven as we will be using it again in a few minutes. If you are using ready croissants, then just slightly warm them up.

Break the puff pastry/ croissants into 2 inch pieces and place in a baking dish (9x12). I usually use a Pyrex dish as I serve directly from that. Sprinkle the mixed nuts ( you can use absolutely any type of nuts you like, I usually use flaked almonds and ground peanuts) and coconut evenly over the puff pastry.

Now, in a separate saucepan, pour in the sweetened condensed milk, the vanilla extract, and the water and cook on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. Once this is done, leave it to cool for about a minute.

Pour the sweet milk mix over puff pastry/croissants, nuts and coconut. sprinkle the thick cream (qishta/kishta) over the top and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. This is perfect served warm. 

If you want it to look pretty, sprinkle the top with some ground pistachio just before serving. Enjoy :)

Sticky Toffee Pudding / Date cake

After the end of Ramadan, the amount of dates that had accumulated in my apartment was ridiculous. So it was either throw them out (bad idea) or live a guilt free life, and do something creative with them. So I decided to make a nice Sticky Toffee Pudding which proved a hit with the people at work. Naturally I had requests for more :)

what you will need:

225g fresh dates (stones removed)

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda85g butter (room temperature)170g caster sugar2 large eggs170g self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons Ovaltine OR (coco powder)
2 tablespoons natural yogurt
For the toffee sauce
115g unsalted butter
115g light muscovado sugar
140ml double cream / nestle thick cream (Qishta)
While the cake is cooking, make the toffee sauce by putting the butter, sugar and cream in a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened and darkened in colour.
While the cake is cooking, make the toffee sauce by putting the butter, sugar and cream in a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and the sauce has thickened and darkened in colour.

Preheat your oven to 180ºC/Gas 4.

Put the dates in a bowl with the bicarbonate of soda and cover with 200ml of boiling water for 5 minutes to allow them to soften, then drain. 

Blotz the dates in a food processor to make a date paste. 

Cream together your butter and sugar, then add and mix in the eggs, flour,  cinnamon and Ovaltine/ coco powder. Then fold in the yogurt and your date paste.

Pour into a prepared ovenproof dish and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes.

To serve, spoon out the pudding at the table and pour over the toffee sauce. Ooooh Mama ;)