Mouhalabie

I first discovered this delicious dessert at one of my favourite Lebanese restaurants in Paris. I adore Lebanese cuisine, it's my go to choice if I do not feel like cooking and fancy a treat! After devouring my usual falafel wrap and tabbouleh, this dessert was a DREAM, and I decided I had to recreate it.

Mouhalabie is a creamy milk pudding flavoured with orange blossom water and rose water and topped off with crushed pistachios. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I have an absolute addiction to floral flavours, whether that be in the form of perfume, candles, tea, or anything edible (my favourite sweets have always been those tiny Cherry Lips you can only buy from old fashioned sweet shops. The ones which no one else liked because their perfumed flavour made them actually taste like soap!). So for me this pudding is perfection!

To recreate this dessert I used almond milk rather than milk and it worked perfectly! I try to avoid refined sugars, so I used agave syrup as the sweetener. This recipe is really simple, it's very similar to making custard! If you're not so much of a floral fanatic, you could omit/ swap the flavours as you wish, and create your own spin on this Lebanese dessert!

For me, this recipe made 8 portions, but this will vary depending on the size of the ramekins you use.

Ingredients:

1 Litre unsweetened almond milk

5 tbsp cornflour

4 tbsp agave syrup

1/2 vanilla pod

1 tbsp orange blossom water

1/2 tbsp rose water

Handful of pistachios

Method:

1) In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour and a small amount of the almond milk into a smooth paste and set aside.

2) Heat the remaining almond milk, agave syrup, seeds from the vanilla pod, orange blossom, and rose water in a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat. Once the mixture is hot, add the cornflour paste to the saucepan and mix continuously with a wooden spoon.

3) After about 10-15 minutes the mixture should have reached a custard-like consistency; it should be smooth and thick. Remove from the heat and pour equal amounts of the mixture into small ramekins.

4) Either use a knife to chop up the pistachios very finely, or use a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces. Sprinkle the pistachios onto the top of the dessert to decorate.

5) Place ramekins in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving!

Enjoy x