Aish El Saraya...

Eid Mubarak to all...

May you be blessed with joy, peace and happiness.

Aish El Saraya...

It means bread of the royal palace. It's a Lebanese dish. Aish El-Saraya is made on special occasions.

Sweet sugar syrup is drizzled over the toasted bread and covered with thick cream on top. It is garnished with chopped pistachios and rose petals. It is served chilled. 

With love from my kitchen....

For the Syrup

Ingredients

1/2 cup Sugar

1 tsp Lime juice

2 tsp Rosewater

Method

Add sugar, lime juice and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Stir and let it cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and bring it to a boil and switch of the flame. Stir in rosewater. Cool for 10 minutes.

To make Aish El Saraya

Ingredients

8 slices White Bread,sides cut and toasted

1 1/2 cups of Milk

1/3 cup  Sugar

1 cup Fresh Cream

3 tbsp Cornflour

1 tsp Rosewater

Sugar Syrup

1/4 cup chopped Pistachios

Few dried Rose petals

Method

Take a baking dish. Place 4 slices of toasted bread slices into the dish in a way that no gap should remain. Pour 1/2 of the syrup on the bread. Top with remaining bread. Drizzle with remaining syrup. Keep it aside. Add milk, cream, sugar and cornflour in a  sauce pan. Stir it till the cornflour has mixed well. Cook, stirring it constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Switch of the flame. Stir in rosewater.Pour over the bread in the dish. Sprinkle with pistachio. Set aside to cool. Refrigerate until it sets. Serve.

Kesar Pista Rasmalai Cake...

This was in my bucket list for a long time. This cake is infused with rasmalai milk and dressed with whipped cream and cream cheese, flavoured with Kesar essence. It is decorated with rasgulla, saffron strands, dried rose petals and ground pistachio. You can make rasmalai at home or you can get it store bought. 

Try this fusion cake and I am sure you will like it... 

With love from my kitchen...

You need 8 rasmalai rasgullas for the cake..

For the Cake..

Ingredients 

1 3/4 cups of All Purpose Flour 

1 1/4 cups of rasmalai milk or more if required 

1/4 cup Curd 

1/4 cup Sugar syrup 

3/4 cup Oil

1 tsp Kesar essence 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Soda bicarbonate 

5 Rasgullas milk squeezed out from it 

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Add oil and 1 cup of milk. Gradually add the flour and salt. Beat it.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup milk and the essence. Beat it again. Add the baking powder, soda bicarbonate, curd and the sugar syrup. Beat it. The batter should be thick dropping consistency. Add more milk if you require to get the right consistency. Grease a baking tin. Grease it with oil. Pour the batter to 3/4 of the tin. Place the rasgulla into the cake batter. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Insert a toothpick to check. Once done, remove it out from the oven and cool it completely before decorating the cake. 

For Icing 

Ingredients 

1 cup Whipped  cream 

1 cup Cream Cheese 

1/2 cup Rasmalai milk 

1 tsp Kesar essence 

Few strands of Saffron 

2 tbsp of ground Pistachio 

Few dried Rose petals 

3 Rasgulla cut into half

Method 

Take a mixing bowl. Add the whipped cream and beat it. As it forms a soft peak, add the cream cheese and the essence. Beat it for 2 minutes. Add few saffron strands and 2 tbsp of the milk. Beat it for a minute. Take the cake, slice it horizontally from the centre. Drizzle the milk on the cake slices. Add the cream on one of the cake slices.  Cover the cream with another slice of cake on top. Cover the cake with the first layer of icing. Refrigerate it for 15 minutes. Apply the remaining icing and decorate it with rasgullas, ground pistachio, few more strands of Saffron and dried rose petals. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes and enjoy it.

Ma'amoul

Ma'amoul 

Ma'amoul are small shortbread pastries filled with dates, figs, pistachios or walnuts. They are made in the shape of balls or flattened cookies. They can either be decorated by hand or be made in special wooden moulds. Ma'amoul with date fillings are often known as menenas.

They are very popular in Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and other Levantine countries, and highly demanded in the Persian Gulf States. Many households keep a stock of them all year round, but they are particularly made during festivals and celebrations... 

Information from Net ....

There are different ways of making it.. 

If we don't have Ma'amoul mould then we can use any mould which is available.

For the Dough

Ingredients 

1 cup  Fine Semolina

1 1/2 cup  All Purpose Flour 

1/2 cup Powder Sugar 

1/2 cup Milk powder 

1 tsp Dry Yeast 

1/4 tsp Salt 

2/3 cup Butter Room temperature 

1/4 cup Oil 

1/4 cup Lukewarm Water 

1 tsp Orange essence or 1 tbsp Orange Blossom Water 

Method 

Take yeast and lukewarm water. Mix it in a cup and keep it aside. In another mixing bowl, add the butter and oil. Beat it till  fluffy. Add the sugar and beat it. Add yeast water and orange essence. Beat it again. Add all purpose flour, semolina, milk powder and salt. Mix it to form a dough. Keep it aside.

For the Stuffing 

Ingredients 

1 cup Dried Figs ground 

1/4 cup Walnut ground

½ cup Pistachios ground 

¼ cup Brown Sugar

Method 

Take fig and walnut in a bowl, mix it together. Similarly mix pistachio and brown sugar, mix it together. This will make 2 different stuffings.

For the Cookies 

Method 

Divide the dough into equal small size balls. The portion should be the size of the mould. Take a dough ball. Flatten the  ball using your palm and create a hollow in the centre. Place any stuffing desired in the centre. Press the stuffing and close the edges of the dough.  Press the edges and seal well. Press it into the mould. Gently  remove the cookie from the mould. Prepare the rest of the cookies in the same manner. Place the cookies in a rows, on a greased baking tray. Bake it at 180 degrees celcius for 20 minutes till brown in colour. Remove from the oven and let it cool.

Kesar Pista Kaju Chakli

How about celebrating Diwali with
Kesar Pista Kaju Chakli ✨✨
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Cashew flour /powder
1 1/2 cups Pistacho flour / powder
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
2 pinch Saffron 
Ghee for greasing
Pistacho flakes
1 tsp Saffron syrup

Method
Place a thick bottomed pan on a medium flame;  add sugar and water. Let the sugar dissolve in the wate. The syrup should  be in between 1 and 2 string consistency. Divided the sugar syrup into 2 parts. Take 1 part of the sugar syrup; add saffron and  powdered cashews to the sugar syrup. Lower the flame and keep on stirring the cashew paste till it  thickens and  becomes a soft dough. Switch of the gas. To check if it is ready to be rolled, just roll a small pinch of the dough in between your fore finger and thumb. Similarly repeat the same process with the powdered Pistacho at the same time.  If it does not stick to your fingers then that means it is ready to be rolled. Apply little ghee on the the palms.  Roll the two doughs into cylindrical long rope of the same size together. Cut the dough into equal portions. Take a portion. Apply ghee on the platform. Place the dough on the platform. With the help of the palm; roll the dough gently into a long thick rope shape around 4 inch. Give the rope a spiral shape. Repeat it with other portions. Garnish with pistachio flakes and a touch of saffron syrup in the center...