Photograph of the finished Aish el saraya

Middle East · Bánh mì ngâm xi rô phủ kem Aish el saraya

Aish el saraya

40 min Hands-on time + 4 hr waiting
EasyDifficulty
6 stepsSteps
Serves 4 Amounts follow along 4

What to get ready

  • Photograph of Sliced sandwich bread Sliced sandwich bread 24 slices
  • Photograph of Fresh milk Fresh milk 1.6 l
  • Photograph of Semolina flour Semolina flour 180 g
  • Photograph of Sugar Sugar 520 g
  • Photograph of Orange blossom water Orange blossom water 40 ml
  • Photograph of Fresh cream Fresh cream 320 ml
  • Photograph of Pistachios Pistachios 140 g
  • Photograph of Lime Lime 2

Method

  1. 1 Bake the crustless sliced bread at 170 degrees for 12 minutes until dry and crispy, then crumble it into crumbs.
  2. 2 Cook the sugar with 130 ml of water, lemon juice, and orange blossom water for 8 minutes to make a syrup, then let it cool slightly.
  3. 3 Sprinkle the cake crumbs onto the tray, then pour warm syrup over them and press flat to form a 2 cm thick layer.
  4. 4 The cake must be baked until dry first; a soft cake absorbs the syrup and forms a sticky paste instead of a firm base.
  5. 5 Heat the milk with semolina for 10 minutes until it thickens into a creamy ashta, then mix in the fresh cream and let it cool.
  6. 6 Spread the cream over the cake layers, refrigerate for 4 hours, and sprinkle with crushed pistachios when slicing.

With an appliance

  • Air fryer 35 min

    Replace step 1: layer the bread slices, run the steamer at 190 degrees for 7 minutes and flip at the 4th minute; this is about 5 minutes faster than an oven, the crumbs are drier and crispier, but the small size of the steamer means you'll need to divide it into batches if making a large batch. Step 5 still involves cooking the ashtray on the stovetop because the steamer doesn't replace the milk stirring step.

Start cooking