Aish el saraya

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.