Desserts

Baklava

Method
In a heavy saucepan combine all ingredients for honey syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil for 5 minutes. Take from heat and let cool. Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter a 9" x 13" glass pan. Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a bowl, set aside. Melt butter.  Layer half of the phillo dough sheets one at time into glass pan, brushing each sheet with melted butter.  Pour nuts mixture over dough and continue layering remaining phillo sheets as before.  Cut into 2" diamonds.  Bake 30 minutes.  Reduce heat to 225F and bake an additional 30 minutes. Pour cooled syrup over warm pastry.  Let stand at least one hour before serving

Basbousa with Almonds

Method
Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a pan.  Simmer for a few minutes.  Chop the almonds finely and fry them in hot butter together with the semolina until they are golden.  Add the hot syrup slowly stirring constantly over low heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cover the pan. Let cool slightly. Pour into greased molds and flatten out the tops. Unmold and serve warm. Top with a dollop of cream. Semolina is coarsely ground durum wheat, a highly glutinous (hard) wheat. When other grains, such as rice or corn, are similarly ground, they are referred to as "semolina," i.e., "corn semolina" or "rice semolina."  (flour)  

Konafa

Method
Prepare the syrup by combining all ingredients and heating over medium heat. Let simmer until thickened. Stir in orange blossom water and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Cream filling: Mix ground rice and sugar to a smooth paste with 1/2 cup milk. 
Boil the rest of the milk and add the ground rice paste slowly stirring continuously.  Simmer until thick. 
Let cool, add cream and mix well.
Walnut or pistachio filling:Mix the chopped nuts with sugar. Put the konafa pastry in a large bowl and pull apart to separate the strands as much as possible. Pour melted butter over them and work it in thoroughly. 
Put half of the pastry in a large, deep oven dish. Spread either filling over it evenly. 
Cover with the remaining pastry and flattening out with the palm of your hand. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  
Then increase temperature to 475 degrees for an additional 10-15 minutes longer until it is golden. Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cold syrup over the hot konafa. Serve hot or cold.

Atayef

Method
Prepare pancake mix, (slightly thin but not as thin as you would make for crepes). In a large skillet heat 2 teaspoon vegetable oil. Pour 1/2 cup batter into pan making small rounds. Cook until done. (DO NOT FLIP) Remove from pan and let cool.
  Walnut filling Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat to boiling for 10 minutes. Let cool. Spoon mixture onto uncooked side of pancake rounds and fold over.
Clotted cream filling Mix cream with powdered sugar and spoon onto uncooked side of pancake rounds, fold over. Syrup for drizzling Mix all ingredients and bring to a slow boil for 20 minutes. Let cool. Consistency should be that of cold maple syrup. Pakistani Dessert

Sheer Korma

Method
Wash the dry fruit and soak in alittle milk for 3-4 hours.In a pot add milk,sugar and illaichi seeds and simmer on low heat until it starts to thicken. Add the vermicelli and keep cooking till it softens. Add the presoaked dry fruit and cook for 5 minutes and just before removing from heat add the kevera essence. Can be served hot or chilled

Gajar Ka Halva

 Method
Grate the carrots and put them in a pot on low heat along with the illaichi seeds. When they become soft and water dries add sugar and again leave for the water to dry.
Then add oil,khoya,dryfruit and milk and dry the water on high heat. When done add khevera just before removing from heat. Can be served hot or cold.

Ras Malai

Method
 Mix together the ingredients into a dough and form into small oval,slightly flattened balls. Meanwhile boil the milk with sugar and illaichi seeds. When the milk starts to boil add the malai balls. When they start to swell up lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. Just before removing from heat add kevera essence.Garnish with pista. Chill and serve.

Cocunut Burfi

Method

Add all the four above mentioned ingredients to a deep non stick vessel.
Allow the milk to boil on low flame stirring the contents occassionally.
Once the milk starts thickening, check if the mixture has attained the required consistency (A simple test is to wet your hand, put some mixture on the palm and see if you can roll it up into a ball.
If you cannot, then wait for some more time before you can try it out again).
Keep stirring the contents throughout the whole process Once the consistency is right, pour the mixture on to a greased tray (greased with ghee or butter) .
Cut the mixture into squares and allow it to cool .

Moroccan Dessert

Moroccan Fruit Dessert

Method
Soak the prunes and the apricots in lots of water overnight, they will swell up so make sure the container is large and that they are well covered.
Grease an ovenproof dish using unsalted butter. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Heat the milk (but do not let it boil) and drain the apricots and prunes. Mix the flour and the sugar and beat in the eggs to a smooth batter (I suggest a wooden spoon or whisk). Pour in the hot milk slowly beating all the time, mix thoroughly. Add the raisins.
Distribute the fruit evenly in the dish and pour the egg mixture over it. Sprinkle crumbs of butter over the surface.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 - 55 minutes. The top should be golden brown with an occasional piece of fruit sticking out, a well placed skewer should come out clean. Sprinkle the nuts over the top and place under the grill for a couple of minutes and then serve. The quantities were just right for an oval dish 22 x 30 x 4 cm.

Ghoriba with Almonds
Ingredients

Method
Mix the beaten eggs in a container, the granulated sugar, the yeast and the zest of lemon. Add little by little the chopped almonds and the semolina. Work this mixture energetically until getting a soft dough.
Dampen the hands with the water of orange blossom, remove thick part like a walnut of dough, make a ball of it and flatten it very slightly .put it on the bottom of icing sugar. Arrange the balls on an oiled plate, sugary face toward the high.
Cook to middle oven (th: 5_6) for 20 to 25 mn.

Pancakes of Semolina

Ingredients:

Method
Mix the semolina, with salt and sugar then insert the butter. Well mix, knead and wet of some water until getting a dough a little soft.
Shape the pancakes of 1 cm of thickness and cook on soft fire in a dry stove for 5 to 10 mn of each side. Taste tepid.

M’semmen or Foliated Pancakes

Method
Make a well to the center of the flour, there put the salt and add little by little the water in kneading energetically until getting a very smooth dough. With some oiled hands, make some balls of the size of a tangerine and arrange them on an oiled surface.
Spread out the balls one by one with the palm of the oiled hand stretching the dough mildly in all the senses until it is very fine. Fold back the 4 sides in to get a square of 8 cm.
Gild them on the 2 faces in a buttered stove they are served with honey or sugar. We can also stuff them before bending and cooking them, for example of crushed almonds and of sugar, but also of a mixture of onion, of parsley, of pieces of meat and of spices.