...and I eventually made booza. What is booza? Lebanese ice cream.

This recipe inspired me.

I adapted it; anyway, I still had mastic bought in Lebanon and salep powder from Albania.

In the end, the ingredients used were:

1l goat’s milk

200g sugar

3 pieces of mastic (powdered)

1/2 teaspoon of salep powder

+pistachios (optional)

After powdering the mastic, mix all the ingredients in a pan. 

Continue stirring for 40 minutes on low heat (the texture changes every 10 minutes).  

In the end, pour the contents into a bowl. Cool it in the fridge. Stir again before placing it into the freezer. Repeat three times, every 10 minutes.

You should feel a gummier dessert; let it rest in the freezer for a few hours.

Serve with crushed pistachios; enjoy the booza taste, as it is traditionally made from goat’s milk, similar to (Turkish) dondurma.

I fell in love with this cake in Lebanon (I have a special relationship with ’ashta’, the cream used everywhere in Phoenicia, anyway). I baked it for the first time on my birthday in 2023, adapting it (it’s not easy to bake with semolina!); I kept preparing it. This is what happens when a result is tasty!

For the cream:

In a large baking pan, mix and boil (low heat)

530ml whipping cream

420ml milk

67g flour

5 tbsp of sugar + 135g sugar

Before removing it from the heat, add a drop of

orange blossom water

rose water

You’ve made ashta.

Continue with the dough. 

In a bowl, mix

330g semolina

100g coconut or date sugar

3g baking powder

a pinch of salt

4 tbsp of sour cream

150g (melted and slightly cooled) butter

Divide the (sticky) dough into two equal parts; place the first part on the baking parchment by pressing fragments of the dough into the 34x24cm baking pan. (Don’t worry; it will all get homogenous through baking.) 

Sprinkle as many crushed pistachios as you like. 

Pour the ashta. 

Add another layer of crushed pistachios. 

Then, spread pieces of the remaining layer on top of the cake.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven at 180°C.

Cool in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Savour it. It is a creamy and delicious cake, one of my favourite desserts ever! ♥

 

While in mythical Byblos at the end of last year, a yellow cake looked very appealing to me at breakfast. It included turmeric, but I loved it! When I returned home, I tried to bake it; it was a success.

This NoMoMoo challenge, which is very dear to me and started last week, made me push the limits of this cake, searching for and finding gluten-free vegan substitute ingredients.

The star? The cashew sour cream from NoMoMoo!

You will need a 20x20 cm baking pan and—

100g cornstarch

a pinch of sea salt

110g brown sugar

100g gluten-free oatmeal

1 teaspoon of turmeric powder

4g baking powder

140g cashew sour cream

orange blossom water

90ml spring water

35ml flaxseed oil

1 tbsp of tahini

9 pistachio beans

I like authenticity, so I choose my ingredients as much as possible from the countries whose recipes I prepare or from nearby countries. I love local producers!

If we talk about basic ingredients, I used Romanian cornstarch. I bought the sea salt from Lebanon in a convent from Anfeh village. I also bought the orange blossom water from Lebanon – and you may add more than just a drop. The tahini is from Turkey; the pistachio is Iranian but processed in Romania. The flaxseed oil is Romanian. The best ingredients can transform a regular meal into a terrific one, especially if we prepare it with love and support!

Returning to the NoMoMoo sour cream, it is special: fluffy, versatile, and great! Panda feels the same way.

To make this cake, which is perfect as such or as a tea cake, mix the cornstarch, the sea salt, the brown sugar, the oatmeal, the turmeric powder, and the baking powder.

Add the wet ingredients: the cashew sour cream, the orange blossom water, the spring water, and the flaxseed oil.

Stir with a wooden spoon until homogenised.

Grease the baking pan with tahini, pour the mixture, and add the pistachio beans in 9 (imagined) centres of slices.

Bake at 180°C in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Let it cool and enjoy it!

What flavours do you feel? 😊