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! ♥

200ml milk

5 teaspoons of sugar

1/3 teaspoon of salep powder

a drop of rose water

+ dried rose petals

I knew from a very dear Albanian friend that you could drink salep powder with water and milk. She made them both for me in Gjirokastër two years ago but I’ve only tried the milk version since in AlUla. And I fell in love!

(Note 1: You can use plant-based milk. Note 2: Cornstarch has become very popular as a salep powder substitute. In this drink, however, I prefer the latter.)  

Mix the milk, the sugar, and the salep powder. Let it boil (it will thicken a bit).

Add some rose water to your mix.

Then, pour everything into a cup and sprinkle dried rose petals on top.

You’ll love it. It took me back to Saudi Arabia. Really.

One of my all-time favourite desserts. And Marcel's. :-)

We first discovered it in a Lebanese restaurant in our hometown and I tried several recipes, but this one's delivering the real experience—

(makes 3)

240ml whipping cream

120ml milk

15g flour

15g cornstarch

5 teaspoons sugar

a drop of rose water

a drop of orange blossom water

+ 1 large banana

+ 9 tbsp honey

Bring the cream/milk/flour/cornstarch/sugar mix to a boil.

Add the rose water and orange blossom water.

Let the ashta cool for 1 hour in the fridge.

Divide into 3. Cut a banana into slices and add them to the small bowls of ashta.

Serve with honey.