Home Bakers Challenge - Umm Ali
Hopping from one home baker's challenge to another. Wow! I'm on a roll. Rather not. It simply means another month passed where the multi tasking mum had to keep her creative indulgences at bay, while the toddler and the school goer took over.
The tiny baby has entered the troublesome twosome phase even before she hits her two. Yes and also has taken to a routine, which doesn't suit anyone, especially not me. And that's by dropping her daytime naps. Yes that very prized hour or two of peace and solace that I look forward to even before the day begins. She's hyper actively living on 10 hours of sleep at night and doesn't feel any need to rest all through the day. Yes we sing rhymes, we color (the walls more than the papers), we go for walks, we watch 'Peppa Pig', we pretend to play, while creating a mess, we eat something yummy (everything going inside the mouth is yummy, even water and bread).....and then we get exhausted. Ohh did I forget to mention, that mama tries to finish the endless chores in between..yes just tries to.
I'm sure every mum, knows exactly what I'm talking about, but theres' one, who in particular does -Raising Master Max is a blog that makes me smile, cry and basically relate! It was such a change to read motherhood in all honesty and beauty. Not sugar coated tales of the lovely angels and undying love for the little one but a more real perspective. Yes it takes guts to write about the chaos, madness, tears and heart breaking days, that motherhood throws at us. And Cherie does full justice to walking the fine line of love and madness.
So here's my post for Home Baker's Challenge, before I head to Sri Lanka tonight, for a much awaited vacation. Yes we all do some fine balancing in life. And Rafeeda of The big Sweet Tooth the host for this month certainly does a commendable job of this work-life balance. Kudos! For this month she gave "Arabic bakes" as the theme, and it certainly was an exciting theme to work with. After all it was high time, I shared something from the region, which is my current home.
So here's Umm Ali, an Egyptian baked dessert, which has layers of puff pastry soaked in sweet cream and toasted nuts. Like most famous dishes, this too has a history, though not at all sweet. You can read more about it here -Om Ali
Umm Ali Recipe
Ingredients:
6 - 8 small square slices of puff pastry
1
tbsp vegetable oil
1/2
cup (50g) thinly sliced almonds
1/2
cup (50g) sultanas
1/4
cup (25g) pines, raw
1/2
cup (50g) cashew, raw
2
1/2 cup (625ml) whipping cream
2 cup (100g) sugar
1
tsp cinnamon powder
¼
cup (57g)shredded coconut
Method:
Thaw
the frozen puff pastry in the refrigerator for at least a half hour.
Preheat oven to 180C / 350 F / Gas mark 4.
Line
the puff pastry on a non stick baking sheet. Brush with oil. Bake in
the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden. Remove the puff pastry
from the baking sheet, into a wire rack to cool. Place the almonds,
pine, and cashews into the baking sheet (no need to clean it). Bake
until the nuts are brown (almost 5 minutes). Once done, remove the
nuts from the oven, let cool.
Meanwhile,
while the puff pastry as cooling, put the whipping cream, sugar,
cinnamon and nutmeg (if using) in a medium sauce pan, stir just
until the sugar is dissolved. Don’t boil, remove from heat when
its right below boiling point.
Break
the puff pastry into small pieces. Place enough puff pastry in each
ramekin to fill it half way. Sprinkle with sultanas, nuts and
coconut. Pour some of the whipping cream on it, then fill the
ramekins with the rest of the puff pasty. Slowly add the remaining
whipping cream to cover the puff pastry. Sprinkle some coconut and
nuts (reserve some nuts and coconuts for decoration).
Placed
the ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 20
minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the top is golden
color.
Cool
for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, decorate with pistachios,
more coconut and nuts.
I promise loads of pics and memories from the Ceylon trail, till then relish this!
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