Umm Ali
Flaky baked puff pastry, broken into pieces and soaked in warm sweetened milk and cream, then scattered with nuts, raisins, and coconut and baked until bubbling and golden on top. Popular legend ties the dessert to 13th-century Mamluk-Ayyubid sultana Shajar al-Durr, said to have been ordered distributed to the public after her death, though the story's details shift between retellings and historians treat it as folklore rather than documented history.
DessertVegetarian
⚠ Contains: Dairy, Gluten, Tree Nut. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, baked and roughly broken (about 8 oz), or torn filo layers
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup mixed nuts (pistachios, almonds, walnuts), chopped
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Ground cinnamon, for garnish
Steps
- Bake the puff pastry sheet until golden and flaky, then break into large pieces.
- Scatter the pastry pieces in a baking dish.
- Heat the milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm, not boiling.
- Pour the warm milk mixture over the pastry, letting it soak in.
- Scatter the chopped nuts, raisins, and shredded coconut over the top.
- Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes, or broil briefly at the end, until the top is golden and bubbling.
- Dust with cinnamon and serve warm.