An Out-Of-The Box Rendition Of Homemade Ramadan Desserts
With every Ramadan, families get excited about the delicious assortment of go-to dishes during iftar including the adored sambosak as well as the classic chicken and molokhia combo. Once they get past the post-iftar food coma then comes the much-needed sugar dose of Ramadan desserts. Thing is, these days going out and buying a kilo of kunafa or basboosa can be quite pricy so we thought, why not make your life easier and compile for you some unique and fun recipes that you can easily make from the comfort of your home.
Phyllo Milk Pie
Sometimes simplicity can go a long way and that is exactly the case with a classic phyllo milk pie. It is a delicious pastry made of folded sheets of phyllo dough that are soaked in a mixture of sweetened condensed milk and whipping cream. On top of that, they are usually sprinkled with puffs of ground cinnamon and an assortment of nuts to give the entire dessert a kick of flavor.
Making the dessert could not be easier as you’ll only need six ingredients to prepare it. Simply put, you’ll only need phyllo sheets, melted butter to help it get crunchy, sweetened condensed milk for the added sweetness, whipped cream for its creamy texture, cinnamon and assorted nuts for an added crunch. Start off by stacking one sheet of phyllo at a time onto an open-faced dish until it fills up and then grab a brush and spread the dough with butter. Follow that by baking the pie until its golden brown then drizzle it with sweetened condensed milk, whipping cream, cinnamon and nuts. To get the measurements and entire recipe, you can check out cleobuttra’s recipe
Halawa Truffles
Tahini is widely adored as the ultimate condiment to most Arab dishes but what’s also great about it is that it can be made sweet with the addition of powdered milk and sugar, creating the much loved dessert known as halawa. To up the ante even higher, you can revamp the sugary tahini-based dessert into elegant mini truffles of three different coatings: sliced pistachio, toasted sesame and chocolate.
To make these sugary delights you’ll first need to make the tahini by mixing together powdered sugar, powdered milk and tahini in a bowl then roll the mixture into balls. Then it’s time to go crazy with the toppings by dipping each ball into either a bowl of sesame seeds, pistachio or melted chocolate. You can transfer each dipped concoction onto a parchment lined plate and decorate them with sprinkles or any extra topping of your choice. For the full recipe including measurements, you can head to cleobuttra’s official page.
Pistachio Cake With Mahalabia Cream
Pistachio is known as an all-star ingredient for many classic desserts during the month of Ramadan whether it’s a sweet baklava or a crunchy mafroukeh. To change things up, we wanted to use the ingredient in a new way by turning it into a lava cake with mahalabia cream oozing from the middle. With this recipe, mahalabia, the popular sweet milk pudding will be rendered into a creamy thick sauce that will be the centrepiece of the entire cake.
For the cake portion, you’ll grind together bread crumbs, pistachio, baking powder and cinnamon in a food processor and then follow that by mixing the nut mixture with eggs, sugar and melted butter and then baking the entire mixture in a mini bundt pan. For the mahalabia portion, just heat up milk, cream, condensed milk and corn flour in a pan until it thickens. Then whip the mixture using an electric mixer to get that satiny smooth texture for the cream. The final step is to pour in the cream onto the center of the cake and sprinkle in some pistachio for an added fun garnish. To know all the measurements needed, check out the full recipe on the sweet and savory blog.
Toffee Kunafa With Coconut Sauce
Kunafa is one of those tried and true desserts that remains a staple not just during Ramadan but all year round. If you are bored of the typical way its made, we have a great recipe that will beat any expensive store-bought version we are accustomed to buying. To make this recipe with a twist, you can serve it in a tall fancy glass and layer it with delicious whipped cream and toffee sauce.
This is probably the easiest recipe on this list as all you’ll need to do is roast some konafa hairs with butter in a pan, set that aside then for the toffee sauce, mix together fresh cream, dulce de leche and coconut milk and finally, make the whipped cream by mixing it with cream cheese so it can have a firm and sticky texture. Then comes the assembly part, you’ll take a tall glass, add in the konafa, followed by the whipped cream then the toffee sauce and repeat this step until the entire glass is filled to the brim. For the full recipe, you can head to the from my kitchen blog.
Ghazal Beirut Ice Cream Cake
If you ever go to any Lebanese restaurant, you will definitely find Ghazal Beirut on the menu. The special dessert is made of a unique kind of Lebanese cotton candy wrapped around a scoop of mastic ice cream. This type of cotton candy is denser, chewier and has more depth of flavor compared to the sugar version. To give it a fun twist, we found a recipe that turns it into a family-style ice cream cake. With the weather leaning towards the warmer side, this is a great refreshing dessert to enjoy after a hearty iftar meal.
All you have to do to make this icy cake is to pour slightly softened mastic ice-cream onto a round pan and freeze it overnight. The next day, flip the cake upside down and then drizzle the cotton candy on top, making sure to pile it nice and high. For the final touch, add a sprinkle of pistachio on top and you’ll have yourself a delicious cool dessert for Ramadan. To make this recipe, you can check out cleobuttra‘s version of this dessert.
As you can see, all these recipes take on classic ingredients and desserts we already know and love and give them a new and fun twist. For even more ideas, you can check out cleobuttra’s blog as it is packed with delicious ideas for Ramadan desserts like pistachio kunafa icecream cake but also unique and fun iftar recipes for the holy month.
