UMM ‘ALI

egyptian bread pudding

image Umm ‘ali is the classic Egyptian dessert, an Arab version of bread pudding made with layers of very thin, crisp flat bread soaked with sweetened milk and topped with nuts. Egyptians sprinkle the bread with a little melted butter. I skip this step for a lighter dessert. I also use a larger quantity of nuts for more crunch. And finally, I add a little orange blossom water to the milk to lift the flavor. Egyptians use a flat bread called reqaq (meaning flattened very thin), which is not widely available, so I use marquq (handkerchief bread) or the thinnest lavash I can find, and toast the bread in the oven before using. It works very well, though I find it somewhat counterintuitive to crisp bread and then soak it immediately in milk; but if you serve umm ‘ali straight out of the oven, the bread will retain a little crunch. In fact, you really need to time your dessert so that you serve it immediately out of the oven. You can reheat leftovers, but add a little milk or cream before serving.

SERVES 4 TO 6

5 Tbsp [50 g] raisins

9 oz [250 g] marquq (handkerchief bread) or thin lavash

21/3 cups [350 g] mixed nuts (such as pistachios, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, almonds, and walnuts)

3 cups [720 ml] whole milk

1/2 cup [100 g] organic cane sugar

1 Tbsp orange blossom water

Crème fraîche for serving

In a small bowl, cover the raisins with water and let soak at room temperature for about 1 hour, until plump and softened.

Preheat the oven to 400°F [200°C].

Lay one sheet of marquq on a large baking sheet and toast in the oven until crisp and golden, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and repeat with the remaining marquq. Maintain the oven temperature.

Break the toasted bread into medium-size pieces and arrange in an oval baking dish measuring about 11 by 6 in [28 by 25 cm] with sides about 21/2 in [6 cm] high.

Spread the nuts on a large baking sheet and place in the oven. Toast until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool; maintain the oven temperature.

Put the milk and sugar in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring every now and then. Remove from the heat and add the orange blossom water.

Pour the hot milk over the bread. Drain the raisins and sprinkle them along with the nuts all over the bread.

Bake until the milk is almost completely absorbed and the bread is a little crisp around the edges, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately, dolloped with crème fraîche.

preparing nuts

In the old days, I toasted my nuts in a little butter in a pan on the stove top, stirring them all the time until they colored, but now I spread them on a baking sheet and toast them in a 400°F [200°C] oven for anything between 6 and 9 minutes, depending on what nut I am using, until the nuts are golden brown and crisp. They color just as evenly and I save time and extra fat.

Sometimes my recipes specify soaking the nuts. This is to make them easy to peel if that is a step you choose to take, but more important, the soaking rehydrates them and makes them taste as if they were fresh from the tree. I soak them overnight in enough water to cover them in the bowl. This step will not, however, restore rancid nuts, which should be thrown out.