Aish al Saraya
عيش السرايا
Have you ever tasted heaven on a spoon? No!!!
Well you should give this dessert a try to take you to heavenly bliss. My reaction after having a spoon was WOW!!! I was so mesmerized by this that I forgot my diet and just dug into it like anything. This is just pure bliss!!! You have to eat it to believe me.
Aish al Saraya is an Arabic dessert which literally translates to 'the bread of the palace'. Aish is bread and saraya is palace in Arabic.
This simple yet luxurious bread dessert is quick to prepare and requires minimal cooking. The bread part is doused in rose and orange blossom water syrup while the cream or custard is simple to make yet high on flavors. My special touch to this otherwise authentic dessert is the addition of saffron to the custard part. I wanted to make it more rich in flavors and presentation and what better than Saffron to bring that royalty!!
There are three parts of making this special and luxurious dessert; the base, the surup and the custard. It is then garnished with slivers of pistachios.
I will give the ingredients list separately for each part so that it becomes easy to understand.
I have used readily available Rusks as the base however you can use white toasted bread too.
I have made this in a glass dish of size . You can adjust the ingredients according to your requirement.
INGREDIENTS:
For the Base:
Rusks- 30
For the Syrup:Water- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 cup
Orange blossom water- 4 teaspoon
Rose water- 4 teaspoon
Lemon juice- 3 teaspoon
For the Custard:Milk- 3 cups
Thick Cream- 250 grams
Sugar- 1/3rd cup
Rose Water- 2 teaspoon
Corn flour- 1/3rd cup
Few strands of Saffron(optional)
For the Garnishing:Pista slivers
Dried Rose Petals
DIRECTIONS:
We will start by making the syrup. Mix in sugar and water in a pan and let it heat on medium heat. Once the sugar has melted completely add in the rose water, lemon juice and orange blossom water. Remove from flame. Allow it to cool a little.
While the syrup is cooling we will place the rusks in our dish.
Arrange them evenly in the dish.
Pour the half syrup over the rusks.
Arrange one more layer of rusks over it in the same way.
Now, pour the remaining half of the syrup over the rusks. Try to pour it evenly on the rusks.
Leave it for sometime and let the rusks absorb the syrup.
Meanwhile, let's prepare our custard.
Mix the cornflour in about 1/2 cup of cold milk and mix well.
Combine together milk, cream and corn flour mixture in a heavy bottom pan and heat it on medium heat.
Add the sugar. Mix it well. Keep stirring till it gets smooth and thick. Once it thickens add in the rose water and orange blossom water.
Stir it a bit more till you get a “thick” custard like pouring consistency.
Once done, take it out in a bowl and cover with cling film. The cling film should touch the surface of the custard to avoid the formation of the thick top layer.
Keep it aside for some time till it comes to room temperature.
When the custard comes to room temperature, give it a good whisk and pour over the syrup drenched rusks.
Keep it in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set properly.
Garnish with Pista slivers and dried rose petals.
Enjoy!!
Recipe Card
Aish al Saraya
عيش السرايا
Aish al Saraya is an Arabic dessert which literally translates to 'the bread of the palace'. Aish is bread and saraya is palace in Arabic.
This simple yet luxurious bread dessert is quick to prepare and requires minimal cooking.
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Setting Time: 3-4 hours
Serves: 20
INGREDIENTS:
For the Base:
Rusks- 30
For the Syrup:Water- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 cup
Orange blossom water- 4 teaspoon
Rose water- 4 teaspoon
Lemon juice- 3 teaspoon
For the Custard:Milk- 3 cups
Thick Cream- 250 grams
Sugar- 1/3rd cup
Rose Water- 2 teaspoon
Corn flour- 1/3rd cup
Few strands of Saffron(optional)
For the Garnishing:Pista slivers
Dried Rose Petals
DIRECTIONS:
We will start by making the syrup. Mix in sugar and water in a pan and let it heat on medium heat. Once the sugar has melted completely add in the rose water, lemon juice and orange blossom water. Remove from flame. Allow it to cool a little.
While the syrup is cooling we will place the rusks in our dish.
Arrange them evenly in the dish.
Pour the half syrup over the rusks.
Arrange one more layer of rusks over it in the same way.
Now, pour the remaining half of the syrup over the rusks. Try to pour it evenly on the rusks.
Leave it for sometime and let the rusks absorb the syrup.
Meanwhile, let's prepare our custard.
Mix the cornflour in about 1/2 cup of cold milk and mix well.
Combine together milk, cream and corn flour mixture in a heavy bottom pan and heat it on medium heat.
Add the sugar. Mix it well. Keep stirring till it gets smooth and thick. Once it thickens add in the rose water and orange blossom water.
Stir it a bit more till you get a “thick” custard like pouring consistency.
Once done, take it out in a bowl and cover with cling film. The cling film should touch the surface of the custard to avoid the formation of the thick top layer.
Keep it aside for some time till it comes to room temperature.
When the custard comes to room temperature, give it a good whisk and pour over the syrup drenched rusks.
Keep it in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set properly.
Garnish with Pista slivers and dried rose petals.
Enjoy!!