Umm Ali Recipe (Om Ali): Warm Egyptian Baked Pastry Pudding with Nuts & Qishta Cream

• 350 g baked puff pastry sheets (or torn filo pastry sheets, or 4 day-old butter croissants torn into pieces)
• 2 tbsp melted ghee for toasting the pastry
• 1 litre whole milk, 120 g sugar and 1 sachet vanilla sugar or 1 tsp orange blossom water
• 2 cans of 170 g each (340 g total) creamy qishta (2 tbsp for the milk, the rest for the top crust)
• 150 g mixed nuts & fruit: toasted hazelnuts, flaked almonds, green pistachios, golden raisins and 3 tbsp shredded coconut
• 1 tbsp icing sugar and a pinch of ground cinnamon for broiling

Preparation Steps

1. 1Preheat the oven to 200 °C; spread the puff pastry, torn filo sheets or croissant pieces across a baking tray, drizzle with the melted ghee and toast in the oven for 8 minutes until deeply golden, dry and crisp.
2. 2Break the toasted pastry into bite-sized shards and pile into a deep earthenware baking dish (or 6 individual ramekins), tossing with the shredded coconut, golden raisins and two-thirds of the toasted nuts.
3. 3In a saucepan, bring the whole milk, sugar, vanilla sugar (or orange blossom water) and 2 tbsp of qishta cream to a rolling boil over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
4. 4Pour the boiling milk over the pastry and nuts until the shards are just submerged, then spoon and spread the remaining qishta cream across the surface and dust lightly with the icing sugar.
5. 5Bake the Umm Ali in the hot oven for 10 minutes until the milk is bubbling around the edges, then switch on the top broiler for 5 minutes until the qishta top is blistered and golden-brown; scatter with the remaining pistachios and serve piping hot.