Cook and Scale
Muhallabia (Rose Water Milk Pudding)
4 servings · 25 min total
A silky Levantine milk pudding set with cornflour, perfumed with rose and orange blossom water and finished with crushed pistachios and a dusting of cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 6 dl milk
- 1½ dl heavy cream
- 50 g cornstarch
- 80 g white sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp rose water
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
- 40 g pistachios, coarsely crushed
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Contains: Milk, Tree nuts
Allergen info is best-effort — please verify yourself.
Method
- 1.
Slake the cornstarch — Whisk the cornstarch with about 100 ml of the cold milk in a small bowl until completely smooth, with no grains clinging to the bottom.
- 2.
Warm the milk and cream — Pour the remaining milk and the cream into a heavy saucepan with the sugar and the pinch of salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring, until it steams and the sugar has dissolved, but never let it boil.
- 3.
Thicken over the heat — Stir the cornstarch slurry once more, then pour it into the hot milk in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Keep whisking over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, until the cream thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and slow bubbles break the surface.
- 4.
Perfume and chill to set — Take the pan off the heat and stir in the rose water and orange blossom water. Divide between four glasses or ramekins, smooth the tops, let cool to room temperature, then chill for at least 3 hours until softly set.
- 5.
Top with pistachios — Just before serving, scatter the crushed pistachios over the puddings and dust lightly with cinnamon.