makes
30
prep
45 minutes
cook
45 minutes
difficulty
Mid
makes
30
serves
preparation
45
minutes
cooking
45
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
This dessert, infused with orange blossom water, is prepared with semolina and cheese and filled with ashtah (a thick clotted cream that is popular throughout the Middle East, made by boiling the fresh milk and skimming off the thin skin that forms on its surface). You can buy ashtah from Middle-Eastern supermarkets or dessert shops; however, because ashtah is difficult to come by in Australia and making it at home takes time, I have substituted an easy recipe for you.
In an alternative version of halawet el- jeben, the semolina is mixed with sugar syrup first, then the cheese is added. Both versions are perfectly okay; choose the one that is most convenient for you.
Ingredients
Sugar syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cups water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp blossom water
Ashtah filling
- 1 litre milk
- 6 tbsp cornflower
- 8 tbsp fine semolina
- 2 tbsp orange blossom water
- 400 ml thick dollop cream
Halawet el-jeben
- 1 cup sugar
- 2¼ cups water
- 200 g bocconcini cheese
- 200 g fresh buffalo mozarella
- 125 g mozzarella cheese (in block form)
- 1½ cups coarse semolina
To garnish
- Crushed raw pistachio
- Rose petal jam
- Dry rose petals
Chilling time: 1-2 hours
Instructions
- To prepare sugar syrup: Combine sugar and water in a pot and bring to boil. Once the mixture boils, add lemon and blossom water and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- To make ashtah (filling): In a non-stick saucepan combine the milk, cornflour and semolina. Whisk until well combined.
- Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously.
- Add the blossom water, bring the mixture to a boil for a few minutes, until the texture of the thickens and becomes creamy. Remove from the heat and pour into a glass tray. Cool in refrigerator for one hour.
- Gently fold the cream into the ashtah; we're looking for a clumpy texture here. Refrigerate until ready to use it for the filling.
- To make halawet el-jeben roll: Strain and rinse the buffalo and bocconcini cheese. Cut the mozzarella block into pieces. In a non-stick pot add water and sugar, turn the heat to medium, and then add the cheese. Stir the cheese gently until it turns into one melted, stretchy piece of cheese.
- Gradually add the semolina to the cheese, stirring quickly and continuously. Add the blossom water and keep stirring until it forms thin strings and becomes stretchy. Once done it should look like a large piece of dough. Cool it down for around 5 minutes at room temperature.
- Cut it into 2 equal halves and work with one half each time.
- Start by covering your work surface with cling film (50 cm x 50 cm). Pour about 3-5 tbsp sugar syrup on the clingfilm. Place one piece of dough on it, roll it in the sugar syrup a couple of times, cover it with another layer of clingfilm, and roll out the dough into a rectangle sheet until it reaches your desired thickness - a thickness of 2-3 mm is ideal.
- Trim the edges of the dough to create a neat rectangle sheet. Place the rectangle with the long side nearest you.
- Fill a piping bag with the cream filling and cut off about 2 cm of the tip. Pipe a line of the cream across one end of the cheese sheet, leaving about 1 cm on the long side closest to you.
- Wrap the sweet cheese sheet around the ashtah/cream, using the cling film to help with the shaping, to form a tube shape, allowing an overlap of about 1 cm of cheese sheet.
- Cut off the excess dough with a sharp knife. Set the tube aside. Repeat the piping and rolling until all of the dough has been used. Repeat the steps with the other piece of dough.
- Wrap each roll in a separate piece of clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- To serve, cut the roll into small pieces, about 3-5 cm in length, and place them on a serving plate. Sprinkle with raw pistachios and dried rose petals or rose petal jam.
- Drizzle with sugar syrup.
Note
• Dollop cream is a very thick cream. It is available in supermarkets.
• Halawet el-jeben discarded edges and shredded bits can be used to make Ma'ajokah dessert (“معجوقه”). Put all of the shredded bits on a platter, add ashtah (cream filling), sprinkle with pistachios and drizzle with sugar syrup.
Photography, styling and food preparation by Racha Abou Alchamat.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
This dessert, infused with orange blossom water, is prepared with semolina and cheese and filled with ashtah (a thick clotted cream that is popular throughout the Middle East, made by boiling the fresh milk and skimming off the thin skin that forms on its surface). You can buy ashtah from Middle-Eastern supermarkets or dessert shops; however, because ashtah is difficult to come by in Australia and making it at home takes time, I have substituted an easy recipe for you.
In an alternative version of halawet el- jeben, the semolina is mixed with sugar syrup first, then the cheese is added. Both versions are perfectly okay; choose the one that is most convenient for you.
