Atayef bi Ashta (Lebanese Cream Dessert)

These cute little 'atayef asafeiri' are an easy Lebanese dessert for beginners to start with.

Essentially they are yeasted pancakes filled with clotted cream, finished off with a simple orange blossom syrup and a sprinkling of pistachios.

You can also close them up and deep fry them which is insanely unhealthy but undeniably delicious.

The pancakes

The pancakes are similar to your regular pancake mix, except that they don't contain egg but have a little yeast instead to help make those signature bubbles.

Atayef pancakes are not flipped both sides but cook on just one side so you can press them together and fill them.

It is a good idea to have two tea cloths ready to lay the pancakes inside so they don't dry up and finish cooking off in the vapour.

The clotted cream (ashta)

I have given you the traditional ashta recipe on the blog, but here's a reminder.

Ashta is a thick clotted cream used in Middle Eastern desserts like Maamoul Mad bi ashta and znoud el sit.

Making it involves a two step process of separating milk curds (which form the areesha) and then mixing them with a pastry cream made using cornstarch.

You need to use white vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice to separate the curds, which is probably the trickiest part. After that it's pretty simple.

The syrup

The simple orange blossom syrup is just some sugar and water heated for simmered for five minutes with a small drop of orange blossom.

Always add the orange blossom sparingly as it can overwhelm.

You can even skip the syrup part if you like by adding a little extra sugar to the cream to balance the sweetness.

Tips to make the best Atayef bi ashta

To make the asafeiri (bird's) shape, which I think is reference to a bird's beak, simply press half the pancake together and keep half open to fill with a spoon of clotted cream.

These little treats are dangerously addictive and taste even better the next day for breakfast.

Yes you are allowed to have them for breakfast as they are just fancy pancakes with toppings so there!

📖 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

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Atayef bi Ashta (Lebanese cream Dessert)

Clotted cream filled pancakes with an orange blossom syrup

Course Dessert

Cuisine Lebanese

Keyword Authentic, Dinner Party, Easy

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 25 pancakes

Author Zaatar and Zaytoun

Ingredients

To make the Pancakes

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup fine semolina
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup milk
• ½ teaspoon dried active yeast
• 2 tablespoon sugar

To make the Clotted Cream

• 6 cups full fat milk divided
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• ⅓ cup cornstarch
• ⅓ cup whipping or single cream
• 2 tablespoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon orange blossom water

To make the Orange Blossom Syrup

• ½ cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Small Sprinkling salt
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water

Instructions

To make the Pancakes:

1. In a mixing bowl, sieve the flour and baking powder together. Add the semolina and salt. Stir everything well
2. Add the yeast and sugar to the cup of tepid water and stir well until dissolved. Then add the yeasted water along with the milk to the dry ingredients and combine. Leave to rest for half an hour
3. Heat a wide non stick pan on medium low heat, add a small ladel of pancake mix around the size of your palm. When bubbles form all over the top and the bottom is golden transfer between two muslin cloths to cool.
4. Repeat the process until you finish the pancake mix.

To make the Clotted Cream

1. In a pot, heat up 4.5 tablespoon of the milk on medium heat until small bubbles start to form around the edges (before it boils)

2. Then reduce the heat to the lowest, and add the vinegar and a squeeze of lemon juice to the milk so curds start to form

3. Turn off the heat and scoop out the curds (areesha), transfer to a strainer (sieve) to drain and set aside

4. In another pot, add the cornstarch to 1.5 cups of milk and whisk by hand until combined, then add the sugar and cream, and stir on medium heat until it starts to thicken at which point you turn off the heat

5. Let the pastry cream cool for around 5-10 minutes before adding the areesha and orange blossom water, and combine together

6. Let the ashta cool for another 15 minutes before adding plastic wrap to the top to avoid a crust forming. Set aside

To make the Orange Blossom Syrup

1. Add the water, sugar, salt and lemon juice to a saucepan, stir until the sugar is dissolved and bring to the boil on a medium high heat. Then add the orange blossom and reduce to a simmer for about five minutes. Set aside to cool

To assemble the Pancakes

1. Pinch together the edges of half a pancake, leaving the other half open to spoon in some clotted cream
2. Assemble the pancakes in a serving platter
3. Drizzle a little orange blossom syrup on top
4. Scatter some crushed pistachios
5. Serve either warm or cold

Recipe Notes

Cornstarch is known as cornflour in the UK and is used to thicken sauces

 

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