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Maamoul Mad bi ashta (Semolina cream Cake)

Baked semolina cake filled with clotted cream topped with pistachios and an orange blossom syrup

Course Dessert
Cuisine Lebanese
Keyword Baking, Sweet, Treat
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  • ½ cup crushed pistachios + ¼ cup for sprinkling at end

For the semolina dough

  • 2 cups coarse semolina
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ⅔ cups of butter melted
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt tiny sprinkle
  • 4 tablespoon plain yoghurt

For the clotted cream ashta

  • 6 cups full fat milk
  • 3 tablespoon white vinegar
  • a squeeze of lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup of cornstarch (cornflour)
  • ⅓ cup whipping or single cream
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon orange blossom water

For the orange blossom syrup

  • 1.5 cup of sugar
  • ¾ cup of water
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • tiny sprinkle of salt
  • 1 teaspoon orange blossom water

Instructions

To make the semolina dough

  1. Combine the semolina, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a mixing bowl and stir together
  2. Add the melted butter, yoghurt and mix together until you have a sticky dough

To make the clotted cream ashta

  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. Combine the water, sugar, salt, lemon juice and orange blossom water into a separate pot and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil on a medium high heat, then add the orange blossom and reduce to a simmer for about five minutes.

To assemble the maamoul mad

  1. Heat the oven to 180 °C (350 F)
  2. Take half the semolina dough and line the bottom and sides of a medium baking pan by pressing down with your hands.
  3. Add a layer of crushed pistachios then pour the ashta cream on and gently smooth out with a spatula. Add another layer of crushed pistachios on top of the cream.
  4. On either parchment baking paper or cling film, roll out the rest of the dough according to the shape of your pan. Carefully flip it over the cream layer and peel off gently.
  5. Smooth out the top layer if necessary and patch any areas you might have missed.
  6. Bake for 35 minutes until golden. When done take out the pan and let it cool completely. Then turn it over onto a large platter and slice into squares.
  7. Add a little crushed pistachio on each square and drizzle with a little orange blossom syrup
  8. Serve either warm or cold. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes

To make ashta the tradtional way from scratch check out my recipe 'easy homemade ashta'

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