Before I start, a humble apology to all the people who left comments over the last, er, five months … I’ve only just found them! Now all approved. And now, my first post for six months …
We had this dessert in our local pizza restaurant a month ago. It was so light and delicious that when I got home I googled it, and immediately found a recipe that looked like a very close match, at La Cuisine de Lya. It took me a while to get round to making it, as I first had to source rose water (I ended up ordering it online) and unsalted pistachios. Lya says you can omit the rose water, but I think it’s really worth making the effort as it adds a distinct exotic flavour which is what makes the dish special; with just the orange flower flavour it would be more run of the mill. I also replaced the sugar syrup topping with honey, because that’s what the restaurant did. Choose a light, well-flavoured runny honey (mine was from the Pyrenees), and avoid the bog-standard supermarket kind.
It’s ridiculously easy to make, and diet-friendly. It’s vegan too if you use plant milk, and sugar syrup instead of honey.This quantity will make four very generous helpings, or six small ones. Serve in pretty glass bowls or glasses.
750 ml milk (I used semi-skimmed, but full-fat milk or indeed plant milk would work too)
50 g sugar
45 g cornflour
1 1/2 tbs orange flower water
A scant 1 tbs of rose water
Topping:
chopped roasted pistachios
runny honey
Whisk the cornflour into 100 ml of the milk until smooth. Pour the rest of the milk into a pan, and add sugar, the diluted cornflour, and the orange flower and rose water. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly as it thickens. Pour into the bowls, cover each with a sheet of clingfilm in contact with the top (to stop a skin forming) and allow to cool for 45 minutes to an hour so that it sets a bit.
Warm the honey very slightly if it seems a bit stiff. Carefully remove the clingfilm and sprinkle the surface of each bowl generously with chopped pistachios. Drizzle over a little honey, and chill in the fridge for an hour or more before serving.