Desserts > Middle Eastern Recipes > Esh Asaraya >
Esh Asaraya
Qatari sweet bread with cream
3-1/4 C day-old white bread, sliced
1-1/2 C sugar syrup (recipe follows)
1 C thick cream (Ashta)
1 C sugar
Water
1/4 C shelled pistachio nuts, ground
Sugar Syrup for Esh Asaraya:
2-1/2 C sugar
1-1/2 C water
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. rosewater
1 tsp. orange blossom water
Syrup: Combine sugar and water in a saucepan; heat over medium heat without stirring. Increase heat until mixture comes to a boil. Add lemon juice. Allow mixture to boil slowly until it thickens. Stir in rosewater and orange blossom water. Remove from heat and set aside. Recipe makes three cups of syrup; store unused portion in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Bread: Cut away bread crusts and discard. Break soft bread portions into crumbs; spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350-degrees F until toasted, about ten minutes. Allow to cool before crushing toasted crumbs. Add crumbs to a skillet with 1-1/2 cups of prepared sugar syrup; stir and cook over medium heat until mixture becomes golden and firm. Remove from heat and place mixture in a bowl. Add sugar to skillet; sprinkle water on top and heat over medium heat to form caramel mixture. Do not stir; move skillet to evenly color the sugar. When sugar is dark golden in color, remove from heat. Using a fork, slowly mix the sugar caramel and bread mixture until bread is moist and dark brown. Spread bread mixture on a serving plate and allow to cool. Spread thick cream (Ashta) on top and garnish with syrup and ground pistachio nuts. Recipe makes eight to ten servings.
Similar recipe: Aish As-Saraya (Saudi Arabian sweet bread).
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