Monday, June 18, 2012

Ataif Bil Ashta

This is an interesting Lebanese treat - essentially a pancake ("Ataif") rolled into a cone and filled with a rosewater custard ("Ashta"), and topped with chopped pistachios.

Pancake Batter:
200 g Strong Bakers Flour*
120 g Pastry Flour*
40 g Whole Wheat Flour
8 g Instant Yeast
10 g Sugar
4 g Salt
375 g Milk
375 g Water

*You can probably substitute 320g all-purpose flour for the mix of strong and pastry flours.

1)  Mix all the dry ingredients together, and make a well.
2)  Pour milk and water into the well, and whisk dry into wet.  Whisk into a smooth batter. 
3)  Cover and rest for 45 minutes.
4)  Cook on a hot (med-high heat), lightly greased skillet until bubbles form on the surface and pancakes are cooked through (do not flip).
5)  Cool on a parchment-lined tray

Filling:
500 ml Milk, cold
50 g Corn Starch
100 g Sugar
5 g Salt
50 g Double Cream*
30 ml Rose Water
15 ml Vanilla Extract
40 g Pistachios, toasted and chopped

*If you can't get double cream, condensed-sweetened milk would probably work well.

1)  In a bowl combine the corn starch, half of the sugar, and half the milk. 
2)  In a pot, bring remaining milk, salt, and sugar to a boil.
3)  Whisk in starch slurry and bring back to a boil.
4)  Remove from heat and add double cream, rose water, and vanilla.
5)  Pour custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap (right against the custard, to prevent skin), and refrigerate until completely cooled.

Assembling:
Fold pancakes in half, and pinch them together at the edges most of the way around, to form little cones.  Pipe the custard into the cones, and sprinkle with pistachios.  Refrigerate until serving. (Alternatively, instead of piping, spread some custard onto the pancakes, then fold and pinch).