This cheesecake has no refined sugar and obviously no diary products. Also the curst is gluten free which is great from those who are on a gluten free diet. I’m not. But having a gluten free dessert is not bad at all.

If I haven’t tempted you enough yet. Let me say that this cake is easy to make and almost fool proof. So what are you waiting for? Give it a go and you won’t regret it.

A detailed video recipe in English is here:

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 7 pitted dates
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• dash of salt

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 cup soaked raw cashews
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs vanilla essence
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Tips:

• Make sure all the nuts you are using are not salted or toasted
• The cashews need to be soaked for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight to make sure you’ll get the creamy texture at the end.
• You can adjust how many dates you are using depending on the variety and size of them. I used medium sized ones.
• You can adjust how much maple syrup you want to add depending on how sweet you like it.
• You can use fresh berries if you want. But be mindful of its water content so as not to ruin the thickness of your filling.
• You can use other kind of berries if you wish to.
• The cheesecake should be placed in the freezer for at least 4 hours and preferably overnight so that it will firm nicely.
• You need to take the cheesecake out and leave it for half an hour at room temperature before serving it.
• You can serve the cake frozen, half frozen or even thawed.
• You can put the remaining cake back in the freezer or in the fridge if you don’t want a frozen texture.

Warbat is made of crunchy layers of phyllo pastry filled with a creamy custard and baked until golden. Then Warbat is drenched in sweet sugar syrup which is sometimes flavored with rose water or orange blossom water. Finally Warbat is topped with crushed pistachios. It is a must try.

To know how to make Warbat bil eshta at home please watch this video:

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tbsp cornflour
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 300 ml thickened or double cream
• 1 pack phyllo pastry
• 1 cup melted ghee “use as needed only”
• sugar syrup
• crushed pistachios for decoration

Tips:

• Make sure that the phyllo pastry is kept at room temp. before use. Make sure to follow the pack’s instructions.
• Brushing each layer of the phyllo pastry with the melted ghee will help it crisp up and become golden once baked.
• Prepare the filling before hand so that it has enough time to cool completely before use.
• When adding the sugar syrup make sure it is at room temp. and the warbat is hot.

You can present them as one large tart, or individual portions of small tartlets. Either ways these delicious tarts are easy to make and it will impress your guests.

To know how to make these tarts please watch the video:

Ingredients:

Custard

• 1 liter full cream milk
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 Vanilla pod or 1 tbsp vanilla extract or essence

Pastry “These are double the amount mentioned in the video as I ended up having to make another batch to use ai all my custard filling”

• 400 grams A/P flour
• 200 grams cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp icy cold water

Topping

• Mixed berries of your choice, frozen or fresh
• berries jam “optional”

Tips:

• The amount of custard I made in the video is enough to fill 12 medium size tartlets AND 1 big tart. So I had to make another batch of the dought for that. Alternatively you can cut the custard ingredients by half.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before rolling it.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15 mins or until the edges of the tart becomes golden.
• When adding the milk  to the beaten eggs be careful to do it slowly while whisking all the time or else you might have scrambled eggs.
• When the custard is ready cover its surface with plastic wrap so as it doesn’t form a crust. Leave it to cool completely in the fridge before using.
• It is better to assemble the tarts before serving and make sure that the tart and custard are completely cold.
• You can use any mix of berries you wish whether frozen or fresh. If frozen use as, no need to thaw it.

To decorate I got several ideas crossing my mind until I felt inspired by the orange in the cake and decided to use dried orange zest. But then I thought why not add lemon and lime zest in there too. Not only they will look great but they will add subtle flavors that will marry everything well together.

You should try this recipe out and share it with your loved ones. I hope every one will enjoy it.
To know how to make this recipe please watch my video here:

Ingredients:

• 1 orange cake based on my recipe which you’ll find here.
• 225 grams dark chocolate
• 225 unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• dried orange, lime and lemon zest

Tips:

• Start by baking the cake. You want it to be completely cool before frosting it.
• When melting the chocolate and butter you can either do that in the microwave in 30 sec. intervals or you can melt them in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan with simmering water.
• You should leave the frosting to cool in the fridge for an hour. If it is still too runny leave it for longer and if it is too hard then leave it at room temperature until it becomes spreadable.
• You can dry the citrus zest in different ways: either in an oven at 100 C until they dry, or after you finish baking your cake wait 30 mins then place them there to dry with the residue heat or dry them the day before by leave them out at room temperature.
• The cake should be kept covered and in the fridge. Take it out half an hour before serving so that the frosting is not too solid.

There are two key points to keep in mind when making the perfect pie. First, you have to pick the right kind of apples. You should be looking for hard apples with a bit of tart to them Granny Smiths are the most perfect ones. But you can also use Pink Lady or Royal Gala. Second important point is the pastry. It has to be short for and that you need to use cold butter and water. And you have to use as little water as you can get away with. And you shouldn’t over work the dough as we don’t want those gluten strands to over develop.

To make my pie even more extra special I add crushed walnuts to the mix and use brown sugar to give a caramel taste to the filling. Of course you can choose not to do so if you wish.

To know how to make apple pie my way please watch the following video:

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 7 apples
• 1/2 up brown sugar
• 45 grams butter
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 215 grams cold butter cubed
• pinch of salt
• 1 cold egg
• Around 100 ml chilled water

Tips:

• It’s better to use hard apples as they will hold their shape after cooking and baking and not turn into a mush.
• You can use white sugar instead of brown sugar in the filling
• You can add any kind of nuts you want like walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts. You can also use any kind of spices you want like cinnamon or cloves.
• When making the dough make sure that everything is really cold; butter, egg and water.
• Don’t overwork the dough as this will stop the dough becoming short and melt-in-your-mouth.
• Leave the dough to rest int he fridge before rolling it.
• Before baking you can brush the pie with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 mins or until the pie becomes golden.
• You can eat apple pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

They are easy to make and almost foul proof. You can make a large batch and kept it in an air tight container for up to a month no problem.

To know how to make them please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp aniseed
• 1 tsp aniseed powder

Tips:

• You can replace the self raising flour with regular flour just add 1 tsp baking powder for each cup of regular flour
• If the dough is still dry after mixing the wet ingredients with the dry ones you can add a little bit of water 1 tbsp at a time until the dough comes together.
• Leave the dough to rest for 15 mins.
• When shaping the cookies you can make them as big or as small as you wish but keep in mind that they will get bigger after baking.
• Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 200 C for 15 mins.
• Leave the cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack.
• Bake the cookies once again in a preheated oven at 200 C for 5 – 10 mins or until they are golden brown to your own liking.
• Keep the cookies in air tight container.

You can bake those during Ramadan and have them as a light snack.

To know how to make these bagels please watch the video:

Ingredients:

• 500 grams AP flour
• 200 ml lukewarm milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 60 grams melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 300 grams dates paste
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp ground aniseeds
• 1 tsp ground fennel seeds

Tips:

• Dates paste can be purchased ready at Middle Eastern stores or you can make your own at home by deseeding dates and then ground them in a food process.
• You can replace olive oil with any other oil or even melted butter or ghee.
• When kneading the dough make sure to do that for 10-15 mins. You want the dough to become elastic and smooth.
• Leave the dough to rise in a warm place until it doubles in size between 1-2 hours.
• Make sure you oil the surface and the rolling pin before working with the dough so as it won’t stick.
• You make the bagels as shown int he video and making sure that the ring is wide enough as it will still rise and close down a bit.
• Leave the bagels to rest for 1 hour.
• Brush the surface of bagels with milk or egg wash if you want a shinier finish.
• Bake the bagels in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins or until golden.