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.

Despite it’s elaborate looks this torte is easy to make though it takes a bit of time. I can guarantee that it will impress whom ever you are sharing it with.
So to make this torte please watch the following video:

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• Vanilla essence

For the apple layers:

• 5 apples
• 1 and 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• squeeze of lemon
• 4 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup water

Topping

• 250 ml thickened cream
• icing sugar to taste

Tips:

• You can use A/P flour instead of self raising. Just add 1 tsp Baking powder to the mix.
• Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 20 mins or until the cake is done.
• Leave the cake to cool before adding the other layers.
• Cook the apples for 10 mins until they are done and not mushy.
• Leave the apples to cool completely before layering it on top of the cake.
• Put the cake back in the spring form pan so that when adding the custard to holds the shape.
• When making the apple custard make sure to stir constantly as you don’t want the mixture to stick to the bottom of your an.
• After pouring the custard on top of the cake leave it to set and cool for at least 2 hours before de-molding it from the pan.
• You can decorate the torte as you wish using any cream or buttercream and in any design you want. Be creative.
• The cake should be placed in the fridge and take it half an hour before serving.

Even preparing the ma’amoul is a ritual in itself. Most of the family members come together to prepare it and sometimes neighbors come together where each one prepare her own ma’amoul while chatting and laughing with her friends.

Traditionally ma’amoul is made using semolina and ghee but there are a lot of variation to these two. As for the filling, the most widely spread is using dates paste “Ajweh”. But you can find it filled with nuts mainly walnuts or pistachios. Each one of those have its own distinct mould style to make it easy for people to identity which is which once they are baked.

To know how to make these scrumptious melt in your mouth delights watch the following video:

Ingredients:

– For the dough

• 2 kilos semolina
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup powdered milk
• 2/3 sugar
• 1 tsp mehlap
• 2 tsp ground aniseeds
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 650 gram melted butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 3 cups lukewarm water

– For dates filling

• 1 kilo dates paste ** See Tips
• 1/4 cup metled ghee
• 2 tsp ground aniseeds
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds

– For the walnuts filling

• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• a bit of water ** See Tips

– For the pistachios filling

• 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp rose water

Tips:

• You can use fine or coarse semolina or a mix of both. I’ve used 1 1/2 kilo of the fine semolina and 1/2 kilo of the coarse.
• You can use melted butter or melted ghee or mix of both. You can use less of these and add oil too. But it is important the majority is of ghee or butter rather than oil.
• Make sure you rub the dry ingredients with butter long enough as this will enhance the texture of the final product. You should leave that for a whole day.
• The amount of water used in the dough might vary according to the semolina so it is best o add the water gradually while kneading the dough until it comes together.
• Leave the dough to rest for an hour in a warm place.
• Dates paste is found in international or middle eastern supermarkets. Alternatively you can make yours by ground soft dates in a food processor until it become a paste.
• You can replace ghee in the dates filling with butter or olive oil.
• When adding water to the walnuts filling just add enough to make it come together.
• Bake the ma’amoul in a preheated oven at 200 C until they become golden.
• Before serving you can dust ma’amoul with icing sugar.