Three individual dishes of syllabub served with pistachio biscuits

Lebanese syllabub with ghraybeh (pistachio biscuits)

Portion size: Serves 4
Hands-on time 25 min, plus 1 hour chilling. Oven time 12-15 min
Difficulty: easy

Vegetarian

Recipe by: Angela Zaher

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Food writer Angela Zaher gives the traditional dessert syllabub a Lebanese twist with arak and orange blossom water, served with pistachio biscuits.

Angela says: “I love how simple and elegant a syllabub is but wanted to inject Lebanese flavours into it – the arak makes quite a difference, as it cuts through the creaminess and gives a punchy note of anise. Ghraybeh are crumbly buttery cookies popular in Lebanon.”

Feeding a larger group? Try our syllabub pavlova.

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Ingredients

300ml double cream
50ml orange blossom water
20g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tbsp arak (optional, see Know-how)
Pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and ground pistachios to serve

For the ghraybeh

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
70g icing sugar
1 tsp orange blossom water
250g plain flour
25-30 shelled pistachios

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Method

Put the double cream, orange blossom water, caster sugar, lemon juice, ground cardamom and arak (if using) in a mixing bowl and use an electric whisk to mix until thickened but still soft and billowy (don’t overmix). Spoon the syllabub into serving glasses, then chill until ready to serve.
For the ghraybeh, mix the butter and icing sugar with a wooden spoon until combined into a paste. Beat in the orange blossom water followed by the flour, starting with a wooden spoon, then using your hands. Work it into a smooth dough – if it’s dry or crumbly, add a splash of water. Wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour.
Heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 6 and take the dough out of the fridge for 5-10 minutes to warm slightly. Pinch off walnut size chunks and form into balls – you should get 25-30. Put them on a baking sheet with a little space between them, flattening them slightly with the back of a fork. Put a pistachio on each one, then bake for 12-15 minutes. They shouldn’t turn brown or colour much, so keep an eye on them.
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To serve, take the syllabubs out of the fridge and garnish with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and ground pistachios. Serve with the ghraybeh.