Omm Ali: Egyptian Bread Pudding

Made with phyllo pastry rather than chunks of stale bread, Omm Ali: Egyptian bread pudding is a delicious dessert option.

Think of a Different Bread Pudding

Every other bread pudding recipe is made with little cubes of stale bread. Sometimes it is sourdough sometimes croissants sometimes it is raisin bread but nevertheless it’s basically the same hard bread squares. Let’s try something different here. Let’s try making some Omm Ali the Egyptian bread pudding. What makes this bread pudding different is that it uses phyllo pastry. Phyllo pastry is sometimes difficult to work with. If you are trying to make Baklava or almond fingers or apricot parcels and you let the phyllo sheets get dry then working with them will be like trying to piece together the Dead Sea scrolls. But the flaky tasty pastry that can lead you to madness can in this case lead you to a unique version of bread pudding.

You are going to need:

12 sheets of Phyllo pastry

2 ½ cups of milk

1 cup of cream

1 beaten egg

2 tablespoons or rose water (optional)

½ cup of chopped pistachios

½ cup of chopped almonds

½ cup of chopped hazelnuts

2/3 cup of raisins

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

Crème Anglaise

 Instructions

1 Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit

2 Using two baking sheets bake the phyllo pastry for 15 minuets

3 Remove the phyllo from the oven and turn the oven up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

4 Scald the milk and cream by bringing them to a simmer

5 Temper in the beaten egg

6 Add the rose water

7 Cook over low heat until it thickens to nappé stage

8 Crumble the phyllo pastry

9 Layer the phyllo, nuts and raisins in a casserole dish ending with a layer of phyllo

10 Pour the custard mixture over the contents of the casserole

11 Bake for 20 minuets until golden brown

12 Dust the top with the cinnamon

13 Serve with Crème Anglaise

Omm Ali: Egyptian Bread Pudding

If this is your first time using phyllo then this really is a good place to start. Phyllo has a tendency to dry quickly and then crumble when you touch it. This recipe will give you some experience working with the delicate pastry without having to worry about keeping it perfect. I think that once you taste your Omm Ali the Egyptian bread pudding you will make it your go to bread pudding.