The recipe for Aish El Saraya (Lebanese tiramisu) in a vegan version by Alice Esmeralda

Whether you are vegan on a daily basis or just for the month of January for veganuary, or simply because you love good desserts, here is a recipe from Aish El Saraya that you might like. Also called Saniora’s Palace Bread by English speakers, this Levantine-flavored dessert is readily available in a vegan version, as illustrated by content creator Alice Esmeralda in a recent video. I promise, it only takes 15 minutes to make. But also a minimum of 4 hours of rest, or preferably one night.

The ingredients for a successful vegan recipe from Aish El Saraya by Alice Esmeralda

Ingredients for the syrup

• 25 cl of water (1 cup)
• 25 cl of white sugar (1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon of orange blossom flavoring (you can find it in the pastry section)
• 1 or 2 tablespoons. rose flavored coffee (optional) (you can find it in the pastry section)

Ingredients for the milk cream

• 500 ml natural or vanilla soy milk
• 400 ml of soy cream
• 5 tablespoons of corn starch (Maïzena)
• 3 tablespoons grated coconut or toasted breadcrumbs (optional)
• 100 g vanilla soy dessert cream (optional)
• 1 teaspoon orange flower water (optional)
• 1 teaspoon rose water (optional)

The ingredients for the lower sponge cake and the upper decoration

• Rusks
• 70 g of unsalted toasted pistachios

The steps to make Alice Esmeralda’s vegan Aish El Saraya recipe a success

Start by preparing the syrup by bringing the water and sugar to the boil in a saucepan. Leave to thicken for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat to add the orange and/or rose flowers (to prevent all the aromas from evaporating if they heat up too much on the heat).

Arrange the biscuits on the bottom of a large rectangular baking dish on at least one layer, or even two if they are thin, then pour in the still hot syrup.

In a small bowl, dissolve the corn starch in a little soy milk to prevent lumps from forming. Pour the rest of the milk and the soy cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then add the cornstarch mixture so that it thicken the mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, as it can burn quickly. Add your optional ingredients like breadcrumbs or shredded coconut, as well as rose water and vanilla soy dessert cream.

Once all this preparation has cooked for at least 2-3 minutes in the pan, you can pour it onto your biscuits which will have had time to absorb the syrup.

Let your dessert come to room temperature before placing it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, ideally at least overnight. Before serving you can coarsely chop your toasted pistachios before spreading them on the dessert, and it is ready (but if you put the pistachios before the minimum 4 hours of rest in the fridge, they will also be delicious, just a little less crunchy).

For even greater goodness, you can reserve a few spoonfuls of your syrup to pour a teaspoon per portion when serving.

My twist of litchi, coconut and orange blossom on the vegan Aish El Saraya recipe by Alice Esmeralda

After trying this delicious recipe by Alice Esmeralda for the first time, I took some liberties, until I got a version that I love even more, because it turns out to be more minimalist in terms of ingredients, while being delicious in a different way. It all started with the fact that I didn’t have any rose water on hand, so I thought syrup from a can of pitted lychees might help. (I find the flavor quite similar, and the great pastry chef Pierre Hermé with his famous Ispahan dessert won’t tell me otherwise).

I keep the lychees aside and heat the syrup in a saucepan to which I add half a cup of water and half a cup of sugar. Once it has boiled for 2-3 minutes, I add a spoonful of orange blossom off the heat. I pour it onto the biscuits in the baking dish, and cut the lychees into strips to distribute them on the then soaked base.

Then I prepare the cream using only 1 liter of coconut milk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 sachet of vanilla sugar, 1 tablespoon of orange blossom and 3 tablespoons of corn starch. Sometimes I also add lime zest, because it reminds me of the flavor of coconut blancmange, a West Indian dessert that I grew up with and love. I let it thicken for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, before pouring my preparation onto the lychees and soaked toast. Finally I decorate with freshly chopped pistachios and voilà!

While fans of the traditional recipe may throw stones at us for the vegan version, and perhaps stones for my lychee-coconut-orange blossom version, I personally find that cooking is made for having fun and socializing. Happy tasting!

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