Egyptian Cuisine - Desserts

Desserts

Egyptian desserts are not so different from other Eastern Mediterranean desserts. Basbousa, sometimes called Harissa (in Morocco and Alexandria), is a spicy dish made from semolina and is soaked in a sugar syrup. It is usually topped with almonds and traditionally cut vertically into pieces so that each piece resembles a diamond shape. Baklava is a sweet dish made from many layers of phyllo pastry, an assortment of nuts, and soaked in a sweet syrup. Eish el-Saraya Fatir are pancakes (filo dough) stuffed with everything from eggs to apricots or fruit of choice. Polvorón (Egyptian Arabic: غوريبة, Ghūrībah) is a common dish in all of North Africa. It is a sweet dish similar to kahk (كحك, ) but much thinner. It is like shortbread and is usually topped with roasted almonds.

Kahk is a traditional sweet dish served most commonly during Eid ul-Fitr (عيد الفطر, ) in Egypt. It is a shortbread biscuit covered with icing sugar, which may be stuffed with dates, walnuts, or agameya (عجمية, ) (like Turkish-delight) or just served plain. Kunāfah is a dish of batter "fingers" fried on a hot grill and stuffed with nuts (usually pistachios), meats, heavy whipped cream or sweets. Luqmat al-Qadi literally translates to "The Judge's Bite". They are small, round donuts which are crunchy on the outside and soft and syrupy on the inside. They may be served with dusted cinnamon and powdered sugar. Qatayef is a dessert reserved for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, a sort of sweet crêpe filled with cheese or nuts. Roz be laban (, “rice pudding”) is made with short grain white rice, full-cream milk, sugar, and vanilla. It may be served dusted with cinnamon. Umm Ali (ام على, ), a national dish of Egypt, is a raisin cake soaked in milk and served hot.

Other desserts include:

• Feteer meshaltet (فطير مشلتت, "cushion-like pie")
• Couscous Egyptian style.
• Halawa (حلاوة, ).
• Honey and coconut pie.
• Ladida (لديدة, ).
• Malban (ملبن, Turkish Delight)
• Mehalabeyya (مهلبية, ).
• Melabbes (ملبس, ).