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If you are looking for a delicious and easy Lebanese dessert to make for Ramadan or any other time, look no further. This Lebanese Nights Dessert (Layali Lubnan, ليالي لبنان) is a very famous Lebanese dessert widely served all over Lebanon. It is one of the most served dessert at home because of it’s ease.
Lebanese recipes can sound intimidating, but they are very easy to make. This dessert is one of my most complimented dessert when I host people over. It comes together very quickly and can me made up to two days in advance.
If you try and enjoy this recipe, you may also want to try my Pistachio Bird Nest Baklava, and Atayef recipe
What is Lebanese Nights Dessert? (aka. Layali Lubnan, ليالي لبنان)?
Lebanse Nights Desserts is made from a silky semolina based pudding, topped with Ashta (thick cream), whipping cream and pistachios. The word Layali Lubnan, means Lebanese night in Arabic. This dessert is known for it’s fragrant smell of rose and orange blossoms water. Those are a key ingredients to making the sugar syrup that’s served with this dessert.
Ingredients Needed
- Semolina- be sure to get the coarse semolina
- Milk- use whole fat milk.
- Sugar- granulated sugar is used to sweeten up the base.
- Orange blossom and Rose water- used to flavor up Middle Eastern Desserts.
- Heavy Cream-to make the whipping cream.
- Confectioner sugar- used to stabilize the heavy cream.
- Table Cream (Ashta)- Puck or Nestle, Nestle brand can be found at Walmart. Puck at Middle Eastern stores.
- Dry Rose Petals-garnishing purposes only. Not required.
- Pistachios-ground unsalted pistachios.
- Vanilla-I use vanilla sugar enveloped but you can use a few drops of pure vanilla extract.
How to make Lebanese Night Dessert?
This dessert is one of the easiest desserts you can make. It’s the most made dessert at home for families because most of the ingredients are already in every Lebanese family’s pantry. And because it’s so easy to make, most families prefer to make this dessert for many occasions.
The Semolina Pudding Base:
The base is made from coarse semolina flour, which is also known as Durmun wheat. There is fine semolina and coarse semolina, so please be careful when you buy it. You will need coarse semolina for this recipe. It is found is most oriental stores and on Amazon. I have also seen it in the bulk food area at Sprouts. But I prefer the ZIYAD brand.
- Start by placing all the base ingredients in a pot. That is the milk, semolina flour, sugar, and orange blossoms water. Place the pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it starts boiling. Once it starts boiling, bring the fire down to low-medium heat and continue stirring until the texture is very thick like a pudding. Shown below.
- Once that is done, transfer the pudding mixture onto a Pyrex bowl. Do no use something too small or else you will have a very thick base. It should be 1 inch thick at the most. I use a 9 x13 inch bowl. Place a plastic food wrap on top of it to prevent the top from drying up. Let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes and then place it in the fridge to cool for another 45 minutes. The semolina base should be completely cold before you place the whipping cream on top.
Prepare the Whipping Cream:
You will need to buy liquid heavy cream to whip up at home. Please don’t use those envelope whipping creams because it’s not going to taste as good. Whip the cream and gradually add the confectioner /powdered sugar as the cream starts to thicken up. It’s important to have a pretty thick whipping cream because you don’t want a loose cream for this recipe. Chilling the heavy whipping cream before hand helps you achieve a firmer whip texture.
Another thing I add before placing the whipping cream is a layer of fresh table cream. Fresh cream or also known as Ashta, is a thicker cream sold in the oriental stores. The brand is Puck or Nestle, and you can find the nestle fresh table cream at Walmart. I always get it from there in the oriental food section. Many people don’t add this cream but I think it’s a game changer! I love it!
- After removing the clear film, spread the fresh cream all over to cover the base. Then spread the whipping cream as shown in the photo to easily manage spreading it because with the thick cream on the bottom, spreading the creamy becomes slippery. This way works best.
Pistachio Topping:
Processing the pistachios to top the pudding is a must for me. Highly recommended. Also some people wait and add the topping later when it’s ready to be served. I like topping it right away and letting everything sit in the fridge over night before serving because it give it such a wonderful flavor. When the pistachios softer and soggy, they tastes so flavorful. If you prep this early in the morning, you can serve it later that evening. Just let it sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours after adding the whipping cream and pistachios.
- When serving, you will top with the sugar syrup. You can store this dessert for up to 2 days in the fridge. I tastes best the first two days after served. If you have a small family and don’t want left overs, use only half the quantity.
Tips to Make this Dessert
- Only use coarse semolina.
- Chill the dessert at least 6-8 hours before serving.
- Do not skip the table cream layer.
- Only use unsalted pistachios.
- Do not skip the orange and rose water for the dessert or simple syrup.
Yes, you can make it 1-2 days ahead, and keep it another 2 days in the fridge after serving.
No, fine semolina does not work well for this recipe. It will retain more moisture and make the pudding layer more mushy, than solid.
Yes you can use those as well.
It depends. If you make it the day before, it will last another 3 days. If you make it 2 days before for example, it will last 2 more days. It’s best consumed within a 4 day period, because of all the cream it contains.
More Lebanese Desserts to Try
- Homemade Walnut Baklava
- Homemade Pistachio Baklava
- Atayef with Ashta
- Ghraybeh Cookies
- Pistachio Bird Nest Baklava
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Lebanese Nights Dessert (Layali Lubnan, ليالي لبنان)
Ingredients
THE BASE:
- 5 cups whole milk
- 1 cup semolina, coarse
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp. orange blossoms water
WHIPPING CREAM TOPPING:
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream, very well chilled
- ¾ cup confectioner sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 can fresh cream
TOPPING:
- 2 cups ground pistachios, processed (not too powdery, half way through)
- Dry rose petals for garnishing, optional
SUGAR SYRUP:
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp. rose water
- 1 tbsp. orange blossoms water
- 1 tsp. lemon juice
Instructions
- In a pot over medium heat, bring all the base ingredients to boil, stirring occasionally. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat to between low and medium, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens up very well. This will take anywhere between 10-15 minutes.
- Remove and place onto a Pyrex bowl that’s 9 x13 inches. Cover with plastic food wrap and let in cool at room temperature for 20 minute. Then place the bowl in the fridge to cool down more for 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chill the heavy whipping cream in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Remove and whip the cream until it starts to get firmer, adding in the sugar gradually until the whip cream is firm. Cover and place in the fridge to chill until the base is ready.
- When the base is ready, remove the plastic food wrap and top the base with the fresh cream. Then spread out the whipping cream in sections so you can be able to spready it out easily without any hassle.
- Top the whipping cream generously with the processed pistachios, covering it entirely. Place in the fridge and let it chill overnight or for at least 6 hours. The longer the better.
- To prepare the syrup, bring the sugar and water to boil. Once it starts boiling, let it boil for 7 minutes and then add in the lemon juice. Boil for another 1-2 minutes and then add in the rose and orange blossoms water. Stir well and then remove from heat. Cover and let it cool in room temperate until it’s ready to be served with the dessert.
Notes
- Only use coarse semolina.
- Chill the dessert at least 6-8 hours before serving.
- Do not skip the table cream layer.
- Only use unsalted pistachios.
- Do not skip the orange and rose water for the dessert or simple syrup.
Hello, I so excited to try this recipe. We do not have table cream here in Australia, could you please recommend the next best substitute for same results?
Thank you so much
Hello dear,
Table cream is the same as the puck/nestle ashta cream you find at the arabic grocery stores. It’s also called qaymar. If you google arabic grocery stores near me you will find one there is a large arabic community in Australia. There is no substitute for it. You can opt out but the flavor will change a bit.
Hi, I made this several times last year and it was a big hit at my house. I believe I subbed cool whip for the heavy whi]ping cream, going to do that this time just to save a step and less dishes never hurts🙂 thanks for posting! Ramadan Kareem
Hi Tammy,
Glad you are enjoying the recipe. It never hurts to try! Let us know how it turns out with the dream whip.