Umm Ali is a rich and decadent dessert from Egypt. It is a bread pudding made with condensed milk, nuts and dry coconut. It is great to serve warm or at room temperature.
Chop croissants into bite size pieces and set aside.
In a small saucepan on medium heat, combine milk, condensed milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn off the heat and stir in vanilla extract and rosewater. Let cool for a couple of minutes.
In a small pan on medium-low heat, toast chopped nuts, coconut and raisins until lightly golden brown and fragrant, about 2~3 minutes.
Divide the chopped croissants between 4 individual ramekins (about 6~7oz.) or a medium size baking dish. Divide the milk mixture between the ramekins and pour evenly over the croissants. Top with the toasted nuts. Let the croissants soak up with milk for a few minutes.
While the croissants are soaking up the milk, combine heavy cream and confectioner's sugar in a medium size bowl. Whip the cream until soft peaks form, about 5~7 minutes. Evenly spread the whipped cream over the croissant mixture in the ramekins.Bake for 20~25 minutes in the oven or 12~15 minutes in an air fryer or until the mixture is nice and bubbly. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. You can broil for 1~2 minutes in the oven to get the nice crispy top. Air fryer does the magic without broiling.
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Notes
Use slightly stale croissants to ensure that the pudding does not get too soggy after baking. Set them out overnight to dry before using in the recipe.
You can also use puff pastry or phyllo pastry or store-bought palmiers or croissants.
Either 2% or whole milk would work.
Feel free to use your favorite chopped nuts. I use almonds and pistachios. Cashews, walnuts etc are all great.
You can also skip the nuts.
To whip heavy cream faster, place the bowl and whisk in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. Also make sure to use chilled heavy cream.
Um ali is great to serve hot from oven or at room temperature. If you have any leftovers, then store them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave before serving.
Since this is a eggless bread pudding, you can very easily make umali vegan. Use non-dairy milk like oat or almond and non-dairy whipped cream & condensed like coconut and proceed with the recipe as written.