Lebanese Ashta (Clotted Cream) Recipe
Ashta is a sweet cream, often likened to clotted cream, that is popular in Lebanon and many other countries throughout the Middle East.
Ingredients
- Whole milk – 750 ml
- Lemon juice – 3 tbsp
- Cornstarch– 3 tbsp
- Whole milk – 250 ml
- Heavy cream – 250 ml
- Sugar – 2 tbsp
- Salted butter – 60 g
- Orange blossom water or rose water – 1 tbsp
Instructions
- Heat the milk in a large saucepan on medium heat until it simmers.
- Add the lemon juice and stir well to encourage curdling. Leave the milk on medium heat to allow it to finish curdling.
- Line a sieve with cheesecloth and place over a large bowl.
- Strain the curdled milk over the cheesecloth to catch the curds. Leave to drain.
- Mix the cornstarch and a little of the milk into a paste in a small bowl.
- Rinse the saucepan and put it back on medium heat and pour the rest of the milk and cream in.
- Add sugar and salted butter and stir to mix.
- Heat the mix until it is simmering, stirring continuously to reduce lumps.
- Once simmering, lower the heat to medium-low and keep stirring until the mix is very thick. This will take about 3 – 4 minutes, depending on your heat.
- Take it off the heat and transfer to a large bowl and let it to cool for 10 minutes.
- Add in the strained curds and whisk well.
- Stir in the chosen flavoring or split the cream between two bowls and flavor one with ½ tbsp rose water and the other with ½ tbsp orange blossom water.
- Let cool and refrigerate for a couple hours before using.
Nutrition
Calories: 288kcalCarbohydrates: 16gProtein: 5gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 117mgSugar: 13g
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