Om Ali is an Egyptian dessert brought to me by Nige (lla Lawson) in her book 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'. Legend says that Om Ali was sultan Ezz El Din Aybek's first wife. When the sultan died, his second wife argued with Om Ali, resulting in the second wife's death. Om Ali made this pudding to celebrate and shared it out with the people of the land.
Is this true? Doesn't really matter. The end result is this dishy dessert, a cross between baklava and bread pudding. Start by brushing filo pastry sheets and lying them on baking sheets like "wet rags". Once they're cooked, break them up into a layer at the bottom of a dish, then add a layer of dried fruit and nuts (apricots, sultanas, flaked almonds pine nuts, pistachios) and then another layer of pastry. Keep layering until you reach the top. Then boil up a lotta lotta milk, double cream and caster sugar. Pour it over, sprinkle on some nutmeg and pop the whole thing in the oven until crisp and golden.
The plan is to bring a little warmth to this year's village 'summer' BBQ which has somehow slipped back in the calendar to late September. The sun is indeed shining, but my toes are cold, so I'm fairly sure autumn is creeping in.
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