# Egyptian Om Ali with Cream and Nuts

> Om Ali is crisp pastry soaked in sweetened milk with nuts and cream, browned in the oven. The secret is that **the milk must be very hot when poured** — cold milk soaks the pastry slowly and you end up with a dish that is watery underneath and dry on top.

**Egyptian Cuisine · 40 min · 6 servings · 420 kcal per serving**

Om Ali is Egypt's most famous Ramadan dessert, and it dates back to the Mamluk period. The idea is simple: crisp pastry, milk and nuts. But the balance between the three is what separates a creamy Om Ali from one floating in milk.

## Ingredients


### The base
- 400 — Puff pastry or baked filo
- 1 — Full-fat milk
- 0.75 — Sugar
- 1 — Vanilla

### The nuts
- 0.5 — Desiccated coconut
- 0.5 — Almonds, chopped
- 0.5 — Hazelnuts or walnuts, chopped
- 0.25 — Raisins

### For the top
- 1 — Clotted cream
- 0.5 — Whipping cream (optional)

## Method

1. **Bake the pastry** — Bake the puff pastry at **200°C for fifteen minutes** until golden, puffed and crisp. If you are using ready-baked roqaq, skip this step.
2. **Break it up** — Break the pastry by hand into medium pieces, not fine crumbs, and spread them in the baking dish. Pieces that are too small turn to paste in the milk.
3. **Add the nuts** — Scatter the coconut, almonds, hazelnuts and raisins over the pastry and turn it gently so they sit among the pieces rather than only on top.
4. **Heat the milk** — Heat the milk with the sugar and vanilla until it **genuinely begins to boil**. Lukewarm milk soaks the pastry slowly and the result is uneven.
5. **Pour** — Pour the hot milk over the dish gradually until it covers the pastry and stands about one centimetre above it. Any more and it floats.
6. **Add the cream** — Spoon the clotted cream and whipping cream over the surface in **scattered dots, not a full layer**. The dots brown and give the characteristic marbled top.
7. **Bake** — Bake at **220°C for fifteen to twenty minutes** until the top browns and the edges bubble. Serve hot, immediately.

## Tips

- Very hot milk at the moment of pouring — this is the most important step and it determines the whole texture.
- The milk covers the pastry by one centimetre only. More than that turns it into soup.
- Cream in scattered dots rather than a layer, so it browns and marbles.
- It is eaten hot. Cold Om Ali sets firm and loses half its appeal.

## FAQ

### Can I use roqaq instead of puff pastry?
Yes, and that is actually the original. Bake the roqaq until crisp and break it up the same way.

### Why did my Om Ali come out watery?
Too much milk. It should cover the pastry by one centimetre only — the pastry absorbs it in the oven and it thickens.

### Can I prepare it ahead?
Assemble the pastry and nuts in the dish, and pour the hot milk at oven time. Fully assembled ahead, it loses its crispness.

### What can replace clotted cream?
Whipped cream, or sweetened condensed milk loosened with a little cream. Clotted cream gives the authentic texture.

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Source: https://hanakoleah.com/en/egyptian-cuisine/egyptian-om-ali
Edited by: Marwa Mohamed
Last updated: 2026-10-29