About This Dish
A modern Moroccan dessert that has become wildly popular across the country. Layers of crispy fried warqa pastry alternate with a silky vanilla-scented custard cream, creating a stunning layered dessert that is crunchy, creamy, and utterly indulgent. Topped with a dusting of cinnamon and powdered sugar, then decorated with toasted almonds, milk pastilla is the dessert that appears at every Moroccan celebration today. Though it is a relatively recent invention, it has been embraced so enthusiastically that it feels like it has always been part of the cuisine.
Ingredients
- 8 Warqa or phyllo pastry sheets
- 1 liter Whole milk
- 150 g Sugar
- 80 g Cornstarch
- 4 Egg yolks
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp Orange blossom water
- 30 g Butter
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- for dusting Powdered sugar
- 50 g Toasted almonds, chopped
- 3 tbsp Oil for frying pastry
Instructions
- 1
Make custard: whisk milk, sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Add vanilla, orange blossom water, and butter.
- 2
Fry or bake warqa/phyllo sheets until golden and crispy.
- 3
Layer: place a pastry round on a plate, spread custard, add another pastry, more custard.
- 4
Continue for 3-4 layers, ending with pastry on top.
- 5
Dust with powdered sugar and draw cinnamon lines.
- 6
Top with toasted almonds. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.
Tips & Tricks
- The custard must be thick enough to hold between layers without making the pastry soggy.
- Assemble just 1-2 hours before serving for the best texture contrast.
- Individual portions are easier to serve than one large pastilla.