Warbat Dessert or Warbat Bil Ashta is an exquisite Middle Eastern dessert made with delicate layers of phyllo pastry dough filled with ashta, a luscious velvety rich cream, baked and drenched in sugar syrup.
Warbat is a delicious recipe often served on special occasions, it is made with a few simple steps and a handful of ingredients and served hot or at room temperature.
If you're looking for more traditional Palestinian desserts, try my qatayef recipe, knafeh, or harrisa.
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What is Warbat?
Warbat or warbat bil-ashta, also known as shaabiyat, is a popular Middle Eastern sweets, especially in the month of Ramadan, and is the perfect post-iftar treat. It is a sweet pastry made with layers of thin phyllo dough, filled with a rich and creamy stuffing called ashta (clotted cream). Then drizzled with sugar syrup and garnished with pistachios after baking.
Some call it the cousin of baklava, since the steps and ingredients are very similar except that warbat is filled with ashta rather than nuts.
What is Ashta?
Ashta filling is a Middle Eastern dairy-based filling more like a cream used in various pastries and sweets. The traditional way of ashta recipe is made by skimming off the layer of fat that forms when boiling milk similar to clotted cheese.
The homemade ashta recipe here is a more simplified one from the traditional recipe, it's made from heavy cream, milk, and sugar, and flavored with rose water or orange blossom water.
Ashta is commonly used in Palestinian, Lebanese, Syrian, and other Middle Eastern pastries such as qatayef (stuffed pancakes), and various types of pastries and sweets. The creamy texture and subtle flavors of ashta enhance the taste of these desserts.
Equipment
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Sauce Pan - For making ashta
Utility Whisk - To help whisk, milk cream, and corn starch
Glass Bowl - For storing ashta in the fridge
Sharp Knife - To cut phyllo pastry dough
Pastry Brush - To use for brushing warbat with ghee before baking
Baking Sheet - For baking warbat
Ingredients
Phyllo Pastry sometimes called Fillo Dough - There are so many different brands, look for a package that includes 18 sheets with a standard size of 16 by 12 inches.
Milk - To be mixed with the cream for making ashta
Heavy Cream - It provides the ashta with its rich creamy texture.
Sugar - It adds sweetness to the ashta.
Corn Starch - It helps to thicken the mixture of cream and milk.
Orange Blossom Water or Rose Water - It adds a unique flavor to ashta.
Ghee - Is used for baking, it adds a rich flavor to warbat. It's easy to make at home, you can find the recipe here, or you can buy it from any Middle Eastern store.
Simple Syrup (ater) - Where all the sweetness of warbat comes from.
Ground Pistachios - They add a crunchy nutty savor and balance all the flavors of the sweet taste and creamy texture.
Instructions
Full ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Making Sugar Syrup
It's best to make the sugar syrup (ater) few hours earlier or the day before so it will be completely cooled off and ready to use. All you need is sugar, water, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Check out my step-by-step instructions here.
Making Ashta
Step 1 | Add heavy cream, milk, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan.
Step 2 | Whisk well before adding it to the heat. Corn starch needs to be completely dissolved while the liquid is cold to prevent it from clumping.
Step 3 | Place the mixture over medium heat while continuing to whisk (about 10 minutes) once thickened, remove from heat, and stir in orange blossom water.
Step 4 | Place in a glass bowl, let it cool off for 10-15 minutes then refrigerate for at least one hour before filling phyllo pastry dough.
Cutting Phyllo Pastry
Step 5 | Once phyllo dough is thawed open the package, unroll the sheets gently, and lay them on a flat surface or a large cutting board.
Step 6 | Using a ruler measure small squares of 4” by 4”, and cut the sheets of phyllo using a very sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
Filling and Baking Warbat
Step 7 | With a spoon or ice cream scooper, scoop about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of ashta cream filling and place at the center of each square.
Step 8 | Fold over to form a triangular shape.
Step 9 | Once all folded place them on a greased baking tray, and brush all edges with melted ghee.
Step 10 | Bake in a 400 F preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 11 | Once they're out of the oven pour over simple syrup (ater) then garnish with crushed pistachios.
Substitution or Variations
- You can stuff warbat with custard pudding or muhallebi instead of ashta.
- For richer texture, you can replace the milk with half and half.
- You can use any other nuts instead of pistachios, crushed walnuts or almonds can work.
Storage and Reheating
- While warbat are best enjoyed the day of baking, you can keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Keep in mind that they may not maintain their crispy texture.
- You can heat them in the microwave.
- Ashta can be made and kept in the fridge for 2-3 days before making warbat.
Pro Tips
- For best results, sugar syrup is recommended to be made either a day earlier or a few hours before use. It needs to be completely cooled off.
- To have a crispy texture it's important to immediately pour the cooled syrup after taking warbat out of the oven. This step will prevent them from becoming soggy!
- Make sure to mix corn starch with the cold liquid ingredients to help completely dissolve it and will prevent it from clumping.
- Continue to whisk ashta ingredients while on medium heat, if you notice any clumping take the pot off the heat and continue stirring until you see a smooth texture.
- Phyllo pastry must be at room temperature, which will make it easier to work with.
- You can remove phyllo pastry from the freezer and keep it in the fridge the night before, then over-the-counter for 1-2 before using.
- You can melt ghee in the microwave.
- Make sure that warbat are baked uncovered.
FAQ
Yes, you can, but keep in mind that butter has milk in it and once melted it will leave some of the milk residue, so you may end up with some black dots on the phyllo dough after baking.
You can, however, puff pastry is much denser than phyllo pastry, so you will not get the same results of crispy layers.
For best results yes, but if you prefer less phyllo pastry in each piece you can use half of the sheets, and you'll end up with 24 pieces instead of 12. It'll be easier to split the sheets into 9 layers each before cutting. And in that case, you'll need to double the amount of ashta.
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More Delicious Recipes
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Warbat Recipe
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 12 Pieces 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Palestinian/Middle Eastern
- Diet: Halal
Description
Warbat Dessert or Warbat Bil Ashta is an exquisite Middle Eastern dessert made with delicate layers of phyllo pastry dough filled with ashta, a luscious velvety rich cream, baked and drenched in sugar syrup.
Warbat is a delicious recipe often served on special occasions, it is made with a few simple steps and a handful of ingredient, and served hot or at room temperature.
Ingredients
Ashta
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1 cup of whole milk
- 4 tablespoons of corn starch
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
Phyllo Pastry
- 1 bag of phyllo dough 18 sheets (450 grams)
- ½ cup of ghee
- 1 cup sugar syrup
- ¼ cup crushed pistachios
Instructions
Making Ashta
- Add heavy cream, milk, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan.
- Whisk well before adding it to the heat. Corn starch needs to be completely dissolved while the liquid is cold to prevent it from clumping.
- Place the saucepan with the mixture over medium heat while continuing to whisk (about 10 minutes) once thickened, remove from heat, and stir in orange blossom water.
- Place the mixture in a glass bowl, let it cool off for 10-15 minutes then refrigerate for at least one hour before filling the phyllo pastry dough.
Cutting Phyllo Pastry
- Take phyllo dough out of the freezer the night before and keep in the fridge, and out of the fridge 1-2 hours before usage.
- Once phyllo dough is thawed, gently open the package and unroll the sheets.
- Lay phyllo dough sheets on a flat surface or a large cutting board.
- Feel free to use a ruler and measure small squares of 4” by 4”, and cut the sheets of phyllo using a very sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
Filling and Baking Warbat
- With a spoon or ice cream scooper scoop about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of ashta cream filling and place at the center of each square.
- Once filled fold over to form a triangular shape.
- Once all folded place them on a greased baking tray.
- Brush all edges of each piece with melted ghee.
- Bake in a 400 F preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once they're out of the oven immediately pour over simple syrup (ater) then garnish with crushed pistachios.
Notes
- For best results, sugar syrup is recommended to be made either the day before or a few hours before use. It needs to be completely cooled off.
- To have a crispy texture it's important to immediately pour the cooled syrup after taking warbat out of the oven. This step will prevent them from becoming soggy!
- Make sure to mix corn starch with the cold liquid ingredients to help completely dissolve it and will prevent it from clumping.
- Continue to whisk ashta ingredients while on medium heat, if you notice any clumping take the pot off the heat and continue stirring until you see a smooth texture.
- Phyllo pastry must be at room temperature, which will make it easier to work with.
- You can remove phyllo pastry from the freezer and keep it in the fridge the night before, then over-the-counter for 1-2 before using.
- Make sure that warbat are baked uncovered.
Fadwa says
I so much liked this recipe and can't wait to share it with family and friends during Ramadan.
Wafa Shami says
Great. Thank you.
Ellie says
Just tried this recipe, loved it. I could not find the proper sized/layered filo dough sheets so they came out a bit different in sizes. I also used rose water instead of orange blossom water. I really loved the ashta itself as the rose water gave it a very interesting flavor. My roommates loved it. Thank you so much for these recipes! I hope to finally make Palestinian Knafeh next, if I can find the right dough.
Wafa Shami says
Hi Ellie, I'm glad it worked out and you and your roommates loved it. Rose water works just as good. I too hope you'll find the right dough for knafeh. Enjoy cooking.