Haytaliyeh this morning: Not quie a failure and not quite a success. Let's call it a learning experience.
I followed the recipe pretty closely:
https://plantbasedfolk.com/haytaliyeh-vegan-lebanese-milk-pudding/ with the following exceptions. I made my own almond milk, something I've been doing for many, many years, and I used about half the total amount of sugar that the recipe calls for.
The dish could have used a bit more sweetness. It would have been the better for it. However, for my taste and preferences, it was acceptable, but just barely.
The biggest issue was the texture. The result was quite thick and lacked a certain lightness. Rubbery might be a good descriptor. You can probably see from the image how thick this pudding is. The recipe called for 100 grams of cornstarch mixed with an equal amount of water. My instincts told me that was too much. That feeling was based, at least in part, by a chocolate pudding recipe that I perfected over the years and in part by seeing just how much cornstarch 100 grams is.
Watching how quickly the pudding mixture firmed up, and how "ploppy" it was, told me that this was going to be one heavy pudding.
I was also concerned that the amount of rose water and orange blossom water would be a bit much, but it wasn't. That worked out well. And the aromas realy perfumed the apartment ... nice!
So, next tme I'll adjust the sweetness and cut back on the thickening agent, perhaps using but half the amount. Any suggestions on that point?
The dish needs work, but I feel it will eventually make a very nice dessert.
