Lebanese Milk Ice Cream (Booza ala Haleeb)
When I was developing the recipe, I was determined to retain the classic Lebanese milk ice cream that I grew up eating in Beirut. After much testing, I would say I perfected the recipe. A friend of mine advised me to keep it a secret, she was blown away by the taste. Maybe one day I will have my own restaurant or coffee shop, then this would be on the menu. Part of me wanted to keep it a secret and the other part was pushing me to share it with the world. I felt like a scientist making a discovery, and the latter part won me over. This is simply divine.
Lebanese Milk Ice Cream (Booza ala Haleeb)
I eat ice cream in all seasons, and maybe I crave it more in winter. That sounds peculiar, right? A friend of mine told me once that the state of Alaska has the highest ice cream consumption, so that makes me look normal!
Lebanese ice cream comes in vibrant colors and flavors: mulberries, strawberries, lemon, chocolate, rose water, orange, etc… usually scooped out into wafer cones or filled in boxes; the good thing about it is that you can have varied flavors in one cone. This week I was craving the milk ice cream – an eggless ice cream flavored with salep/sahlab, mustic gum and rose water, and dressed up in raw ground pistachios
What are the ingredients you need to make the Lebanese Ice Cream?
Salep/Sahlab: a thickening powder made from the dried pulps of a mountain wild orchid, it gives the ice cream that stretchy and chewy texture, Turkey is the major producing country.
Mastic Gum: another ingredient that adds a unique flavor is the mastic gum. Mastic is the dried resin that seeps through the dark of the Pistacia Lentiscous, a tree native to the Mediterranean. It appears as pea-sized granules and is used as a flavoring in lots of oriental sweets, it is an essential ingredient in this recipe.
Pistachios: use raw unsalted pistachios an crush them in a food processor, they perfectly contrast the milk flavor of the ice cream.
Powdered Milk : I would highly recommend using powdered milk in my recipe and not the liquid.
Heavy Cream: adds such a beautiful depth of flavor.
Cornstrach: As you can see it is an eggless ice cream, cornstarch acts as a thickening agent.
Rosewater: Adds a subtle desired oriental flavor.
Granulated Sugar: for sweetening the ice cream.
Water: The liquid ingredient.
I actually worked so hard to reach the desired Lebanese milk ice cream that I grew up eating in Beirut. The end result is a rich, creamy and mouth-watering ice cream. Trust me on that a taste to remember!
With a mortar and pestle grind the mastic granules with a pinch of sugar.
Place the powdered milk, water, sugar, heavy cream, crushed mastic, cornstarch, salep powder in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk continuously over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, and that stage you will notice that the mixture has thickened a bit. Remove from heat, add the rosewater, stir well and set aside to cool down.
Transfer to an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s freezing instructions. This should take about 30 minutes. Freeze it for another 2-3 hours, allowing the ice cream to harden.
Reader Praise: "Thank you for this recipe. My husband remembers this ice cream from his childhood. We used your recipe for the first use of the ice cream maker we got for Christmas. We were able to find all the ingredients on Amazon. It came out amazing! My husband said it tasted just like he remembered. Thank you." Claudia
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw pistachios, crushed
- 11/2 cups of whole milk powder
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon salep (If you couldn’t find the Turkish original salep, the instant salep found online would do good as well, though the elasticity will be a bit less.
- 1 tablespoon rosewater
- 4 large mastic grains
Directions:
- With a mortar and pestle grind the mastic granules with a pinch of sugar.
- Place the whole milk powder, water, sugar, heavy cream, crushed mastic, cornstarch, salep powder in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk continuously over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, and that stage you will notice that the mixture has thickened a bit. Remove from heat, add the rosewater, stir well and set aside to cool down.
- Place a piece of wax paper on top to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 4hours or overnight. Transfer to an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer’s freezing instructions. This should take about 30 minutes. Freeze it for another 2-3 hours, allowing the ice cream to harden.
- Just upon serving sprinkle some pistachios on top of each ramekin. Enjoy!!
If you make this recipe, share your pictures on Facebook! I would love to see your creations!Hashtag them #Hadia's Lebanese Cuisine
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28 Responses to Lebanese Milk Ice Cream (Booza ala Haleeb)
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About Chef
Hadia Zebib
I am Hadia, the face behind Hadia’s Lebanese Cuisine. I grew up in Beirut Lebanon and I currently reside in Kinshasa, Congo with my husband and my three adorable sons, ...
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This is the most interesting ice cream recipe i have ever seen! I`m amazed how you make this luscious dessert! It` lovely and creamy and I want some!!
Thank you, Diane! I hope you give it a try! It is unbelievably, creamy and tasty! Xo xo!
Hello can I make this without an ice cream maker ?
Thank you
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I always like to have ice cream on hand! I bought a churn this year, on like Mama used to have. (She actually had 6!) I was just making it in a bowl in the freezer. I love it! I`m making some tonight!
I am wondering? My girlfriend and I recently had Syrian ice cream, due to alot of the shared regional tastes and ingredient. Do the 2 ice creams share the same ingredients and flavor? We both fell in love with the dense, creamy, flavor and texture of the ice cream with the pistachios.
Hi Clarence, they are almost the same, and some would argue that this is Syrian, others would say it is Lebanese! Now what I am really sure about is that the taste is unique and full of agreeable flavors. A friend of mine tasted the recipe at my plcae and said that she had had something very similar at “Bakdash”- a well-known ice cream parlor in Damascus.
Let me know how you like it if you give a try. This is always a huge hit whenever I make it. Welcome, Clarence.
Hadia-
My husband is from Damascus and when he tasted this he said this is better than Bakdash!! Quite the compliment to you. I have made this multiple times and always struggle when it comes to the amount/size of the mastic grains and how much to grind up. The container of mastic I have the chunks are very small. Can you possibly tell me in grams how much mastic to grind up. If I knew the grams it wouldn’t matter what the size of my mastic is.
All the best!
Hi Gwyn, and thank you so much for coming back and leaving your review here. I am super happy that you guys liked it, and super happy by your husband’s compliment. And as for the mastic, I would say 2 grams would yield a great result. Xoxo
Hi Hadia,
Can I use condensed milk instead of powdered? If so then how much condensed milk will I need?
Can’t wait to try this recipe with my new ice cream churner!
Thank you,
Noha
Thank you for this recipe. My husband remembers this ice cream from his childhood. We used your recipe for the first use of the ice cream maker we got for Christmas. We were able to find all the ingredients on Amazon. It came out amazing! My husband said it tasted just like he remembered. Thank you.
This is always a huge hit whenever I make it, so happy to hear this was enjoyed. Thanks for taking the time to leave your review, Claudia! Xo xo.
Love your recipes Hadia, so well explained and delicious. I do not have an ice cream maker; can this ice cream be done without one? Do you have the directions?
Thanks
Hi Rima, and thank you for the kind comment. Unfortunately, an ice cream maker is a must here to achieve the creamy consistency, with no ice solids. Xoxo
Thank you for posting this recipe. I miss booza from Lebanon. Do you, by any chance, have the recipe for booza with mulberries?
My pleasure Ranya. Honestly I have never made booza with mulberries.