Vegan Muhallebi


Middle-Eastern Rose Pudding

Inspired by the classic Middle Eastern muhallebi, these delicate rose puddings are a glamorous dessert yet super easy to make. They're vegan and sugar-free, with lovely floral and nutty notes from rose water and pistachios.

Vegan Muhallebi (Middle Eastern Rose Pudding)

Info

Nutrition per serving
NutrientAmountRDA
Net Carbs15.8 g5.7%
of which Sugars2.8 g3.1%
Fibers2.7 g9.6%
Fats7 g10.8%
of which Saturates0.8 g4.2%
of which Omega 30 g3.5%
Proteins3.1 g6.6%
Calcium477 mg47.7%
Vitamin A3 mcg0.4%
Vitamin C1 mg0.8%
Iron1.2 mg8.1%
Potassium281 mg8%
Sodium182 mg7.9%
Cholesterol0 mg0%
Kcal139 6.9%
Macro split
  • net carbs 55%
  • sugars 10%
  • fats 25%
  • saturates 3%
  • proteins 11%
  • fibers 9%
*RDA based on a 2000 kcal diet;
**Nutritional data sources: USDA, food labels.
KCAL
139 per serving
TIME
1h 30m
HEALTH

This delicate rose pudding is an irresistibly creamy dessert with wonderful floral and nutty notes. We made it vegan and sugar-free to give you a healthier version of the classic Middle Eastern muhallebi. It's perfect to prepare ahead of time and serve at a fancy dinner — your guests will love it!

All you have to do for this recipe is prepare a custard with almond milk and rose water, pour it into serving glasses and let it cool down in the fridge. When you're ready to serve the puddings, sprinkle them with cinnamon, pistachios, and rose petals. You'll have a gorgeous yet light dessert bursting with flavours from the Middle East.

Classic muhallebi, also known as Mahalabia (مهلبية) in Arabic, is a milk pudding sweetened with sugar and thickened with starch or rice flour. It's a popular dessert in the Middle East, thought to be named after the Persian cook who invented it. Muhallebi is similar to the French blancmange, but it's flavoured with either orange blossom or rose water and garnished with local nuts like almonds or pistachios.

To make our recipe vegan and sugar-free, we swapped cow's milk with almond milk and refined white sugar with powdered erythritol. Almond milk is a great dairy substitute in vegan desserts, low in fats and calories. It also gives a lovely nutty flavour to the pudding, which perfectly fits the Middle Eastern notes of this recipe. Erythritol is a safe, diabetic-friendly sweetener that tastes almost as sweet as sugar but has zero sugars.

Rose water is what makes these puddings really stand out from other custard recipes. Just a few teaspoons are enough to infuse the muhallebi with delicate floral notes — we love it! If you can get hold of dried rose petals for garnishing, they'll make the pudding even more flavourful and super pretty!

A serving of these rose puddings has less than 150 calories, only 4% RDI of carbs, and zero sugars. This means you can round off a Middle Eastern-themed dinner with a light dessert that won't derail your diet.

Ingredients

Adjustments
Serves
Measuring System
Pudding
Starch (potato, corn, or arrowroot)60 g
Almond Milk1 L
Powdered Erythritol (or icing sugar)40 g
Rose Water3 tsp
Toppings
Ground Cinnamon1/2 tsp
Ground Cardamom2 pinch
Pistachios40 g
Dried Rose Petals4 tsp

Step 1

You can make powdered erythritol by blitzing erythritol granules in a blender until finely ground.

With the heat turned off, add sifted starch to a pot and pour in a little bit of almond milk.

Whisk well to dissolve the starch and then pour in the remaining milk, followed by erythritol and rose water.

almond milk pudding muhallebi ingredients

Step 2

Mix well and turn on the heat to medium.

Bring the milk to a gentle boil while always stirring with a whisk; this prevents the starch from sedimenting at the bottom of the pot and forming lumps.

As soon as you see the first bubbles, start whisking more vigorously and keep at it for about 1 minute or until the milk mixture thickens into a custard.

Don't worry if the pudding is not too dense; it will thicken even more as it cools down.

almond milk pudding with rose water in a pot

Step 3

Now, divide the rose pudding among serving moulds, tins, or glasses.

Allow to cool down at room temperature for 15 minutes, and then transfer the puddings to the fridge.

Let them set and cool down completely in the fridge for 1 hour.

vegan muhallebi rose pudding in glasses

Step 4

The puddings are ready when they feel bouncy and wobbly when poked.

Serve your vegan muhallebi cold, sprinkled with ground cinnamon, cardamom, finely chopped pistachios, and rose petals.

vegan muhallebi rose pudding with pistachios

Tips

You can create beautifully marbled puddings by alternating spoonfuls of rose custard with cherry or plum jam; swirl all with a skewer or knife, and then chill the puddings in the fridge.