Egyptian pastry and milk pudding (Umm Ali)

1. Place the puff pastry on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in a 200 °C oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and crisp, then leave to cool slightly.

2. Roughly chop the almonds and pistachios.

3. Break the baked pastry into large pieces with your hands and scatter into an ovenproof dish of about 20x25 cm; mix in the raisins, desiccated coconut and most of the nuts.

4. Bring the milk to the boil with the sugar until it dissolves and pour evenly over the pastry; leave for 5 minutes to soak in.

5. Whip the cream until stiff, spread it over the top and sprinkle with the remaining nuts.

6. Bake under the top grill of a 220 °C oven for 10-15 minutes until the top is golden in patches; serve warm.

Tip: Umm Ali (Ali's mother) is Egypt's favourite warm dessert, a distant relative of bread pudding. It's traditionally also made with filo or leftover bread, but puff pastry gives the flakiest version. Always eat it fresh and warm, as it gets completely soggy as it stands.