Lebanese Fruit Cocktail with Ashta
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Prep Time15 mins.
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Cook Time15 mins.
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Serving4
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Ready In30 mins.
A widely popular dessert in Lebanon, this Lebanese fruit cocktail with ashta is not your typical fruit cocktail. Known as cocktail shikaf in Arabic, I grew up eating this incredible dessert in Lebanon on my summer vacations pretty much every single time we went out for a late-night treat. This fruit cocktail is considered a street food, served in small cafes, street vendors where you can also find ice cream, and all kinds of other refreshing desserts.
There are a variety of different fruit cocktails found in these cafes and street vendors in Lebanon, such as a fully blended one (like a smoothie), a few different avocado-based ones, and then the one I am making today, cocktail shikaf. Shikaf means pieces/chunks, which, is the base of this dessert, chunks of fruit.
What is Ashta?
What makes this Lebanese fruit cocktail so special, is the sweet Ashta. Ashta is a Middle-eastern rose-water flavored clotted cream. If you live in Lebanon, or anywhere in one of the Middle-eastern countries, you could purchase the Ashta pre-made from specialty dessert stores.
The process to make the Ashta homemade, is fairly simple and only takes about 15 minutes. I heated up whole milk in a small pot and added some lemon juice to clot the cream. Alternatively, you can use vinegar instead. I do not recommend using a lower fat milk as it will not be as rich and creamy. Instead, you could use half and half, light cream or a combination of both and whole milk.
To give the Ashta its’ distinct Middle-eastern flavor, I added rose-water and orange-blossom water. If you want to skip over making the Ashta, a delicious substitution is ricotta cheese. It is very similar in texture, and flavor. Feel free to add in some rose-water for the Lebanese flair.
What Fruits to Add
This Lebanese Fruit Cocktail should have about around 5-7 different fruits in it. Some of the strawberries are blended for some juice to fill up the glasses. You can definitely use any juice you would like for this recipe if you prefer something different. The main fruits I would consider the “main” fruits in this are strawberries, kiwi, mangoes, bananas and pineapple. I happened to have blueberries and raspberries on hand so, I added those as well.
You could do blackberries, apples, peaches or plums as well.
STEP 1
Wash and prep all the fruit. Cut the strawberries, mangoes, kiwis, and pineapple into 1 inch cubes. Leave a few slices of kiwi and pineapple for presentation.
Slice the bananas.
STEP 2
In a small pot, add the milk and heat over medium heat. Oncethe milk begins to bubble on the sides, add the rose water and orange blossom water.
Mix well and add the lemon juice. The milk will immediately begin to clot.
Prep a large strainer over a medium-sized bowl. Using a large spoon with holes, begin to remove the clotted cream from the surface and pour into the strainer.
Continue until the remaining liquid is clear/yellow. Add more lemon juice if needed. **Last 2-3 days in a refrigerator.
STEP 3
In a small blender, add 1 pound of the strawberries (I used frozen) to the blender along with the ½ cup of water. Blend until smooth and juice-like.
Feel free to substitute the homemade strawberry juice with 2 cups of any juice preferred.
STEP 4
Fill the serving glasses halfway with fruit. I used these milk shake cups from Amazon and they worked great.
Add ½ cup of the strawberry juice over the fruit. Follow with the remaining fruit until the glasses are filled.
Add 2 tablespoons of Ashta over the fruit. Sprinkle with walnuts and drizzle with honey. Enjoy!
Lebanese Fruit Cocktail with Ashta
Ingredients
- 2 lb. Strawberries
- ½ cup Blueberries
- ½ cup Raspberries
- 3 Kiwi
- 2 Bananas
- 1 cup Pineapple
- 2 Mangoes
- 4 tsp. Honey
- ½ cup Chopped Walnuts or Halved Almonds
- ½ cup Water
Ashta
- 6 cups Whole Milk
- 3 tb. Lemon Juice
- 2 tsp. Rose Water
- 1 tsp. Orange Blossom water
Instructions
- Wash and prep all the fruit. Cut the strawberries, mangoes, kiwis, and pineapple into 1 inch cubes. Leave a few slices of kiwi and pineapple for presentation. Slice the bananas.
- In a small pot, add the milk and heat over medium heat. Once the milk begins to bubble on the sides, add the rose water and orange blossom water. Mix well and add the lemon juice. The milk will immediately begin to clot. Prep a large strainer over a medium-sized bowl. Using a large spoon with holes, begin to remove the clotted cream from the surface and pour into the strainer. Continue until the remaining liquid is clear/yellow. Add more lemon juice if needed. Refrigerate until cold. **Lasts 2-3 days in fridge.
- In a small blender, add 1 pound of the strawberries (I used frozen) to the blender along with the ½ cup of water. Blend until smooth and juice-like. **Feel free to substitute the homemade strawberry juice with 2 cups of any juice preferred.
- Fill the serving glasses halfway with fruit. Add ½ cup of the strawberry juice over the fruit. Add the remaining fruit until the glasses are filled. Add 2 tablespoons of Ashta over the fruit. Sprinkle with walnuts and drizzle with honey. Enjoy!
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