Gullac is a special milk dessert served during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is unthinkable without this easy to prepare, tasty dessert. Gullac is a light dessert suitable to be served after long fasting day.
In Islam good smell is important; that’s why rose water has a special place in Ottoman culture. Using rose water for flavoring food was common. Rose means gul in Turkish and the name of the dessert is gul aşı – rose food. The name turned into gullac.
Today, some people prefer to use rose water, some don’t while preparing Gullac dessert.
Few years ago it was not possible to find gullac wafers at any time of year except Ramadan, but nowadays some grocery stores in large cities stock them year round. You can obtain gullac wafers anytime of year at baqqalia.com, you don’t need to miss this tradition.
How to prepare Gullac?
Ingredients
Dessert
- 10 sheets gullac
- 2 litres milk
- 500 grams sugar
- 1 tablespoon rose water optional
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 200 grams walnuts coarsely chopped
Garnish
- 3 tablespoons walnuts coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons of pomegranate or strawberry
It is easy to preapere Gullac dessert once you find güllac sheets. Heat the milk with sugar and add rose water. Gullac sheets are dry so you should soak them in milk. You need a big tray that the sheets can fit in. If your tray doesn’t big enough just break the sheets in to half.
Instructions
1. Put the milk and sugar in a pot. Heat until its warm enough but not boil.
2. After the milk is warm enough if you want you can add the rose water and vanilla.
a. Place the first layer of gullac in your tray. Soak it with milk, then place another layer of gullac and do the same thing to other 4 layers.
b. When you have placed 5 sheets with milk put half of the walnuts and then put 5 more sheets again with milk mixture in between.
c. Pour all over the remaining milk. The gullac sheet on the top should be covered with milk all around.
d. Put it in the fridge and wait until the mix is soaked up and the dessert chills, for at least 2 hours.
e. Before serving garnish according to your choice. The traditional garnish is pomegranate seeds, but strawberries will be a good choice.