Salep (Sahlab): Thick Hot Milk with Orange Blossom and Cinnamon
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
A thick, creamy hot drink infused with orange blossom and vanilla, topped with cinnamon and pistachios.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Slurry. Whisk 24 g cornflour with 3 tbsp cold water in a small bowl to a smooth slurry.
- 2
Heat. In a saucepan, warm 960 ml whole milk, 40 g sugar and a pinch of fine salt over medium heat, stirring, until it steams and small bubbles form at the edge.
- 3
Thicken. Whisk the slurry again and pour it into the milk in a thin stream, whisking all the time; keep whisking on medium-low until it thickens to the consistency of thin custard and coats a spoon, 3–5 min, being careful not to let it catch.
- 4
Flavour. Off the heat, stir in 2 tsp orange blossom water and 1 tsp vanilla; taste and add sugar if needed.
- 5
Serve. Ladle into mugs, dust with 1 tsp ground cinnamon and scatter 2 tbsp chopped pistachios; drink hot.
Storage
Serve immediately whilst hot. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Source of protein: 3.6 g protein per 100 kcal, about 14% of energy (needs ≥ 12%)
- Low salt: 0.24 g salt per 100 ml (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 ml of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 187 ml a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
10.1 g per serving
20.2 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 40.4 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- medium saucepan
- whisk
- small bowl
- 4 mugs
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 238 kcal |
| Protein | 8.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 29.1 g |
| of which sugars | 22.9 g |
| of which free sugars | 10.1 g |
| Fat | 9.8 g |
| of which saturates | 4.8 g |
| Fibre | 0.8 g |
| Salt | 0.44 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
3.6 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
