Popular throughout the Levant, and going beyond baklava when you think of Lebanese desserts, you might also be thinking of indulging creamy cakes and exciting puddings. But celebrated Lebanese-American guest Bethany Kehdy dished out a seemingly, sinfully tempting Chocolate Crumb Labneh Mousse, at the 38^th Sharjah International Book Fair.

Think of the summer fruits that’s flooding the farmer’s markets, a no-bake dish, this impressive recipe requires least effort while producing delicious results. Steamed tender pears, that’s still holding shape, whipped cream with soft peaks, sugar syrup and labneh mix, topped with chocolate flakes, is all it requires, to take the taste buds to a different level.

“I have spent years drooling over labneh recipes in magazines and this one is just perfect, so simple, yet amazing”, says Clara, a visitor at the SIBF cooking corner.

“This ethereal sweet labneh mousse can be served during breakfast or dinner or even chilled a day before in the fridge, to avoid last minute mayhem’, says Kehdy.

In her debut cookery book, ‘The Jewelled Table: Cooking, Eating & Entertaining the Middle Eastern Way’, Kehdy takes classical and traditional recipes while demystifying them.

Sharing her journey of documenting over 80 culinary secrets, Kehdy says, “I left Lebanon at the age of 22 and settled in Miami. But the one thing that I really missed was my home-cooked Lebanese cuisine. So, I started calling my aunt for recipes. Then I started writing these recipes in a diary as notes. Later, I got so interested in this, that I started maintaining a blog called Dirty Kitchen which eventually became a website. Then in the year 2010, I got approached to write a cookbook”.

So, for those of you craving for a yummy sweet treat or a speedy dessert when you have people over for dinner, this recipe will be an incredible hit, leaving everyone, craving for more.

The Sharjah International Book Fair’s (SIBF) cookery corner is introducing appetizing recipes for its visitors daily, with 16 Arab and International chefs from 9 countries. Held under the theme, ‘Open Books, Open Mind’, SIBF 2019, runs until 9 November at the Expo Center.