A combination of Halawet el Jibn (Lebanese cheese derived pastry) and ice cream for a new dessert development

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of developing a dessert made by the combination of "Halawet el Jibn" (Lebanese Cheese Derived Pastry) and ice cream (Arabic and Italian). Five trained descriptive sensory panelists from the University of Balamand evaluated samples of "Halawet el Jibn" filled with nine different ice cream flavors. Four ice cream flavors (Amar el Din, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Almonds, and Biscuit Caramel and Cream) were rejected as they were considered not matching with "Halawet el Jibn". The order of preference and acceptance of the five remaining samples was as follow: "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Kashta" Ice Cream(first rank), followed by "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Belgian Chocolate" Ice Cream and "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Pistachio" Ice Cream (second rank),"Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Strawberry and Cream" Ice Cream(third rank). Finally, "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Cookies and Cream" Ice Cream was considered the last. In addition, sensory analysis done by 29 untrained Lebanese panelists revealed a higher overallacceptance and better taste for "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Kashta" Ice Cream. "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Belgian Chocolate" Ice Cream and "Halawet el Jibn" filled with "Pistachios" Ice Cream were graded the second followed by "Halawet el Jibn" filled with"Strawberry and Cream" Ice Cream. Finally, "Halawet el Jibn" filled with"Cookies and Cream" Ice Cream took the lowest grades of overall liking and taste.In addition, a questionnaire was conducted among 100 Lebanese respondents inorder to assess their acceptability towards the new dessert and their development encouragement.Results were positive and promising.