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Handiہانڈیاردو
Desserts & mithai

Lab-e-Shireen Recipe

لبِ شیریں بنانے کا طریقہ

Chilled lab-e-shireen: thick vanilla custard folded with toasted vermicelli, cream, two colours of jelly, fresh fruit and nuts, made the day before Eid.
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Illustration of Lab-e-Shireen

Prep

25 min

Cook

20 min

Marinate / soak

3 hr

Serves

8

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Lab-e-shireen, literally sweet lips, is the custard dessert that fills Pakistani fridges at Eid and weddings. It is a thicker, richer relative of fruit trifle: custard cooked with toasted vermicelli, cooled, then folded with cream, cubes of colourful jelly and fruit. The vermicelli gives it body and a little chew, and making it a day ahead lets everything set and chill.

Ingredients

8 servings

For 8 servings

Measures

For the custard

To fold in

Method

  1. Make the two jellies with the water the packets ask for, pour each into a flat dish and chill until firm. Cut into small cubes.

    ⏱ 90 min

  2. Toast the vermicelli in the ghee in a pan on low heat, stirring, until golden.

    ⏱ 3 min

  3. Mix the custard powder with half a cup of the cold milk until smooth. Bring the rest of the milk to the boil with the sugar, add the vermicelli and simmer until soft.

    ⏱ 5 min

  4. Lower the heat and pour in the custard mixture while stirring. Keep stirring until it is very thick, thicker than pouring custard.

    ⏱ 4 min

  5. Pour into a bowl, press cling film onto the surface to stop a skin forming and leave to cool completely, then chill.

    ⏱ 60 min

  6. Whisk the cold custard until smooth. Fold in the chilled cream and condensed milk if using, then the apple, grapes, pomegranate and most of the jelly and nuts.

  7. Chill again until cold through. Just before serving, fold in the bananas and top with the remaining jelly and nuts.

    ⏱ 30 min

Tips for the best result

  • Make the custard thicker than you think; the cream and fruit loosen it, and a thin custard turns watery overnight.
  • Add a few drops of rose water or kewra with the cream if you like a more festive smell.

Common mistakes

  • Adding fruit to warm custard. The fruit softens and leaks juice, and the dessert turns runny.
  • Mixing in banana the night before. It goes brown and mushy; add it just before serving.

How to serve

Serve well chilled in a glass bowl so the jelly colours show, after an Eid lunch or a dawat.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 2 days in the fridge, best within 24 hours. Do not freeze.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
360kcal
Protein
7g
Fat
17g
Carbs
47g
Fibre
2g
Sodium
100mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 31

Whole dish ≈ Rs 245 · 66% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Lab-e-Shireen: questions people ask

What is the difference between lab-e-shireen and fruit trifle?

Lab-e-shireen is a thick custard with vermicelli, cream, jelly and fruit all folded together. Trifle is built in layers on top of sponge cake.

Why did my lab-e-shireen become watery?

The custard was too thin or the fruit went in while it was warm. Cook the custard very thick, cool it fully, and use firm fruit.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

All dessert recipes

Read this recipe in Urdu: لبِ شیریں بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/lab-e-shireen · Handi, DanixSoft