Ladies arms - Lebanese sweet (recipe)

My lebanese friend from uni introduced me to these delicious sweets during a particularly stressful exam period. Apparently, the name refers to their resemblance to ladies arms, the flabby arm fat accurately demonstrated by the luscious and creamy filling underneath the crispy sweet pastry.
Okay, I might have made up the part about the flabby arm fat..

Ingredients:
Pastry
500g filo sheets
Vegetable oil for frying

Filling
2 cups milk
2 cups pure cream
6 slices white bread
5 tablespoons corn flour dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Sugar syrup
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of water
squeeze of lemon juice
teaspoon of rose water (optional)

Garnish
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Method:
Filling 
1. Cut crusts off the bread and discard
2. Cut slices of bread into small pieces, size of a 50c coin
3. Put bread into a saucepan with milk and cream
4. Give a stir to combine and leave to soak for at least 2 hours in the fridge
5. Heat saucepan over medium heat and keep stirring until heated through
6. Add the cornstarch dissolved in water and keep stirring until the mixture thickens
6. Pour into another bowl and place in the fridge to cool

Sugar syrup
1. Put sugar and water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Swirl pan around till it dissolves. Don't stir. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush down the sides of the pan.
2. When boiling, add a squeeze of lemon choice. Keep an eye out until syrup thickens
3. Add rose water and remove from heat

Assembly
1. Cut filo sheets into rectangles according to the following diagram
2. Lay rectangles over each other in a cross pattern. Ensure the horizontal layer is on the top
3. Place a small amount of the filling in the middle and fold over the sides
4. Roll down the top all the way down until you form an enclosed cylinder

Fry
1. Heat up vegetable oil in a wok/large saucepan. When bubbles form around a wooden chopstick/spoon the oil is hot enough
2. Deep fry ladies arms a few at a time as to not overcrowd the wok, and fry until golden
3. Warm up the sugar syrup to loosen it up, and dip ladies arms in syrup (or drizzle over tray of ladies arms)
4. Garnish with chopped pistachios and serve room temperature or cold