Knafeh
Local name : كنافة
A molten cheese centre between two layers of golden shredded pastry, drenched in orange blossom syrup.
Photo : 白と赤茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Total
- 60 min
- Serves
- 8
- Difficulty
- Hard
Method
- Make the syrup: bring the sugar and water to the boil, add the lemon juice and simmer for 8 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the orange blossom water and cool completely.
- If using akkawi, soak the cheese for 2 hours in several changes of water to remove the salt, then drain, grate it and mix with the ricotta.
- Pull the kataifi apart in a large bowl to separate the strands, pour over the melted butter and rub it through with your fingertips until every strand is coated.
- Press half the pastry into a buttered 26 cm tin, spread the cheese over it leaving a 1 cm border, then cover with the rest of the kataifi, pressing down firmly.
- Bake at 190°C for 35 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the edges are bubbling.
- Straight out of the oven, pour the cold syrup evenly over the surface, scatter with pistachios and serve hot, while the cheese still pulls.
The golden rule of knafeh is the temperature shock: cold syrup onto hot pastry, never the other way round, or it goes soggy. Eat it within the hour, warm, with bitter coffee.
