Lebanese Knafeh
Knafeh is an iconic Lebanese dessert featuring a layer of crispy shredded kataifi pastry filled with a rich stretchy cheese or semolina cream, soaked in fragrant orange blossom sugar syrup. It is a legendary street food dessert that is adored across the Levant and the entire Middle East.
A legendary Lebanese cheese pastry soaked in floral sugar syrup and topped with crushed pistachios.
Nutrition per serving
Ingredients
pastry
filling
syrup
Instructions
Make the sugar syrup
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes until the syrup thickens slightly. Remove from heat, stir in the orange blossom water, and set aside to cool. The syrup must be cold when poured over the hot pastry.
Prepare the pastry base
Roughly chop or pull apart the kataifi pastry into shorter strands. Toss with the melted butter until every strand is well coated. Press half of the buttered kataifi firmly and evenly into a greased round baking pan approximately 30 centimeters in diameter, creating a compact base layer.
Add the filling and bake
Spread the shredded cheese evenly over the pastry base. If using akkawi cheese, soak it in cold water for 2 hours beforehand to remove excess saltiness. Top with the remaining kataifi pastry and press down firmly. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is deeply golden and crispy.
Soak and serve
Remove the knafeh from the oven and immediately pour the cold sugar syrup evenly over the hot pastry. Allow it to absorb the syrup for 2 minutes, then carefully invert onto a serving board so the golden bottom is now on top. Garnish with crushed pistachios and a little extra orange blossom water. Serve immediately.
Substitutions
Common mistakes
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