Knafeh
Knafeh rests on one contrast: crisp pastry outside, stretchy cheese inside. Keeping both at once takes a rule that looks trivial but decides everything: cold syrup goes onto hot pastry. The other way round and knafeh goes soggy within minutes.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Sugar syrup 15 min
- Kataifi, cheese and assembly 20 min
- Baking 40 min
- Pouring the syrup 5 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneBoil the syrup and cool it completely
Bring the sugar, water and lemon juice to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes from boiling, until slightly thickened. Take off the heat, stir in the rose water and let it cool completely — make the syrup first so it has time to cool.
Ingredients: 300 g sugar · 200 ml water · ½ pcs lemon · 1 tbsp rose water
TipLemon juice stops the syrup crystallising. Rose water goes in off the heat, because its aroma evaporates.
The syrup must be cold the moment the knafeh leaves the oven.Separate and butter the kataifi
Cut the strands into 3 cm lengths with scissors and pull them apart in a large bowl. Pour over the melted butter with colouring and rub with your hands for 5 minutes until every strand is coated and glossy. With the cutting and separating, the whole step takes about 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 400 g kataifi pastry · 200 g clarified butter · ½ tsp food colouring
TipStrands left unbuttered stay pale and hard. It is the most laborious step and there is no shortcut.
Every strand glossy — only then is the kataifi ready.Mix and drain the cheese
Grate the mozzarella and mix with the ricotta and sugar. Squeeze out excess whey through muslin — wet cheese releases water under the pastry and the base never crisps.
Ingredients: 300 g mozzarella · 250 g ricotta · 2 tbsp sugar · 60 g pistachios
Press the layers into the tin
Heat the oven to 190 °C. Press half the kataifi into a 26 cm round tin, compacting it with the base of a glass. Spread the cheese, leaving 1 cm clear at the edge, cover with the rest of the kataifi and press down firmly. A tight layer gives an even, crisp base.
Ingredients: 400 g kataifi pastry · 200 g clarified butter · ½ tsp food colouring
Press firmly — loose strands never form a solid base.Bake to deep gold
Bake at 190 °C for 40 minutes until the edges are deep golden and the cheese bubbles underneath. Pale knafeh will not be crisp — this is one of those desserts where you must go further than instinct suggests.
Ingredients: 400 g kataifi pastry · 200 g clarified butter · ½ tsp food colouring
Pour the cold syrup over it hot
Take out the tin and immediately pour over the cold syrup — it hisses loudly. Cold syrup on hot pastry soaks in fast and has no time to soften it. The reverse order gives a wet, spongy knafeh.
Ingredients: 300 g sugar · 200 ml water · ½ pcs lemon · 1 tbsp rose water
A loud hiss — the sign the temperature difference is right.Turn out and serve hot
Wait 5 minutes, turn the knafeh onto a platter and scatter chopped pistachios. Serve hot, while the cheese still stretches — once cool it firms up and the dessert loses half its charm.
Ingredients: 300 g mozzarella · 250 g ricotta · 2 tbsp sugar · 60 g pistachios
Before you start
Choosing the cheese
Traditionally white akkawi or nabulsi cheese is used, soaked to remove excess salt. Mozzarella with ricotta is the best easily available substitute — it stretches and is not salty.
Reheating
Reheat 10 minutes at 180 °C so the cheese stretches again. A microwave softens the pastry and the crispness is gone for good.
Without kataifi
Instead of strands, use fine semolina mixed with butter and baked as a base. This is knafeh na’ameh, the “fine” kind — different texture, same principle.
