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Knafeh

Knafeh is traditional Levant dessert made with kadayif, attar, and vanilla filling.

Course Dessert
Cuisine Levant
Keyword Knafeh
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Servings 8 slices

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cup kadayif, store bought, crushed
  • Ingredients for filling:
  • 2 cups milk
  • 7 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 cup finely cubed fresh mozzarella
  • Ingredients for attar (quatir):
  • 5 Tbsp sugar
  • 3 ½ Tbsp water
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon syrup
  • Pistachio spread or ground nuts to serve, optional

Instructions

  1. On medium heat, in small pot, melt sugar, water and lemon juice to get sugary syrup aka attar/quatir. It takes 2 minutes. Leave aside to cool.

  2. For the filling, combine milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, and cornstarch in medium sized pot. Warm the filling and bring to boil, stirring constantly to get silky cream. It takes 11 minutes.

  3. When the cream is almost done, add mozzarella and mix until it melts. The filling must be smooth.

  4. Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 392 F.

  5. Fill rounded pan (9 inches in diameter) with half of your kadayif. Please, have in mind to cover your dish with parchment paper if the bottom is removable.

  6. Carefully pour the filling over the first layer of kadayif.

  7. Sprinkle the rest of kadayif and bake for 15 minutes.

  8. Once you take your knafeh out of the oven, cover it with cool quatir.

  9. Our experience shows this dessert is the best if left overnight and served the other day.

Recipe Notes

Cooking time includes both filling and attar (quatir) boiling.