Knafeh is a Middle Eastern dessert,where cheese pastry is soaked in sweet sugar-based syrup and topped with pistachios. An easy recipe to prepare cupcake knafeh dessert.
Ingredients:- For the Crust :
- 1/2 package Shredded Phyllo Dough (Kataif)
- 1 stick unsalted Butter melted (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 tsp Orange Color (or Ziyad brand Kunafa)
- For the Cream Filling (keshta):
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 tbsp Flour
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 can Cream (Nestle crema) (225 ml) or 1/2 cup creamy Ricotta Cheese.
- 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella
- For the Syrup:
- 2 cups Sugar
- 1 cup Water
- 2 tsp Rose Water
- 1 tsp Lemon juice or 1/8 tsp Citric acid (Lemondoze)
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Preparing Crust:
- Chop Fillo dough very small with a sharp knife or you can use food processor to do so.
- Mix melted butter and the Kunafa color together and then pour it over the chopped phyllo dough.
- Mix very well till all the shredded phyllo dough is covered with butter and colored.
- Preparing Cream Filling:
- Mix milk, cornstarch, flour and sugar and whisk very well until the starch and the flour dissolve very well.
- Cook over low heat till the mixture is thickened.
- Add the cream and mix well then leave aside to cool down.
- Cover and refrigerator after it cools down.
- Preparing Sugar Syrup:
- In a saucepan add sugar,water and lemon juice.
- Cook over medium to low heat until the mixture comes to boil.
- Continue boiling for 5-10 minutes till the syrup is thick.
- Add rose water and then let it cool down.
- Prepare cupcake moulds by greasing with butter or place cupcake papers in moulds.
- Put a layer of the shredded Kunafa in the cupcake moulds and press tightly.
- Spread a little amount of Mozzarella cheese then top it with little of cream (keshta) then spread more Mozzarella cheese.
- Finally distribute the remaining of the shredded Fillo dough in each mould and press carefully.
- Bake in 350 F preheated oven, on middle rack of the oven, for about 30 minutes or till the bottom starts to be golden.
- Immediately pour the cold syrup on the hot kunafa and cover so the kunafa becomes soft.
- Decorate with chopped pistachios and serve warm.
Note: 1-Instead of the cream filling you can use akawi cheese( sweet Arabic cheese). 2-Instead of the cream you can use creamy Ricotta cheese + Mozzarella cheese.