Hello there!
As usual, my life is crazy busy juggling
work and my studies at the same time. I have no idea how I managed it for the
whole year last year, so I’m pushing myself a lot harder for this year as well.
I have very few resolutions for this year. First is to cook more and second is to try cooking
other cuisines as well. So here is one of my experiments for this year.
I remember falling in love with
Kunafe/Kunafa during Frosh around 8 years ago (oh my god, it was that long
ago!). I remember being so intrigued with this sweet yet salty dessert.
Shreddded pastry that encases melted cheese and sweetend with orange blossom
syrup. Oh wow, oh wow. Since then I have been dreaming to try my hands at it,
but never did. I mean, come on, Al- Baghdadi, a Middle-Eastern Bakery was so
close to our university. I could just get the Metro and get my cravings fixed.
My bestfriend’s mom was also kind enough to share her recipe with us. There we
were three girls following her around her kitchen and observing how this
dessert was made. She was an amazing cook! I still miss her food to this day. J
Since I moved back to Malaysia, I have not
had Kunafe/Kunafa since. Until mom told me that the restaurant
near our house had it. I was so excited, but was a tad bit disappointed. I
learned that there are different kinds of kunafe/kunafa, and the version that they
serve at the restaurant was the creamy (no cheese) one. I was determined to
make one myself, the way I like it! I was googling for good recipe to follow
and as usual, traditional recipe as such has different variation. I was quite
upset to see recipes that require a “kunafe pan”, “ a big pan”, “ a wide pan”.
I mean hello? How big is big? How wide? Are the measurements using the metric
system? Anyways, I stumbled upon this recipe here: Kunafa Nabulsi . The recipe is straight
forward and so easy to follow. Since I did not have a 10 inch pan, I used an 8
inch instead. I have tweaked the recipe a bit, to my liking.
Kunafe/Kunafa
1 tablespoon butter, melted (for oiling the pan)
1/4 teaspoon orange liquid food coloring
1/2 cup melted butter
400 grams of shredded filo dough (kataifi), thawed
1 cup (250g) of ricotta cheese
1 ½ cups of mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of orange blossom water
Pistachios for garnishing (Optional)
For the syrup
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1. Preheat oven to 180 Celsius.
2. Butter your 8 inch cake pan. Add a few drops of colouring and spread evenly on the bottom and sides of the pan. Add some more colouring if needed. Set aside.
3. In a big bowl, combine the cheeses, sugar and orange blossom water together. Set aside.
4. In a different bowl, mix together the shredded pastry and melted butter.
5. Place and press half of the shredded pastry into the cake pan.
6. Add the cheese mixture on the flattened shredded pastry.
7. Cover the cheese mixture with the remaining shredded pastry.
8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until slightly brown. Let rest for a couple of minutes before inverting it.
Sugar Syrup
- On a medium heat, combine the water, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
- Turn off heat and add the orange blossom water.
- Let cool slightly. Drizzle on kunafe/kunafa.
Note.
The Syrup can be a tad bit sweet so you can put a minimal amount of syrup on top just to coat the pastry and serve the extra syrup on the side.
As you can see, I DID NOT spread the colouring evenly! :p Oh well, first try! Nonetheless, it was a glorious glorious dessert. My mom still preferred that creamy Kunafe/Kunafa served at the Middle-Eastern restaurant over mine. *eye roll* To each their own, I guess. K mom, k.
Till next time,
Soffy
