Knafehis one of the populardesserts inthe levant (Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) and in Turkey. Like many other middle eastern recipes, there is more than one way to pronounce and spell the name : Knafe, Kenafeor kunafeh. Along with the many namescomes a numberof forms, textures,presentations and fillings for this popular dessert. You will see knafeh presentedin a pan, knafehshaped like cones, knafehused as a crust and topping like the one I am serving today and many many more.The fillingsalso range from cheese to cream, pastry cream, Ashta (something similar to clotted cream) and nuts. The textureof the knafehcan also vary, it can be fine (knafenaameh) or rough like the one I am using today (knafehkhesneh). I will be sharing a number of Knafeh recipes over the next couple of weeks, with various fillings, textures and presentations so if you are into a dessert that is a wonderful combination of a slightly crunchy crust, creamy filling and an aromatic orange blossom syrup, stay tuned.
The type of knafeh I am sharing with you today is called OttomaliKnafeh كنافه عثمليه (probably due to the Turkish origins of this particular form of knafeh). it is made with a very fine vermicelli-like Phylopastry ,some call it shredded Phylodough, kataifor knafehdough. Thetraditional filling for this type of knafehis Ashtawhich is the cream that floats on top of fresh milk when you boil it and then allow it to cool. That cream is collected, cooled, mixed with a little sugar and orange blossom water and it is not like anything that comes out of a box, it is rich and velvety with asubtle flavor. Sadly this type of cream is not sold in stores and not easy to come by so instead nowadays most knafehis filled with a thickened type of muhallabeh that is a wonderful replacement.
This Knafeh makes for a wonderful summer dessert because you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge and when your guests arrive you can simply take it out and serve it with a drizzle of syrup.
For the knafe crust
1/2 kg vermicelli pastry (knafedough or shredded Phylo dough)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter , melted
1/2 cup of sugar
For the filling
3 cups water
1 1/2 cup powdered milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons orange blossom water (optional but recommended)
9 slices of white toast bread
For the syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2tablespoons orange blossom water (optional but recommended)
To make the knafe crust
The night before you plan to make Knafeh, take the Phylodough out of the freezer and place it in the fridge to defrost overnight.
The next daystart shreddingthe dough or pastry in a bowl.
Drizzle it with the melted butter and sprinkle the powdered sugar and toss the Phylo dough until it completely absorbs the butter.
Divide the dough into two parts
In apan that you have lightly buttered or oiled spread theshredded dough until the bottom isuniformly covered.
Then press the knafe doughin the pan.
Bake in a preheated oven (200 C) on the lowest rack of the oven till the bottom is golden brown(10-20 minutes)
Place the knafeh under the broiler till the top is golden brown
Allow the knafeh to cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan and placing it on a wire rack to continue cooling.
Repeat the steps with the remaining half of the dough (if you have two round pans of the same size you can bake them at the same time)
To make the knafe filling
Place the powdered milk, water, sugar, cornstarch in a pot, stir till the milk and sugar dissolve completely
Cook over medium low heat while stirring continuously till the mix thickens (10-15 minutes)
Take it off the heat, stir in orange blossom water.
Cut the crusts off the bread slices and cut them into cubes.
Add the cubes to the milk pot and stir till the bread pieces are completely covered, set aside to cool.
Here you have a choice, if you want the filling to be creamy place it in the food processor and pulse till completely smooth. If on the other hand you like your filling to have more texture,leave it as is
To make the syrup
Place the sugar, water, lemon juice in a pan over medium heat, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes
Take the syrup off the heat, stir in the orange blossom water.
To assemble the knafeh
Place one of the knafeh crusts on your serving plate
Top it with the filling
Gently place the other knafeh crust on top of the filling and press gently.
Drizzle the top with syrup
Decorate with pistachios, candied cherries or lemon blossom jam
For a refreshing summer dessert place the knafehin the fridge and serve cold with some syrup on the side for those who like their dessert a little on the sweet side.
