By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- 4(90)
- Notes
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Ingredients
Yield:12 servings
- 2¼cups sugar
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 2tablespoons orange-blossom water
- ¾cup rice flour
- 5cups milk
- 4tablespoons sugar
- 1½tablespoons orange-blossom water
- ⅔cup heavy cream
- 1pound knafeh pastry (kadayif )
- ½pound unsalted butter, melted
- ⅔cup pistachios, coarsely chopped.
For the Syrup
For the Cream Filling
For the Pastry
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
688 calories; 41 grams fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 74 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 48 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 146 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
To make the syrup: Boil the sugar, 1¼ cups water and lemon juice for 10 to 15 minutes, then add the orange-blossom water. Let it cool, then chill in the refrigerator.
Step
2
For the filling, mix the rice flour with enough of the cold milk to make a smooth paste. Bring the rest of the milk to a boil. Add the rice-flour paste to the boiling milk, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Leave on very low heat and continue to stir constantly until the mixture thickens, being careful not to let it burn. Add the sugar and orange-blossom water and stir well. Refrigerate until cool before adding the heavy cream and mixing well.
Step
3
Put the knafeh pastry in a large bowl. Pull out and separate the strands as much as possible with your fingers so they do not stick together. Pour the melted butter over it and work it in very thoroughly with your fingers, pulling out and separating the strands and turning them over so they do not stick together and are entirely coated with butter.
Step
4
Spread half the pastry at the bottom of a 12-inch pie pan. Spread the cream filling over it evenly and cover with the rest of the pastry. Press down and flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Then raise the temperature to 425 for about 15 minutes until the pastry colors slightly.
Just before serving, run a sharp knife around the edges of the pie to loosen the sides and turn out onto a large serving dish. Pour the cold syrup all over the hot knafeh, and sprinkle the top with chopped pistachios. (You could also pour half the syrup before serving and pass the rest around for everyone to help themselves to more.)
Ratings
4
out of 5
90
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Cooking Notes
Lisa B
I love this dessert. A couple of changes. I used the dried pastry dough rather than the frozen. After tossing the pastry dough with butter, I spread it on a large round pizza type pan and toasted half of it. Then put the creamy filling mixture on it & the rest of the buttered dough shred & baked again until desired color - both top and bottom layers were crispy. Yum!
Elena
I made this and I found that the kanafeh tasted better the next day as the pastry had adsorbed the syrup falvors. It tasted even better with each passing day. I also didn't pour all the syrup in it as I wanted to control the amount of sweetness
Debbie
So much time for so little flavor! There is no kadayif pastry in my small town so I spent two hours making that. The recipe doesn't include salt as an ingredient but I added some to the pastry cream anyway. If I were ever to make this again, I would add more salt (like use salted butter instead of unsalted) and I would add some sugar to the pastry cream. The texture was fun but all crunch no taste.
M
I omitted the orange blossom because it’s not my favorite. I used a bit of rose water in the filling instead. I also used honey instead of the syrup. My filling had some clumps so I used an immersion blender to get it smooth before pouring it in. This was a great dessert and impressed everyone!
np
the second time around I reduced the amount of orange blossom water -
JenInMontreal
Answer to my own question: all-purpose flour worked fine.
JenInMontreal
Will all-purpose flour do, or does it have to be rice flour?
Lisa B
I love this dessert. A couple of changes. I used the dried pastry dough rather than the frozen. After tossing the pastry dough with butter, I spread it on a large round pizza type pan and toasted half of it. Then put the creamy filling mixture on it & the rest of the buttered dough shred & baked again until desired color - both top and bottom layers were crispy. Yum!
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