🍰 Halawet el Jibn
Halawet el jibn is a Levantine dessert of soft sweet-cheese dough, made by melting mild akkawi cheese with semolina, rolled thin, filled with ashta clotted cream and rolled up. The rolls are drizzled with sugar syrup and rose water and sprinkled with ground pistachios. They are tender, milky and gently chewy, served chilled.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g akkawi cheese, desalted and grated
- 150 g fine semolina
- 100 ml sugar syrup, plus extra to serve
- 300 g ashta cream
- 2 tbsp rose water
- 40 g pistachios, ground
Method
- Melt the cheese in a non-stick pan over low heat, stirring constantly.
- Add the semolina and 3 tbsp syrup and stir until a smooth, stretchy dough forms.
- Roll the hot dough thin between sheets of baking paper brushed with syrup and let it cool slightly.
- Cut into strips, spread with ashta and roll up.
- Chill, then serve drizzled with syrup and rose water and topped with pistachios.
How to make it lighter
- Serve one or two rolls rather than a full plate.
- Drizzle the syrup lightly at the table instead of soaking the rolls.
- Pair with fresh fruit to make a smaller portion feel more complete.
History
The dessert is usually credited to the Syrian city of Hama, and Hama and Homs are both known for it. It is now made throughout Syria, Lebanon and the wider Levant, especially during Ramadan.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →