🍰 Kanafeh

Name: Kanafeh
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Levant · Middle East
Ingredients: 500 g kadayif (shredded pastry); 200 g butter, melted; 500 g sweet white cheese, soaked to remove salt and grated; 300 g sugar and 200 ml water for the syrup; 1 tbsp orange blossom water; 50 g pistachios, chopped

Origin: Levant · Middle East

495kcal

per serving · 150 g

330kcal

per 100 g

12 gProtein8 g / 100 g

24 gFat16 g / 100 g

57 gCarbs38 g / 100 g

Kanafeh is a Levantine dessert of shredded kadayif pastry soaked in butter, layered with soft, stretchy sweet cheese and baked until crisp and golden. While still hot it is drenched in sugar syrup scented with orange blossom water and sprinkled with crushed pistachios. It is crunchy on top, molten and creamy inside, and served warm in slices.

Diets

✓

Vegetarianno meat or fish in a typical recipe

✓

No pork

Not veganbecause of: sweet cheese, butter

Contains glutenbecause of: kadayif pastry

Contains dairybecause of: sweet cheese, butter

Not keto38 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk ⚠ Tree nuts

What it is made of

kadayif pastrysweet cheesebuttersugar syruppistachiosorange blossom water

Recipe

8 servings60 min

Ingredients

500 g kadayif (shredded pastry)
200 g butter, melted
500 g sweet white cheese, soaked to remove salt and grated
300 g sugar and 200 ml water for the syrup
1 tbsp orange blossom water
50 g pistachios, chopped

Method

Simmer the sugar and water for 10 minutes, stir in the orange blossom water and let the syrup cool.
Pull the kadayif apart into short strands and rub it well with the melted butter.
Press half of the kadayif into a 30 cm round tray, spread the cheese over it and cover with the remaining kadayif.
Bake at 190 °C for 30–35 minutes until deep golden.
Pour the cool syrup over the hot kanafeh, sprinkle with pistachios and serve warm.

How to make it lighter

Kanafeh is dense in calories: a small square shared with others is plenty.
Ask for less syrup or pour it lightly at home; you can halve it without losing flavour.
Use less butter by brushing it on instead of soaking the pastry.

History

Kanafeh has been made in the Arab world for centuries, and the city of Nablus in Palestine is especially famous for its cheese kanafeh, known as kanafeh nabulsiyeh. Today it is a beloved dessert across the Levant, Egypt, the Gulf and Turkey, especially during Ramadan.

Count it in one photo

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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 →