Kunafa — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Layers of shredded kataifi pastry encasing molten stretchy cheese, baked until golden and crisp, then drenched in rose-scented sugar syrup. This magnificent dessert is Saudi celebration sweetness at its most indulgent.

Ingredients

500g kataifi pastry (shredded filo)
200g butter, melted
500g akkawi cheese, soaked and desalted
200g mozzarella, shredded
For syrup: 2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp rose water
1 tbsp orange blossom water
Crushed pistachios for garnish

Instructions

1 Make the syrup by boiling sugar, water, and lemon juice for 8 minutes until slightly thickened. Add rose water and orange blossom water. Cool completely.
2 Separate and loosen the kataifi pastry. Pulse briefly in a food processor to shorten the strands. Mix thoroughly with melted butter.
3 Press half the buttered pastry into a round baking pan, creating a compact, even base layer pressed firmly to the edges.
4 Mix the desalted akkawi cheese with shredded mozzarella. Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the pastry base.
5 Top with the remaining buttered pastry, pressing down firmly. Bake at 190C for 30-35 minutes until the top is deeply golden and crispy.
6 Remove from oven and immediately pour cold syrup evenly over the hot kunafa. Let it absorb for 5 minutes, then invert onto a platter and garnish with pistachios.

Did You Know?

During Ramadan, Saudi kunafa shops sell out within hours of iftar, and families send runners to queue before sunset to secure their order.