Almond And Walnut Kataifi Cake Style Food

GREEK ALMOND AND WALNUT KATAIFI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
• Prepare syrup:.
• Heat the water in a saucepan over low heat. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve.
• Add the lemon juice, peel, and cloves, and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the honey, remove from the heat, strain, and set aside to cool.
• Prepare filling:.
• In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the filling and blend well with a wooden spoon.
• A word about kataïfi dough:.
• This dough comes commercially packaged in a long strip, about 3 inches wide. To prepare it for this recipe, lay the long strip out on a clean work surface and divide it into 18-24 pieces, gently spreading the strands out a bit if they clump together. Each piece will be used to create an individual kataïfi roll. Keep unused dough covered with a piece of waxed paper and a damp towel on top of that to keep it from drying out.
• Brush a strip with melted butter.
• Place a tablespoon of the filling at one end of the strip and roll up into a cylinder, tucking in any stray pieces of dough. Take care to roll the pastry tightly so that the filling is securely enclosed.
• Place the rolls seam side down in a lightly buttered baking dish, close together but not squashed, and brush well with butter. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until golden brown and crispy looking.
• Remove from oven, pour cool syrup over the pastry and cover with a clean towel. Let cool about 3-4 hours as it absorbs the syrup.
• Enjoy!

ALMOND AND WALNUT KATAIFI (CAKE STYLE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Mix the filling ingredient in a small bowl.
• In an 8x10 (or other size) pan, place one quarter of the kataifi in a layer and brush with butter.Add a layer of filling.
• Layer of kataifi, brush with butter layer of filling.
• Layer of kataifi, brush with butter layer of filling.
• Top with the remaining kataifi and brush with butter.
• Bake 45-60 minutes until the top is golden,.
• Place all the syrup ingredients in a small pot, Heat until sugar dissolves. Take off heat and allow to cool.
• Remove from oven and pout syrup, evenly, over the top. Cover with a clean towel and let it cool for 3-4 hours so it can absorb the syrup.
• These are very rich, serve small pieces.

KATAIFI (GREEK SHREDDED WHEAT PASTRY)

Steps:

• Oven at 350ºF.
• Butter a 9x13" baking pan lined with foil to make removing the pastry easier.
• Combine sugar, water & lemon juice in a
• pot. (NOTE - you could also throw a cinnamon stick into the syrup mixture).
• Bring to a boil & simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes, then cool to room temperature.
• Spread half of pastry (or shredded wheat pastry) in bottom of pan.
• Drizzle with half the melted butter.
• Combine the walnuts with the cinnamon &
• nutmeg and sprinkle over the pastry.
• Layer the remaining pastry over the nut
• mixture.
• Drizzle with remaining butter.
• Give it a light 'press' at this stage to meld all the layers.
• Bake for 45 minutes.
• Remove from oven & pour syrup over hot pastry.
• When cool, cut in squares, then in half
• diagonally for triangles. (Allow to sit overnight - you should definitely allow it to sit several hours, unrefrigerated)
• remains crispy.

THE ULTIMATE MAKEOVER: COFFEE WALNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Oil and bottom-line a 20cm round (6cm deep) loose-bottom tin. For the cake, mix the coffee with 2 tsp warm water and set aside. Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the baking powder, ground almonds, both sugars (use fingers to rub out any lumps from the muscovado) and walnuts, then make a dip in the centre. Put the eggs, yogurt, oil and coffee mix into the dip and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon so everything is evenly mixed. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the top to level it, then bake for 40-45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the tin briefly, then turn it out and peel off the lining paper. Leave to cool completely while you make the filling and icing.
• Make the syrup for the filling: put the caster sugar and coffee into a small, heavy-based saucepan, then pour in 3 tbsp water. Heat gently, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Once dissolved, raise the heat, then boil at a fast rolling boil for about 2½-3 mins until thickened and syrupy. Pour into a small heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. When cold it should be the consistency of treacle.
• Meanwhile, finish off the filling and make the icing. Beat the mascarpone, quark, icing sugar and vanilla together until smooth, then stir in the cold coffee syrup. Set aside. For the icing, sift the fondant icing sugar into a bowl. Mix the coffee with 1 tbsp warm water, stir this into the fondant icing sugar with about 1 more tsp water to give a smooth, thick but spreadable icing. Split the cake into 3, then sandwich back together with the filling. Spread the icing over the top, scatter over the chopped walnuts and leave to set. Store in the fridge.