Kunefe A Sweet Cheese Pastry Made With Kadaifi Food

KUNEFE

Steps:

• For the syrup: Put the sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat to medium low and simmer until it thickens a bit, 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature.
• For the kunefe: Cut the kadayif into small pieces and put it in a large bowl. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter, add it to the bowl and mix with a spoon to make sure all of the kadayif pieces are coated in butter.
• Coat the bottoms of two 5-inch kunefe pans completely with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Spoon out a quarter of the kadayif mixture into one of the pans, spread and press down using a spoon. Crumble 1 ounce of the sweet cheese onto the kadayif, leaving about a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Top with another quarter of the kadayif mixture and press with your hands.
• Place the pan over medium-low heat and cook until golden on the bottom (there will be an aroma of toasted nuts), 4 to 6 minutes. Place the other prepared pan over the kunefe and flip (be careful, the pan is hot). Place it back on the heat and cook uncovered until the underside is golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, drizzle 1/4 cup of the syrup all over the kunefe and top with 1 tablespoon of the ground pistachios. Re-butter the pans and repeat with the remaining kadayif, cheese, syrup and pistachios. Serve immediately with extra syrup for drizzling.

KADAIFI ME KREMA (GREEK SHREDDED WHEAT PASTRY WITH CUSTARD)

Steps:

• For custard: combine milk and semolina in a heavy pan; blend in beaten eggs and add salt and sugar; place over medium heat and stir constantly until thickened and bubbling; remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla extract and cover top of custard with plastic wrap (directly on surface of custard) to prevent a skin from forming.
• For pastry: place kadaifi in a large bowl and gently separate strands with fingers.
• Grease 13 x 9 inch glass oven dish with some of the.
• butter; put half the kadaifi in the base, pressing it down somewhat to make it compact; drizzle 1/4 cup butter evenly over it; pour custard filling over kadtaifi, spreading it evenly; top with remaining kadaifi; spread evenly and pat down gently; pour remaining melted butter evenly over top.
• Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 45 minutes until golden-brown; remove from oven and cool completely.
• For syrup: dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, add lemon rind and cinnamon stick and bring to the boil; add lemon juice and boil over medium heat for 15 minutes, skimming when necessary; do not stir once syrup is boiling; strain hot syrup over cooled pastry; leave until cold and cut into diamond shapes to serve.