Kunafeh - Sweet Cheese Pastry

This month for the  home-bakers-challenge a monthly baking event started by Priya Suresh and this month  hosted by Nupur we had a wide variety of Arabic desserts to choose from. Arabic sweets are very well known for their liberal use of butter and dry fruits.

I think Baklava is one of the most richest and most popular of the Arabic desserts . But few others like Kunafeh, basbousa are eqyally addictive ones and so I tried my hands at both these yummy treats.

Though I personally wanted to try baklava very badly I changed my decision due to the rich and heavy ingredients like lots of butter and dry fruits in this sinfully royal dessert. Instead I decided to try Kunafeh which is comparatively simpler and yet very addictive.

 The crispy pastry sheets with cheese and sugar syrup taste very yummy and one just can't stop eating this dessert.

Ingredients :


10 sheets ........................phyllo pastry
1/2 cup.......................molten unsalted butter
1 cup.........................mozarella cheese ( shredded )
1 cup.........................cheddar cheese ( shredded)
1/2 cup ...................sugar syrup or diluted honey
2 tbsp....................nuts ( almonds / pistachios for garnishing)




Method :


Pulse the pastry till it is shredded into small pieces.

Mix in the butter gently.

Press half of this shredded pastry in a small pan.

Spread the shredded cheese on it .

Again press the remaining half of the shredded pastry .

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or till golden brown and puffed up.

Pour the sugar syrup evenly over the pastry and let it get absorbed.

Garnish with nuts.