Künefe (kunafa) with cheese and syrup

Künefe, also known as kunafa or knafeh, is the warm cheese dessert of Hatay and the Levant: a crisp, buttery crust of kataifi strands, a layer of stretchy melted cheese and cold sugar syrup poured over the hot pastry. At home you need only a round pan, good ghee and some patience while the base turns deep golden. This recipe uses raw kataifi dough and makes one 24 cm künefe for 6 servings. Serve it straight from the oven, while the cheese still pulls.

Ingredients (6 servings, 24 cm round pan)

  • 250 g raw kataifi dough (thawed if frozen)
  • 120 g ghee (clarified butter), melted
  • 250 g unsalted melting cheese (künefe peyniri, desalted akkawi or low-moisture mozzarella), grated
  • 30 g pistachios, finely chopped
  • 200 g sugar (syrup)
  • 150 ml water (syrup)
  • 10 ml lemon juice (syrup)

Method

  1. If you use a salty cheese such as akkawi, soak it in cold water for 2–3 hours, changing the water twice. Pat it dry and grate it.
  2. Make the syrup: bring the sugar and water to the boil, simmer for 8 minutes, add the lemon juice and let the syrup cool completely.
  3. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (top and bottom heat). Loosen the kataifi strands with your fingers and cut them into pieces of 2–3 cm.
  4. Pour 100 g of the ghee over the strands and rub it in with your hands until every strand is coated.
  5. Brush the pan with the remaining 20 g ghee. Press half of the kataifi firmly into the base.
  6. Spread the cheese evenly, leaving a 1 cm border. Cover with the rest of the kataifi and press down firmly with your palm.
  7. Bake on the lowest shelf for 25–30 minutes, until the base and edges are deep golden. Lift the edge with a spatula to check.
  8. Turn the künefe out onto a serving plate, golden side up. Pour 150–180 ml of the cold syrup over it at once, sprinkle with pistachios and serve hot.

Tips for a crisp künefe

  • Thaw frozen kataifi in its closed pack in the fridge for about 12 hours. Do not thaw it at room temperature or in the microwave: the strands sweat and stick together.
  • Kataifi dries out within minutes. Keep the strands you are not working with under a clean, slightly damp cloth.
  • Ghee gives a crisper, more even colour than butter because it contains no milk solids that burn. Every strand should look glossy before it goes into the pan; dry patches stay pale and brittle.
  • Pour cold syrup over hot künefe. Warm syrup on a warm crust makes it soggy.
  • In a fan oven, bake at 180 °C. Künefe is best eaten at once. Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to 2 days; reheat at 180 °C for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts again.

Which kataifi to use

Use our raw kataifi dough, chilled (1 month at 0…+3 °C) or frozen (12 months at −18 °C). Roasted kataifi is not suitable here, because the strands must bake together with the cheese. New to this pastry? Read what kataifi dough is and how to handle it. A gluten-free kataifi from a separate production line is also available.

For pastry shops and restaurants

One 1 kg pack makes four 24 cm künefe; for 12 cm single portion pans count about 60 g dough per portion. We supply raw kataifi in 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 kg packs and in larger lots, with delivery across Europe. Terms and volumes are on our wholesale page.