A delectable Turkish dessert made with stringy cheese and crispy, buttery pastry—it’s no wonder künefe is a crowd favourite!
Make your own with this recipe from Ozlem’s Turkish Table
Serves 6
Ingredients
225g/8oz shredded kadayif – künefe pastry strands, thawed if frozen
145g/5oz melted unsalted butter
300g/12oz fresh mozzarella, sliced (or Antakya’s white cheese for künefe, künefelik peynir or dil peyniri in Türkiye if you can get it)
45ml/3 tablespoons kaymak or clotted cream – optional
For the syrup:
225g/8oz granulated sugar
120ml/4fl oz water
Juice of ½ small lemon
30ml/2 tablespoons crushed pistachios for garnish (optional)
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas Mark 4
First, make the syrup. Place the sugar and water in a pan and simmer over low to medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the syrup coats the back of the spoon. Then remove from the heat and leave the syrup to cool. It is essential that the syrup needs to be cool when poured over the cheese-filled pastry strands.
Using some of the melted butter, grease a large baking tray.
Soak the pastry strands well in the melted butter. Use more butter if necessary, as it is important that the pastry is well soaked in order to prevent it from burning during baking.
Divide the pastry strands into two. Spread half of the strands in the base of the baking pan, and press it down with your fingers.
Spread or crumble the slices of fresh mozzarella cheese and the clotted cream or kaymak (if used) over the top of the pastry. Then cover with the remainder of the pastry, pressing down firmly.
Bake the pastry in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the strands are a deep golden colour.
Cut the hot, baked pastry strands into portions and pour the prepared cool syrup over them.
Serve immediately while still hot and the cheese is gooey. Serve künefe with kaymak or maraş dondurma and a sprinkling of ground pistachio nuts over the top if you like.
Afiyet Olsun
