A couple of years ago, while on a trip to Israel, we tried a popular Middle Eastern dessert called Knafeh (also spelled Kunafa). It is made with layers of thin, shredded pastry dough (called Kataifi), a delicious sweet cheese (called Nabulsi or Akkawi), honey or simple syrup, and pistachios. We were sitting in Jericho, the waiter brought us a complimentary piece of this, and the rest is history! I spent far too long reading up on the history of the dessert, finding a local store that sells the ingredients, and making it! (I also specifically visit middle eastern restaurants, looking for this. It’s THAT good!)
Earlier this week, I was thinking about Knafeh and began to wonder if cream cheese, in the form of a cheesecake, would be a good addition to this dessert, and this recipe was born!
Usually, the thin pastry (Kataifi) is wrapped around the cheese, baked or fried, topped with simple syrup and pistachios. So I made the crust of the Kataifi, added my very favorite cheesecake on top, and then topped the cheesecake with a giant pile of crunchy Kataifi, simple syrup and pistachios. YUM!
Want to try this? Here is the recipe: (printable recipe here)
INGREDIENTS:
For the crust:
- 8 oz. Kataifi (I find this frozen, in a 16 oz box, at our local Halal grocery)
- 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
For the cheesecake:
Filling:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese bars (must be the Philadelphia brand)~ softened to room temperature.
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- pinch of salt
Sour cream cheesecake topping:
- 1 pint (2 cups) sour cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- pinch of salt
Crunchy Kataifi Topping:
- Toasted Kataifi (made from original 8 ounces, used for crust)
- Simple syrup (boil 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup sugar and cool)
- chopped pistachios- to taste- I like a lot of them!
DIRECTIONS:
Crust:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees
- Mix kataifi with butter and sugar in a bowl until well-coated, using clean fingers.
- Grease an 8 or 9 inch springform pan, place a piece of parchment paper into bottom (cut into a circle to fit), grease the top of paper.
- Press half of the kataifi mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Spread the other half of the kataifi out on parchment paper-covered cookie sheet.
- Bake both items at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (until lightly browned and crunchy)
- Cool
- Place loose kataifi into a ziptop bag to use as topping prior to serving.
Cheesecake:
- Combine the sugar and softened cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat together until smooth.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.
- Add the vanilla, lemon juice and salt and beat until smooth and creamy.
- Pour over crust.
- Bake at 350F degrees for 35-45 minutes- I like to set the pan on a cookie sheet to prevent any leaks from getting on oven.
- While cheesecake is baking, make sour cream topping by simply mixing together all of the sour cream topping ingredients.
- After 35-45 minutes of baking, remove cheesecake from oven and turn oven down to 325F degrees.
- Pour sour cream topping over hot cheesecake, gently spreading to edges.
- Return cheesecake to oven and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes.
- Remove cheesecake from oven and leave sides on pan while allowing cheesecake to cool to room temperature.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Crunchy Kataifi Topping: (add this just before serving)
- Chop pistachios (as many as you like- I like LOTS!)
- Make a simple syrup by boiling 1/2 cup water with 1/2 cup sugar until it is combined, and the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Spread crunchy kataifi all over the top of the cheesecake.
- Drizzle with simple syrup (enough to add sweetness, but not so much that it gets soggy)
- Sprinkle with pistachios
- ENJOY!
My thoughts: This fusion of knafeh and cheesecake is delicious! Two of my favorite things all together in one dessert. I wanted to drizzle some melted chocolate over the top, for a little bit of that “Dubai Chocolate” feel, but I haven’t yet! We still have two pieces left though, so I’m planning to try it. The topping gets just a little less crispy as time goes by in the fridge. If you don’t plan to serve the whole cheesecake, you might keep the toppings separate and add them to each piece. I hope you enjoy trying this recipe! If you are a cheesecake purist, this cheesecake is amazing without all the extras. You can find it here.
Other international desserts to try here on Easybaked (click a photo to see the recipe):
