By Rajlakshmi
February 28, 2026
Kanafeh or Kunafa is a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with shredded filo pastry, or alternatively fine semolina dough, soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, and typically layered with cheese, or with other ingredients such as clotted cream or nuts.
2 cups of sevyian or kataifi ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese 1 cup double cream Sugar, as needed Water as needed 1 tbsp rose essence
Make the sugar syrup by adding sugar to a pan. Add water and let the sugar dissolve within the water, and stir well.
Once the sweetener reaches the thick consistency, switch off the stove, then add the rose essence.
Mix kataifi with syrup then divide it into two elements. One is for the topping, and the other half is for the bottom.
Take butter to grease the tin. Set the layer of kunafa with kataifi. Unfold a layer of kataifi without the syrup.
Add the cheese over the kataifi layer. You can add any cheese on top of kataifi. Then add another layer of kataifi, press it slightly.
Add the remaining syrup over the kunafa. Now, bake it for 15 minutes at 180 °C.
Once the edges start to brown, remove from the oven. Cool it. Slice and serve it.