By Bhavana Verma
May 11, 2025
Kanafeh or Knafeh is a Mediterranean dessert made with shredded phyllo sheets or kataifi, soaked in an aromatic sugar syrup flavoured with rose, and layered with cheese. This decadent gourmet treat is a perfect dessert for festive occasions. Check out the easy recipe.
1 lb Kataifi (shredded phyllo dough) ¾ cups ghee or butter 1 tsp Knafeh food colour 1 lb sweet cheese 1 lb fresh mozzarella, pressed dry 1 ½ cups sugar 1 ½ cups water Rosewater extract to taste Chopped pistachios for decoration
Press the cheese in a paper towel to take the water out. Preheat the oven to 450 F and grease the baking pan with butter.
Shred the kataifi in a large bowl into 3” long strands. Mix ghee with food colouring and add to kataifi. Rub thoroughly to coat it well. Skip colour if you don’t want to.
Layer 3/4th of kataifi on the bottom of the pan and press down to make the crumb. Layer it with crumbled and pressed sweet cheese and press it down. Finally, add the remaining kataifi on top and cover it well.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until knafeh is golden and crispy on the edges. While it's baking, prepare sugar syrup by heating sugar, water, and rosewater in a saucepan. Simmer until dissolves then remove from heat.
Take out baked knafeh and turn to a serving dish. Ladle the sugar syrup to completely drench the knafeh and garnish with pistachios and rose petals.