Kunafa Baklava
This ultimate Kunafa baklava is the Queen of Arabic desserts. It's the most royal and supreme dessert. It is made of Kataifi/Kunafa pastry and nuts filling, which gives the crisp and crunchy finish. Alongside Kunafa consists of rose water, honey and sugar based syrup, which makes dessert incredibly sweet.
This beloved dessert is also enjoyed as one of the most favorite desserts in the Middle East and beyond. In this recipe, I will show you how to make this delectable crown dessert step by step.
KUNAFA FILLING INGREDIENTS
The Kunafa Baklava filling consists of 6 ingredients and these could be variable. I really liked how all picked ingredients worked together in this recipe. So here are the ingredients you will need to make Kunafa filling.
- Sweet Condensed Milk - I'm adding this ingredient for a good chewy texture and sweetness. Sweet condensed milk will also help to hold nuts together.
- Walnuts - Walnuts are the main ingredient of the Kunafa filling. They should be crushed and broken into smaller pieces. This recipe will also work with pistachio nuts, so If you have some go ahead!
- Cinnamon - The scent of cinnamon will enhance the walnut-filling flavor.
- Rose Water - Another flavoring that gives amazing Middle Eastern fragrance.
- Icing Sugar - It's an optional sweetener that you can choose for this filling, but you can also use honey, sweet condensed milk, or a variation of both.
- Butter - I'm adding room-temperature butter for a buttery texture filling. The pastry will increase in crispiness to the center when the butter melts during baking.
Start off with crushing or chopping walnuts into smaller pieces. Nuts need to be finely chopped, but do not blend in food processor into powder. Next, add cinnamon powder, rose water, icing sugar, butter and sweet condensed milk. Do not add too much sweet condensed milk, otherwise filling will be too runny and won't hold shape.
Mix everything together, until everything is well combined and set aside in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
KUNAFA PASTRY INGREDIENTS
For the pastry itself, you need 1 pack of Kataifi/Kunafa pastry of your choice. This pastry is very delicate and you need to keep in mind that if left uncoved tends to dry out. Therefore I used to cover it with some wet cloth, or just keep the remaining pastry in the original packaging while working on the recipe.
Alongside, for this pastry, you will need a generous amount of unsalted melted butter or most preferably clarified Ghee, which has a higher burning point, so it doesn't burn quickly in the oven.
ASSEMBLING KUNAFA
First, divide the pastry into 2 parts to make two Kunafa Baklava rolls. Lay down Kunafa pastry, flat and straighten it on your work surface. Place walnut filling on the pastry and roll it into a roll.
Brush each roll with melted butter or clarified Ghee, over all surface, and place it on aluminium foil. Wrapped up with aluminium foil very tightly as you can and close the ends to secure it.
Place them on a baking sheet and bake them first at 160 C for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pastry from the oven and unwrap Kunafas from the aluminium foil.
Gently and carefully transfer rolls back on baking sheets and bake them for another 15 minutes until golden and crispy.
PREPARING SYRUP
To prepare perfect Baklava syrup you will need the following ingredients:
- 3 cups of caster sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 4 spoons of honey
- 1 lemon slice
- 1 teaspoon of rose water/rose petals
Bring all ingredients to a boil, make sure you stir honey well and cook uncovered for a good 20 minutes.
SERVING KUNAFA
Once the pastry is done, pour over the hot syrup and it's time to serve. This step is crucial! Wrap again and Kunafa rolls into parchment paper, this will help to cut the pastry. Do not wrap them in aluminium foil! Carefully cut with sharp bread knife into small pieces around 2 cm wide.
Cut this pastry only wrapped in parchment paper, otherwise will break apart!
And you can also decorate Kunafa Baklava with some grounded pistachios and rose petals.
In order to help visualize how Kunafa Baklava is made, I recommend watching the short video below:
Do You Like More Desserts Like This? Check Also These!
- 200 g walnuts
- 50 g icing sugar
- 40 g g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp rose water
- 2 tbsp sweet condensed milk
- 1 pack of Kataifi pastry
- 150 mg melted butter/ghee
- 3 cups caster sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1 lemon slice
- 4 tbsp honey
- KUNAFA FILLING
Start off with crushing or chopping walnuts into smaller pieces. Nuts need to be finely chopped but do not blend into powder. Next, add cinnamon powder, rose water, icing sugar, butter and sweet condensed milk. Do not add too much sweet condensed milk, otherwise filling will be too runny and won’t hold shape.
Mix everything together, until everything is well combined and set aside in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
- ASSEMBLING
First, divide the pastry into 2 parts to make two Kunafa Baklava rolls. Lay down Kunafa pastry, flat and straighten it on your work surface. Place walnut filling on the pastry and roll it into a roll.
- ASSEMBLING
Brush each roll with melted butter or clarified Ghee, over all surface, and place it on aluminium foil. Wrapped up with aluminium foil very tightly as you can and close the ends to secure it.
- BAKING
Place them on a baking sheet and bake them first at 160 C for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the pastry from the oven and unwrap Kunafas from the aluminium foil. You will notice, that the pastry is holding its perfect shape.
Gently and carefully transfer rolls back on baking sheets and bake them for another 15 minutes until golden and crispy.
- SERVING
Wrap again and Kunafa rolls into parchment paper, this will help to cut the pastry. Do not wrap them in aluminium foil! Carefully cut with bread knife into small pieces around 2 cm wide.
And you can also decorate Kunafa Baklava with some grounded pistachios and rose petals.