Künefe — shredded-pastry cheese dessert in syrup, topped with pistachio

Intermedio

Künefe (Cheese Pastry in Syrup)

Name: Künefe (Cheese Pastry in Syrup)
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: 250 g Kadayıf (shredded filo pastry); 250 g Unsalted stretchy cheese (fresh mozzarella or Turkish künefe cheese), grated; 120 g Butter, melted (clarified if possible); 3 tbsp Ground pistachios, to finish; 250 g Sugar (for the syrup); 200 ml Water (for the syrup); 1 tsp Lemon juice

Buttered strands of shredded pastry pressed around a layer of soft unsalted cheese, fried crisp and gold on both sides, drenched in cool syrup and eaten hot so the cheese pulls into long threads.

Fuente

Receta de Refika Birgül · 👨‍🍳 Chef · Istanbul-based Turkish cook and food writer, host of the YouTube channel Refika's Kitchen

Los nombres de cocineros y creadores aparecen únicamente como crédito de la fuente. More Recipes Please es independiente y no está afiliada, respaldada ni patrocinada por ellos.

Refika Birgül · Refika's Kitchen (YouTube) — The source cited here is Refika Birgül's own künefe video on her YouTube channel Refika's Kitchen — a real, public recipe confirmed live through YouTube's oEmbed (author Refika's Kitchen). Künefe is a hot cheese-and-kadayıf pastry soaked in syrup; the quantities and step wording in this entry are written for this book.

Cocinero: Refika Birgül

Watch it being made · 3 videos

Refika Birgül Refika's Kitchen Give Recipe

⏱ 40 min🍽 4 porciones🔥 520 kcal🇹🇷 Turquía

VegetarianoHalal

Pasos

First make the syrup: boil the sugar, water and lemon juice for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened, then leave it to cool completely.
💡 The golden rule of Turkish syrup sweets: hot pastry meets cold syrup, or cold pastry meets hot syrup — never hot on hot, or it turns soggy.
Chop the kadayıf roughly, pour over the melted butter, and rub it through with your hands until every strand is coated.
Press half the buttered strands firmly into a small heavy pan to make a flat base, spread the cheese over, leaving a border, and pack the rest of the pastry on top, pressing down hard.
Cook over low-medium heat for 8–10 minutes until the base is deep gold, then invert onto a plate and slide it back to crisp the other side the same way.
💡 Keep the heat gentle and patient — too hot and the pastry burns before the cheese inside melts.
Slide the hot künefe onto a plate and immediately ladle the cold syrup evenly all over it. Scatter with pistachios and serve at once, while the cheese still stretches.

💡 Consejos

Do not soak it in all the syrup at once — add enough to moisten and serve extra at the table, so the base keeps some crunch.
Künefe waits for no one — it is at its best in the first few minutes, hot, while the cheese pulls.