Katayef or qatayef is an arabic dessert which consists of small pancakes filled with milk cream and nuts, poured with hot syrup. These small dumplings are really delicious and cute mouthfuls.
Qatayef is the general name of the dessert as a whole, but more specifically, the batter. The result of the batter being poured into a round hot plate appears similar to pancakes, except only one side is cooked, then folded. The pastry is filled with either unsalted cheese or a mixture of any of hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. It is then deep-fried or, less commonly, baked and served with a hot syrup or sometimes honey (Wikipedia).
This version which I have made is filled with milk custard cream and garnished with pistachio nuts.
The katayefs are made in three steps:
1. Pancakes
2. Cream filling
3. Syrup
Start with the pancake batter as it has to rest for about 40-45 minutes.
I n g r e d i e n t s
Katayef Pancakes
2,4 dl allpurpose flour
0,3 dl wheat flour
3/4 tsp yeast, dry
3/4 tsp sugar
1,8 dl milk, fat-free luke warm (or 0,9 dl fat milk combined with 0,9 dl warm water)
1,8 dl water, warm
1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix with an el-mixer for a few seconds until well combined
2. Let rest covered with a tray for about 40 minutes or until it thickens
After the resting
3. Heat a medium or large sized pan (or you can use a pan for small pancakes with small holes) over medium heat (no need of buttering the pan, just use a teflon non-stick pan)
4. Pour the batter, about 1 and 1/2 tbsp using a scoop from a high distance so it can even out easily
5. Let cook on one side only until it forms small bubbles all over and gets completely dry and golden brown at the bottom
6. Remove from the pan and put on top of eachother between two tissues to keep them soft
If you have some left-over batter, add a handful of sugar and cook som large sized sweet pancakes. Scoop the batter on a warm pan and make circles with the scoop, round and round, quickly to even out the batter. Let cook a few minutes on one side only (keep them covered with some foil, they may seem hard when you get them off the pan, but they will soften after a few minutes). Serve plain or with some honey
While the batter is resting, prepare the milk filling
Milk Custard Filling
2,4 dl milk
3 tbsp cornstarch
0,5 dl sugar
1 tsp vanilla essens / powder
1/2 tbsp rose water / other flavoring
1. Add milk, cornstarch and sugar in a medium sized saucepan and stir over medim-high heat until it thickens
2. Stirring continiously add the vanilla and flavoring, stir until it becomes really thick (be careful since it can burn easily on the bottom)
3. Sieve it in a bowl and keep in refrigerator to cool
Garnish
20 g pistachio nuts, unsalted
1. Chop the pistachio nuts very fine
Syrup
0,5 dl sugar
0,5 dl water
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tbsp rose water / other flavoring1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1. Add sugar and water in a medium saucepan, let the sugar dissolve and come to a boil
2. Add flavorings and cinnamon, let cool for a few minutes
Making the katayefs
1. Fold each small pancake half and press half-way up, so it resembles a tuile or cone (see picture in the recipe of cooking the pancakes)
2. Put one to one and a half teaspoon of milk custard filling in each pancake
3. Have the finely chopped pistachio in a bowl and lightly press each filled pancake in the pistachio nuts so that they will stick to the custard
4. Have them nicely on a plate and pour semi-warm syrup on the filled pancakes using a spoon5. Serve warm or cool (keep in fridge)
