Kunafolis - Kunafah meets Cannoli
What is a Kunafoli you say? Well it derived from me being greedy and wanting Kunafah on the Go. So with some late night thinking, combining my East meets West brain I came up with a Kunafoli, when a Kunafah meets Cannoli. So if you happen to be part Arab and part Italian, this is an ode to you!
Cooking notes:
Make sure your pastry is fully defrosted otherwise it will break when wrapping around the cones.
Try as much as possible not to break up the pastry strands as we need them as long as possible, for wrapping round the cones.
I prefer to use ghee for these, as I find the crunch is much better. But I have made these vegan before and vegetable oil is completely fine but be careful not to over soak.
Do NOT stir your syrup at any point during the cooking process, this will cause it to crystallisation.
The shells can be made a day in advance as left at room temp, as long as they are covered well.
Ingredients:
Shells
500g Kunafah or Kataifi Pastry
300g of Ghee or Clarified Butter
Filling
400ml Double Cream
250g Mascarpone Cheese
3 TBSP Rose Water
100g Caster Sugar
150g Pistachios (Crushed)
Syrup
2 Cups Caster or Granulated Sugar
1 Cup Water
Good Pinch of Saffron Strands
3-4 Cardamom Pods or 1TSP Ground Cardamom
Juice of half a Lemon
Extras
Crushed Pistachios
Rose Petals
Method:
Syrup
Place all the syrup ingredients into a medium sized saucepan and making sure the water has covered all the sugar.
Place the mixture on a high heat.
Once it begins to bubble start a timer for exactly 10 minutes, reduce the heat ever so slightly and leave to bubble away.
After 10 minutes or when your syrup has reached 110°c, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
This syrup will need to be completely cool before pouring on the Kunafoli shells.
Kunafoli Shells
Turn the oven to 190°c and allow to warm up.
Unravel your pastry and pull out enough strands that when spread out are about 2-3 fingers wide.
Take one end of the pastry strands and place in the middle of a cone.
Begin wrapping around the pastry to the left, making sure you wrap over the start of the pastry so that it doesn’t unravel.
Once you reach the left end, wrap back to the middle and around to the right end.
Allow the pastry strands to not be so bunched together, as this will cause the middle to be a lot thicker.
When you reach the right end, wrap slightly towards the middle ensuring the pastry end finishes at the bottom, so that when placing on a baking tray the shells can sit on top of the ends to stop them from opening.
Repeat this till all of your pastry is finished and line them up on a baking tray. If you don’t have enough shells wait till one batch has cooked and then continue.
Heat your ghee on a low heat to allow it to melt and be in a liquid state.
Once it has melted take a spoon and begin pouring the ghee over all the shells, ensuring they are completely soaked in ghee.
Lift up the shells with a pair of tongs to check the bottoms have been soaked through.
Once happy with the coating, place in the oven for 20-25minutes until they are a deep golden brown.
As soon as they are cooked, remove from the oven and using the tongs again, dip them one by one into the syrup to covering them completely.
Leave to cool, while you prepare the filling.
Mascarpone Cream Filling
Place the mascarpone cheese in a large bowl and using your whisk, smooth out the cheese to a creamy consistency.
Add in the rest of the ingredients except for the pistachios.
Whisk the mixture on a high speed till the cream is no longer in a liquid state and has thickened and formed stiff peaks.
Add your crushed pistachios into the cream mixture and using a spatula, fold them in, allowing even distribution.
Assembling
Fill the cream mixture into a piping with a nozzle (if you want a slight pattern on the edges).
Then take one of your Kunafoli shells and pipe the cream into both ends to make sure it has filled right through to the middle.
Dip each end of the shells into some chopped pistachios.
Repeat step 2 & 3 for all your shells.
Finally drizzle some syrup over the top of the shells and sprinkle over some pistachio crumbs & rose petals.
