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Greek Kataifi Recipe

Kataifi is a Greek baked dessert made with buttered dough, filled with nuts and spices, and then soaked in syrup. The dough starts as a thin batter, which is shaped into fine strands before being baked. Once cooked, the pastry resembles vermicelli.
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Prep Time 35 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Greek
Servings 22 Yield
Calories 834 kcal

Ingredients
  

Kataifi Dough

  • All-purpose flour – 1 2/3 cups
  • Cornstarch – 1 cup
  • Salt – ¾ teaspoon
  • Vegetable oil – 2 Tbsp
  • Water – 2 cups

Syrup

  • Sugar – 450 g
  • Water – 330 g
  • Whole lemon peel - 1
  • Cinnamon stick - 1

Filling

  • Walnuts, whole – 250g
  • Cinnamon, ground – 1 tsp
  • Clove, ground – 1 pinch
  • Pure butter – 250g

Instructions
 

Kataifi Dough

  • Whisk flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
  • Add oil and water and whisk until smooth.
  • Strain the batter through a sieve to make sure it is lump-free.
  • Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle with a very small hole cut into the top.
  • Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat until it's very hot.
  • Gently squeeze the bottle to dispense a very thin stream of batter in a circular motion, starting from the center of the pan and working towards the edge of the pan.
  • When the pastry begins to peel off of the pan in 5 to 10 seconds, gently pick it up with a spatula and drop it into a bowl. Cover the bowl with a dishtowel and continue this process until all the batter is used up.
  • Shred the strands into smaller sections. Use 16 oz for this recipe

Syrup

  • 1. Add all the ingredients for the syrup into a small pot and bring to the boil.
  • As soon as the sugar has dissolved, the syrup is ready. Let itcool completely.

Filling

  • In a blender add the walnuts, ground clove and cinnamon; pulse until the walnuts are roughly chopped (not powdered).
  • Melt the butter and with a cooking brush butter the bottom and sides of a 12 x 10 baking pan.
  • Work the dough with your hands, tearing apart the shreds and gently spreading the strands out a bit if they clump together, in order to get fluffy. Cover the Kataifi dough with a slightly damp towel.
  • Take one piece of the kataifi dough, and spread it on a working surface
  • Drizzle with meltedbutter and place 1 teaspoon of the filling at one end.
  • Roll it up tightly, folding the sides inwards to form a small cylinder.
  • Place the kataifi roll in the pan and brush the top with melted butter and shaping it slightly. Repeat with the rest of the kataifi dough and filling.
  • Place the kataifi rolls next to each other, leaving no gaps between them and drizzle with a little bit more butter
  • Bake at 350 F for about 1 hour (on the middle rack), until golden and crispy.
  • 10.  Once the is kataifi out of the oven, slowly ladle 3/4 of the cold syrup over the hot kataifi.
  • Cover the pan with a towel and set aside for 10 minutes.
  • Ladle the rest of the syrup over the kataifi and wait until it absorbs

Nutrition

Calories: 834kcalCarbohydrates: 96gProtein: 8gFat: 49gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 67mgSodium: 406mgFiber: 3gSugar: 57g
Keyword Greek Kataifi Recipe
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