Turkish Angel Hair Dessert

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 125 g sugar
• 125 ml water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 60 g butter
• e.g. butter, for the molds
• 250 g dough, fresh angel hair dough threads (“Tel kadayifi”)
• 100 g cheese, Turkish “Dil peyniri” (alternatively buffalo mozzarella), diced
• 2 tbsp pistachios, chopped (not salted)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 minute; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 51 minutes

Dessert from southern Anatolia – super sweet and super delicious (“Künefe”)

First, a brief note on the ingredients: You can get the angel hair freshly wrapped in foil from well-stocked Turkish delicatessens. Worst case scenario, you’ll have to wait a few days, as the shopkeepers can usually get it. Before preparing, place the angel hair between damp kitchen towels for a quarter of an hour to soften it and make it easier to work with. You can also get the cheese from Turkish stores. Alternatively, you can use buffalo mozzarella. I advise against using cow’s milk mozzarella, as it will leak a lot of liquid when baked. Buffalo mozzarella doesn’t “bleed.” You can use a little more pistachios, depending on your taste. Preparation: First, make a syrup. Bring the sugar and 125 ml of water to a boil in a saucepan and add the lemon juice. Now simmer for about 10 minutes at medium heat. Remove from the heat and let cool. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F) using top and bottom heat. Now grease four ovenproof dishes with butter. In a pinch, ovenproof soup bowls or ovenproof dessert plates will also work. Carefully divide the angel hair dough into 8 equal portions. Now place a portion into each dish and melt the butter. Now dab half of the butter onto the four dough portions with a pastry brush. Now distribute the diced cheese evenly over the 4 dough portions. Now cover with the remaining 4 angel hair portions and press down gently. Pat the remaining butter evenly. Now bake on the middle oven rack for about 20 minutes. Then pour the cold syrup evenly over the dessert. The syrup is now allowed to soak in for half a minute. Finally, pour over the chopped pistachios and serve.