1002: Knafa Cones

There is a huge market for modern takes on traditional classics. Take the Rangina for example: it is the most basic ancient Bedouin dessert made from ghee-fried flour with dates stirred in. It not comes in all shapes and forms, from a prickled ananas shape, to single-serve in Arabic coffee cups complete with a dried rose bud. Same goes for the knafa: it still comes in the traditional thin and wide disk, but caterers and sweet shops are playing around with the presentation to appeal to their customer base.
So these knafa comes were inspired by a sweet shop I saw them in, and they couldn't get easier to make. Knafa dough is drenched in melted butter and wrapped and pressed around a steel cone before being baked into a golden shell. If you do not have steel cones, create an alternative using aluminum foil pressed into a similar shape. The cone shells are then cooled before being filled with whipped cream cheese. Upon serving, the cones are drenched in a simple sugar syrup. The cream cheese can be a tad sweetened but I find the sugar syrup to be enough sweetness.

Ingredients: makes 24 cones

400g knafa dough
250g melted butter
600g cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup crushed pistachio
sugar syrup*, to serve.

*Make sugar syrup by boiling 2 cups sugar with 1 cup water and a pinch of citric acid for 8 minutes; remove from heat, add a teaspoon of orange blossom and set aside to cool completely.

Method:

Preheat oven to 400F. Using your fingers, toss the knafa dough with the melted butter to coat completely. Wrap some dough over a steel cone and press tight. Bake the cones in preheated oven to about 10 minutes, flipping half way through, until it is a golden brown. Allow to cool completely before carefully removing the steel come from the baked shell. Repeat for the remaining dough.
In a bowl, whisk the cream cheese, vanilla, and powdered sugar (if using) until combined. Using a piping bag, pipe the filling into the knafa shells. Dunk the suface of the cone into crushed pistachios to coat before arranging in the serving dish.
Serve with the sugar syrup nearby so people drench their knafa it it just before consuming.

صحة و عافية