Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

Karen Mintzias

----------------------CUSTARD FILLING---------------------------
4 c Milk
3/4 c Cornflour
4 Eggs; beaten
1 pn Salt
1/2 c Sugar
1 ts Vanilla essence

-----------------------KATAIFI CRUST----------------------------
500 g Kataifi (shredded pastry)
3/4 c Unsalted butter; melted

---------------------------SYRUP--------------------------------
2 c Sugar
1 1/2 c Water
1 Thin strip lemon rind
1 Piece of cinnamon bark
3 ts Lemon juice

Oven temperature: 190 C (375 F) Cooking time: 1 hour

Combine milk and cornflour in a heavy pan. Blend in
beaten eggs and add salt and sugar. Place over medium
heat and stir constantly until thickened and bubbling.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla essence and cover
top of custard with buttered paper to prevent a skin
forming.

Place kataifi in a large bowl and gently separate
strands with fingers. Grease a 20 x 28 cm (8 x 11
inch) oven dish with some of the butter. Put half the
kataifi in the base, pressing it down to make it
compact. Drizzle 1/4 cup butterr evenly over it. Pour
custard filling over kataifi, spreading it evenly.
Top with remaining kataifi. Spread evenly and pat
down gently. Pour remaining melted butter evenly over
top. Bake in a moderately hot oven for 45 minutes
until golden brown. Remove from oven and leave until
cool.

Dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, add lemon
rind and cinnamon bark and bring to the boil. Add
lemon juice and boil over medium heat for 15 minutes,
skimming when necessary. Do not stir once syrup is
boiling. Strain hot syrup over cooled pastry. Leave
until cold and cut into diamond shapes to serve.

Note: The previous recipe is the traditional way in
which this dessert is made. As the custard and syrup
soften the kataifi, many good cooks use the following
method for a crisp finish:

Prepare the syrup as directed above and leave until
cool. Place the kataifi in a bowl and loosen stands.
Pour on 1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter and mix with
fingers to coat strands. Spread kataifi in two
buttered 20 x 28 cm (8 x 11 inch) straight-sided oven
dishes and press down to make it compact. Bake in a
moderately hot oven for 20-25 minutes until golden -
take care that it does not become too brown. Remove
from the oven and pour cooled syrup evenly over hot
kataifi in each dish. Cover each dish with a tea towel
so that kataifi softens slightly, otherwise it will be
difficult to cut. Make custard as directed in
previous recipe and pour while hot onto kataifi in one
dish. Invert other dish of kataifi on top of the
custard. Leave uncovered until cool, then cut into
diamond shapes to serve.

From: "The Complete Middle East Cookbook" by Tess
Mallos ISBN: 1 86302 069 1

Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

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