Knafe is a famous middle eastern dessert with crunchy golden pastry, filled with creamy cheese and drenched in syrup. This beautiful and surprisingly simple dessert is perfect for Mother's Day, combining east meets west flavors.
1: Cut the kataifi pastry into small pieces with your hands or knife. Pour the melted butter and sugar on top and evenly massage it into the pastry.
2: Place half of the mixture into an 8-inch cake tin and press down for the base. Place the other half into a flat baking tray to make the topping. Bake both at 175C for 15 minutes until golden.
3: For the cheesecake, whisk together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and sour cream until smooth. Add the eggs, lemon zest, and rosewater. Once whisked well, pour it into the cake tin. Bake at 175C for 50 minutes. Place in the fridge for 3 hours.
4: Whip the heavy cream, sugar, and rosewater together and place it on top of the cheesecake. Add the rest of the golden kataifi pastry on top, with an optional sprinkling of pistachios and rose petals.
5: For the syrup, heat the water and honey together for 8 minutes or until thickened. Cool completely before pouring on the cheesecake.
