Everybody loves kataifi

Gleaming and crisp. Kataifi is the baklava of Greece, renowned in every corner of Greece’s mainland and surrounding islands, this delicious delight of a dessert will definitely leave you wanting more after trying it. So why not try to make it yourself and give your friends and family another fantastic reason for a visit? Check out the full recipe below, and remember, it’s so simple it can be served with anything!

Ingredients

For the Kataifi

• 450g kataifi dough
• 250g walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• a pinch of ground cloves
• 250g butter from cow’s milk

For the syrup

• 450g sugar
• 330g water
• 1 lemon peel
• 1 cinnamon stick

 Instructions

1. Start by preparing the syrup. 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. Leave the syrup aside to cool completely.
2. Prepare the filling for the Kataifi. In a blender add the walnuts, ground clove and cinnamon; pulse until the walnuts are roughly chopped (not powdered). Although the walnut filling is the most common, lots of kataifi recipes also add pistachios and almonds. So, it’s up to you to decide.
3. Melt the butter and with a cooking brush butter the bottom and sides of a baking pan. (approx. 26-28cm diameter)
4. Unroll the Kataifi dough from the plastic sleeve. Work the dough with your hands, tearing apart the shreds and gently spreading the strands out a bit if they clump together. Cover the Kataifi dough with a slightly damp towel.
5. Take one piece of the kataifi dough and spread it on a working surface or on your palm. Drizzle with melted butter and place 1 teaspoon of the filling at one end. Roll it up tightly, folding inwards the sides, to form a small cylinder. Place the kataifi roll in the pan and brush with melted butter, using the cooking brush to shape it a little bit. Repeat with the rest of the kataifi dough and filling. Place the kataifi rolls the one next to the other, leaving no gaps between them and drizzle with a little bit more butter.
6. Bake the kataifi in preheated oven at 170-180°C for about 1 hour (on the middle rack), until nicely coloured and crispy.
7. As soon as you take the kataifi out of the oven, ladle slowly the 3/4 of the cold syrup over the hot kataifi, enabling each ladle to be absorbed. Cover the pan with a towel and set aside for 10 minutes. Ladle the rest of the syrup over the kataifi and wait until absorbed.
8. Kali Orexi! Don’t forget to try kataifi during your stay at one of Louis Hotels in Cyprus or Greece.