For this guafres de liège (belgian waffle) recipe, you will need:
Mix the flour and salt together first. Then add the yeast and mix. Make a well in the center and mix the milk and water (or egg) and vanilla. Knead for 5 minutes or until elastic. Let rest for 30 minutes. Next, knead the butter into the dough one tablespoon at a time. Mix in the pearl sugar until completely mixed through. Let rest for 1 hour. Heat the waffle maker and separate your dough into 8 equal pieces. If you want to make giant waffles, this recipe makes 4 large ones. Cook the waffles for 3-5 minutes depending on your waffle maker and depending on how golden-toasty you want the waffles to be. I prefer to cook mine until sugar caramelizes well. These should not be pale waffles. This recipe is EASILY doubled or quadrupled. The cooked waffles freeze well for instant waffles at any time. ENJOY!
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the best knafeh comes from the middle eastern region of the world: Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, all of the neighboring countries. It's a sweet dessert with cheese and simple syrup. I don't want to put too much info here. If you like, you can check out the blog post linked below. A great reference for more information on knafe.
This dough will make approximately two 9-inch knafes or one 16-inch knafe. If you want to skip this step you can buy shredded phyllo dough. You can shred this by hand or really finely blended in a food processor. Then mix it with enough melted ghee or butter to coat all of the shredded dough. You will need:
Mix all dry ingredients together. Add butter/ghee and mix until all the flour/semolina is coated with the butter/ghee. Add milk and mix quickly by hand. Do not overwork. Spread into a thin disc around 1/2 cm on a baking sheet. Heat your oven to 300F. Cook the knafe dough until the bottom is slightly golden. Leave to the side to cool completely to dry it out. Once cool, put the dough into a food processor and pulse until you have fine breadcrumbs, no medium or big pieces. Spread a generous amount of butter or ghee on your baking dish or cake pan. Place enough dough crumbs in the bottom of your pan to fill 1 cm. Press your knafe dough into the pan firmly. Leftover dough can be stored in the freezer for later knafe. Prepare the cheese. For a 9-inch cake pan you will need:
Dollop the cheese over the knafe dough and spread gently so as not to disturb the knafe on the bottom. Leave a 1 cm space between the edge of the cheese and the side of the pan. The cheese will spread and we do not want to burn the cheese. Heat your oven to 350F and bake the knafe covered with foil for around 20-25 minutes. Uncover, and bake for 5 more minutes. ***Typically knafe is made over the stove. Place your pan over the stove halfway and wear oven mitts. Over a medium-low heat, cook the knafe over the stove while turning it constantly to cook the knafe. If the cheese releases water, soak up excess cheese-water with a paper towel. It's time to flip!! Whether you baked the knafe or cooked it over the stove, you will need to flip your knafe. Using a serving dish slightly bigger than the pan you cooked it in, flip your knafe. If you baked it and you want a little more color on it, you can broil it for a few minutes but keep an eye on that beautiful knafe! Decorate with crushed pistachio and immediately drizzle cold (or room temp) simple syrup (see below). Enjoy!! Remember knafe is about the method, not the recipe. It's supposed to have a crunch on the outside. It's the ultimate sweet vs salty dessert and I know it won't disappoint you! Arab simple syrup is two parts sugar and one part water. Some people like it thinner, you can do a one:one ratio.
For the inspiration for this Knafe, check out @bateekh.w.jebneh on instagram. For more knafe reading: https://cleobuttera.com/middle-eastern/knafeh-naameh/ |
MEMy name is Bushra and I post my favorite recipes on my youtube channel. All recipes are gathered here on my website as well as helpful links to my videos and fancy ingredients. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
October 2023
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