Middle Eastern desserts - Green Prophet https://www.greenprophet.com/tag/middle-eastern-desserts/ Sustainably Driven. Future Ready. Thu, 18 Dec 2025 07:44:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.greenprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-logo_center_black_big-2-32x32.png Middle Eastern desserts - Green Prophet https://www.greenprophet.com/tag/middle-eastern-desserts/ 32 32 Simple Qatayef recipe makes fabulous nut-filled pancakes https://www.greenprophet.com/2025/12/simple-qatayef-pancakes/ Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:54:56 +0000 https://www.greenprophet.com/?p=151254 Qatayef - also spelled katayif or qatya’if - is traditionally eaten at Ramadan (get our Ramadan vegetarian ideas here), but it’s a treat anytime. In fact, it’s a treat that’s gone through history.

A recipe for qatayif appears in a tenth century Arabic cookbook by the writer Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, who compiled recipes going back to the eighth and ninth centuries. People have been eating qatayif for a very long time.

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]]> qatayif, qatayef pancakes, simple recipe

Imagine a pancake stuffed with sweet cheese. You may dream that the pancake’s filled with nuts, instead. Then imagine it was drizzled with perfumed syrup while still warm. Garnish it, in your dream, with pistachios and whipped cream. You’re dreaming of qatayef, the fabulous, fabled, Arabian dessert.

Qatayef – also spelled katayif or qatya’if – is traditionally eaten at Ramadan (get our Ramadan vegetarian ideas here), but it’s a treat anytime. In fact, it’s a treat that’s gone through history.

A recipe for qatayif appears in a tenth century Arabic cookbook by the writer Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, who compiled recipes going back to the eighth and ninth centuries. People have been eating qatayif for a very long time.

The filled pancakes are still popular in the Middle East. All over the Levant, people buy qatayif from bakeries and pastry shops, or pick some up from street vendors. They can even buy them frozen and ready to fry at home. So can you; if not at a local Middle Eastern grocery store, then online.

But there’s nothing like home-made, although it does take some time and patience. Plan to cook qatayif on a free morning, or when you need to put your mind on something with gratifying results.

First, make the batter. Choose a nut stuffing or a sweet cheese one (recipes below). Or halve each recipe and have both kinds.

qatayif pancakes, qatayif, qatayef pancakes, simple recipe

Qatayef, Stuffed Pancakes

An Arabian Dessert

  • Blender
  • skillet

The Batter:

  • 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1-1/2 cups warm water
  • 1-1/2 all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Nut filling:

  • 2 cups finely chopped (toasted walnuts or almonds)
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons orange flower water (not the concentrated essence)
  • Mix thoroughly.
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cheese Filling:

  • 13 oz. – 370 grams Mozzarella cheese packed in water
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons rose or orange flower water

The Syrup

  • The Syrup:
  • 2-1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1-2 tablespoons rose or orange flower water

The Garnish

  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios
  • Whipped cream

Make the batter:

  1. Put all ingredients in a blender until you have a smooth batter. Leave the batter in the blender.
  2. Alternately, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water; add the flour and salt and beat until smooth.

  3. Cover the batter and leave at room temperature 1 hour. 2 hours is better if you have the time, to allow an appealing fermented flavor to develop.

  4. While the batter is resting, make the filling and the syrup.

Make the Nut Filling:

  1. Mix thoroughly

Make the Cheese Filling:

  1. Drain the Mozzarella.

  2. Put everything through the food processor to make a crumbly mass.

Make the Syrup:

  1. Boil the sugar, water, and lemon juice until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 5-8 minutes.
  2. Add the flower water. Cook a few more seconds.
  3. Cool the syrup then put it in the fridge.

Fry and Fill The Qatayif

  1. Blend the rested batter again for a minute, or whip it up if it’s in a bowl. This helps produce the characteristic little holes in the pancakes.
  2. When the batter’s ready, take the syrup out of the fridge to have it ready.
  3. Oil a frying pan, preferably non-stick. Start with high heat, then reduce to medium.

  4. Pour about 2 tablespoons batter into the pan. Tilt the pan around to spread the batter into a circle, or gently push the batter into a circle shape with the back of a spoon. This is the first, experimental pancake, from which you’ll judge if the temperature is right or needs adjusting. It’s also practice for making the pancake circle. An oval is OK.

  5. Let the pancake cook until it’s spongy, pocked with bubbles, and detaches from the pan easily. This is done in a few minutes. The bottom may be pale or golden according to your preference. Do not flip the pancake over.

  6. Transfer the pancakes to a platter and cover with a kitchen towel to keep them pliable.

  7. Fill the center of each pancake with about 2 tablespoons of your chosen filling.
  8. Fold it over to make a half-circle.

  9. Press the edges together well, to keep the filling inside while frying.

  10. Heat oil to the depth of 1/2” – 1 cm. in a skillet.

  11. Fry the qatayif on all sides until golden, 2-3 minutes altogether. Some prefer a darker color, but take care not to over-cook because that will harden the qatayif.

  12. Put the qatayif on a rack to drain or set them on paper towels.

  13. Dip them in the syrup with tongs or a long spoon while they’re hot. Let the excess syrup drip off. .

  14. (A tip from the modern pantry: skip the boiled syrup and use your favorite pancake syrup to drizzle generously over the hot qatayif.)

  15. Garnish with finely chopped pistachios and/or whipped cream. Pass any extra syrup around for those who want more.

Dessert
Arabic
nut filling, pancake, sweet cheese filling

Eat, and drift off to qatayif heaven.

Photos by Laila Ibrahim via Serious Eats.

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]]> Pomegranates and oranges take this cake! A recipe https://www.greenprophet.com/2014/04/pomegranates-and-oranges-take-this-cake-a-recipe-for-pomegranate-lovers/ Thu, 17 Apr 2014 07:22:52 +0000 http://www.greenprophet.com/?p=103744 Coming up on my fourth year of taste-testing my way through Jordan – where the seasonal foods of the Levant pack a triple punch of being delicious, healthy and affordable – I amp up the smart-eating quotient by always avoiding desserts, filling up on marvelous mezzes and entrees because regional sweets leave me flat. Knafeh (hoisted on […]

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]]> pomegranate cake recipe

Coming up on my fourth year of taste-testing my way through Jordan – where the seasonal foods of the Levant pack a triple punch of being delicious, healthy and affordable – I amp up the smart-eating quotient by always avoiding desserts, filling up on marvelous mezzes and entrees because regional sweets leave me flat.

Knafeh (hoisted on you at every turn) is sticky, local ice cream is plastic-y, and an array of bread puddings seem lifted from the pages of Brit boarding school cookbooks. And someone please explain the appeal of Turkish Delight?

An English food writer has shared a recipe for a simple cake with emphatically Middle Eastern ingredients that might just get me to step away from the fruit bowl.  Check out Diana Henry’s orange and pomegranate cake recipe, one of the featured desserts in her latest cookbook,  “A Change of Appetite: Where Healthy Meets Delicious” (Mitchell Beazley, £25).

Serves eight

Ingredients for the cake:
50g (1¾oz) wholemeal breadcrumbs
100g (3½oz) ground almonds
175g (6oz) soft light-brown sugar
2 tsp baking-powder
finely grated zest of 1½ oranges
215ml (7½fl oz) olive oil, plus more for the tin
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Ingredients for the syrup:
juice of 1 orange
100ml (3½fl oz) pomegranate juice (pure juice, not ‘pomegranate juice drink’)
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp runny honey (let Miriam steer you to the real deal!)

To serve:
Garnish with seeds from ½ pomegranate (Karin shows you how to get them out of the shell – and fast – link here)

Mix together the breadcrumbs, almonds, sugar and baking-powder. Add the zest, 215ml (7½fl oz) olive oil and eggs, and stir well.Pour the batter into an oiled springform cake tin 20cm (8in) in diameter. Put it into a cold oven and set the heat to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake has browned and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile, gently heat all the syrup ingredients together. Stir a little until the honey has melted, then increase the heat and simmer for five minutes. You should end up with about 100ml (3½fl oz) of syrup.

When the cake is cooked, pierce the surface all over and slowly pour on the pomegranate syrup, allowing it to sink in. Leave to cool completely in the tin. It will sink a little in the middle, but don’t worry – this makes a lovely dip in which the pomegranate seeds can lie. Scatter the seeds on top just before serving.

Henry suggests serving this uber-moist cake with a dollop of Greek yogurt – which is unavailable in Jordan markets. Maybe improvise with some labneh instead!

Image of orange and pomegranate cake from Laura Edwards and The Telegraph 

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