No need to miss out on this dairy treat with my fantastic parev take on the Middle Eastern marvel. It’s totally more-ish and utterly delicious — the perfect pud for a meaty meal.
For the syrup: 230ml water 230g sugar 2 tbsp rose water 1 cinnamon stick Zest of ½ a lemon
For the filling: 450ml oat milk 3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) 230g sugar 1 tsp vanilla 230g parev/plant-based cream cheese For the pastry topping: 300g knafeh (aka kadaif) pastry 150g melted plant-based butter/spread
Method
To make the syrup: put all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium heat.
Once reached boiling, turn down slightly and cook for a further 10 minutes until it thickens slightly. Leave to one side to cool whilst making the filling and topping.
To make the filling: take a few tablespoons of the oat milk and mix with the cornflour (cornstarch) until you get a paste (a slurry) and set aside.
Put the rest of the milk, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium heat.
Once boiled, turn the heat down low and mix in the parev cream cheese and the cornflour slurry, stirring until you have a thickened consistency, similar to thick custard.
Pour into the base of your cooking dish — in which you will also be serving in the knafeh. Heat your oven to 185°C (fan) - 190°C.
In a separate bowl melt the parev butter. Shred up the pastry and pour over the melted butter, using your fingers to rub together to ensure that everything is well coated.
Sprinkle this over the cheese mixture, approximately 1.5cm thick and bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cheesy mixture is bubbling around the edges.
As soon as the knafeh comes out of the oven, liberally drench with the syrup and serve warm.
