How to Make Kunafa with Cheese

Ingredients

• 100 grams butter
• 1/2 kilogram kataifi pastry shreds *
• 1/2 kilogram Akkawi cheese, desalinated
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• Orange blossom water
• Sugar syrup (qatr/shira)

Method

1. Melt the butter and pour it over the kataifi pastry shreds, rubbing them well together, then press the mixture into a buttered baking pan.
2. Do not press the kunafa too firmly, but ensure the surface is even. Place the pan in the oven and leave until the edges brown..
3. Heat the Akkawi cheese with the mozzarella on the stove, adding a sprinkle of kataifi pastry shreds to absorb the cheese's moisture; add the orange blossom water and stir continuously until the cheese melts ..
4. . When the edges of the kunafa pan turn golden, remove it from the oven and sprinkle grated mozzarella or Akkawi cheese over it ...
5. Pour the cheese mixture over the kunafa pan and return it to the oven for 5 minutes.
   Timers: 5 min
6. When removed from the oven, let it rest for an additional 5 minutes, then invert it onto the serving platter and drizzle it with lukewarm syrup ....
   Timers: 5 min
7. Syrup: For every cup of sugar use half a cup of water and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.... bring the mixture to a boil for about 7 minutes then turn off the heat.
   Timers: 7 min