Easy Cheese Halawet el Jibn Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 kilo mozzarella cheese or Akkawi cheese, sweetened and drained
• 1 cup fine semolina (farina) or the equivalent of 200 grams
• 1/2 cup sugar syrup
• 3 tablespoons rose water
• 3 tablespoons orange blossom water
• Custard:
• 2 cups liquid milk
• 1 container qimer cream
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon rose water
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• Syrup:
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• crushed pistachios for garnish
• Also from Mona, here is Strawberry Tart

Method

1. Put 1/2 cup of sugar syrup (or sugar dissolved in water) in a pot over the heat.
2. When it starts to boil, add the semolina immediately, stir quickly and leave it over low heat to cook, stirring continuously (a few minutes).
3. Add the cheese and continue stirring until it melts, pulling it upward as you stir until you obtain an elastic dough.
4. Finally, when the cheese has melted, add the rose water and orange blossom water immediately and stir well, then turn off the heat (do not leave the halawa on the heat after the cheese has melted so it does not dry out).
5. Begin working with the halawet el jibn dough immediately while it is hot; wait just half a minute until you can touch it and it is less hot, then roll it with a rolling pin on kitchen clingfilm or a clean marble surface brushed with syrup.
6. When it cools after a few minutes, cut it as desired into strips or fill it with the pre-prepared cream (qashta), roll it like thin roulades, then slice.
7. Garnish the halawet el jibn with crushed pistachios and serve chilled with cold syrup.
8. Put the liquid milk with the cornstarch on the stove and stir.
9. When they boil and thicken, add rose water and orange blossom water, stir, then remove immediately from the heat.
10. Let them cool, then add a can of qaimar cream (qashta) on top and mix well.
11. Chill the cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.
12. For an alternative to pistachios for decorating, see this link: 'Fake pistachio method for decorating desserts.'