My daughter saw this on a screen somewhere and begged me for it with the specific, unblinking intensity only an eleven-year-old can manage. The store version was sold out for three weeks straight, so I made it myself.
The first two batches were a disaster. The knafeh went soft and sad within an hour. Batch three is the one below, and the only real change was toasting the phyllo darker than felt safe.
That’s the whole secret. You want deep golden, the color of toast you’d normally pull back from. That’s where the crunch that survives the fridge lives.
Toast it darker than you think. Pale = soggy. Trust me on this one.
Ingredients
- 12.0 oz good milk chocolate, chopped
- 1½ cups kataifi / knafeh pastry, finely chopped
- 4.0 tbsp unsalted butter
- ¾ cup pistachio cream
- 2.0 tbsp tahini
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp flaky sea salt
Method
- Chop the kataifi small. Chop it until the strands are about the length of a grain of rice.
- Toast it dark. Melt the butter, add the kataifi, and cook 6–9 minutes until deep golden brown. Cool completely on a plate.
- Make the filling. Stir the cooled kataifi with pistachio cream, tahini, cardamom and salt into a thick paste.
- Melt the chocolate. Melt two-thirds gently. Reserve the rest.
- Build the bar. Line a pan with parchment. Pour half the chocolate, chill 10 minutes. Add the filling, then the remaining chocolate.
- Set & snap. Chill at least 45 minutes. Cut with a warm, dry knife.
Notes
Kataifi lives in the freezer aisle of Middle Eastern grocers. No pistachio cream? Blend roasted pistachios with a spoon of neutral oil. Keeps about two weeks in the fridge.
Nutrition
| Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 389 | 6g | 31g | 27g |
FAQ
Can I use something instead of kataifi?
Crushed Rice Krispies or toasted panko give crunch, but not the same stringy bite. Kataifi is worth hunting down.
Milk chocolate or dark?
The original is milk chocolate. I often use 60% dark because the bitterness balances the sweet filling. Both work.
Why did my filling turn out soggy?
Almost always under-toasted kataifi, or folding it in while still warm. Cool fully and toast darker.