Atayef or Qatayef (قطايف) is a Mediterranean dessert reserved for the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, a sort of sweet crepe filled with a custard, cheese or nut. "Stuffed Custard Pancake"
It was traditionally prepared by street vendors in the Levant countries and more recently has spread to Egypt.
Atayef or Qatayef is the general name of the dessert as a whole, but more
specifically, the its batter. The result of the batter being poured
into a round hot plate appears similar to pancakes, except only one
side is cooked, then folded. The pastry is filled with either unsalted
goat cheese or ground walnuts and cinnamon. It is then baked and served
with a hot sugar-water syrup or sometimes honey.
Recipe
Serves: 12-14
Difficulty: Medium
Prep and Cook time: 2 hours
Batter:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 cup milk
1 cup water
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
Ashta (custard):
2 cup whole milk
2 cup 2% or fat free milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbs sugar
1/2 cup corn starch mixed with 1/2 cup water
7 pieces white bread with crust removed
1 tbs rose water
1 tbs orange blossom water
ground pistachio for topping
Mediterranean simple syrup (atyr) or honey for topping
Start
with pancake batter, mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well
combined, let sit for 20 minutes. To cook pancakes, heat a non-stick
pan on medium heat, pour 1/4 cup batter or until 3 inches in diameter,
cook until bubbles cover the pancake and it is no longer wet, about 30
seconds, make sure bottom is golden brown color, remove and place in a
dish to cool, repeat until batter is gone.
For custard pour whole
milk, fat free milk, heavy cream, sugar and corn starch in a medium
size pot and stir. Cut white bread into pieces and add to pot and
stir. Mix until custard begins to thicken, add rose and organge water
and stir until custard is very thick. Remove from heat and pour into a
bowl. Set on counter top and let cool, stir every 15 minutes and after
an hour cover with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool
completely.
To serve, pinch the pancakes together half way, fill
a plastic bag or piping bag with custard and pipe into pancake pocket,
top with ground pistachio and serve with simple syrup or honey. Make
sure to refrigerate.
Hi Dede,
I just made ashtar as a filling for Kunafa and it was THE BEST!! My syrian husband loved it and almost ate the whole thing by himself!
Thank you for the great recipie
selgendy
|160.133.1.xxx
|2010-04-29 12:44:00
We fry them too, but I have never tried them with anything but ground nuts. After they're fried, we add the simple syrup that Dede has the recipe of and that's the classic egyptian way I've always had it.
imadmaoun
|76.105.221.xxx
|2009-10-21 18:40:53
Hi dede
I used you katayef recipe with walnut. after I closed them completely, I brushed them with butter and then baked then in the oven for 15 minutes. they tasted great
hayatpapa
- katayef
|173.60.116.xxx
|2009-09-09 10:56:26
Hello Dede!
I have been craving Atayef for a while,so I google it and I came across your website. I just want you to know that I just finished making it and it was delicious. I can hardly wait for my husband to come home and try it. Thank you for your precise step by step information. It's truly great.
Theresa
twistar21
|208.38.57.xxx
|2009-08-31 08:15:03
Hi dede
I made this recipe yesterday and it turned out AMAZING! Thanks so much!
Atayef Recipe (simple syrup) 
