CRIS' Staff Bakes Kounafa (Busma)

An article by Sarah Taylor, Summer Communications InternFor an all-staff lunch in June, everyone brought their favorite foods from around the world.  Alongside Nepali momos (potstickers), Ethiopian injera, and American fried chicken was my new favorite dessert, kounafa.

Kounafa is a Middle Eastern dessert traditionally eaten during the month of Ramadan, but feel free to enjoy this sticky and sweet dessert any time of the year.  The savory dough and nuts pair particularly well with the sweetness of the syrup and the raisins.  I recommend serving it with tea at the end of a meal, preferably a meal spent with lots of family and friends.Staff member, Georgina, was gracious enough to share with me her recipe for this delectable dessert.  Please see her recipe below:Makes:  more than 30 squaresPrep time:  20 minutes, Bake time: 30 minutes, Total time: 50 minutesIngredients: For the dough base

• 1 box of Kataifi (shredded dough), which you can find in Arab grocery stores and bakeries
• 2 sticks of melted butter
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• Crushed nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, and cashews, as desired
• **Optional: ½ cup of golden raisins

For the syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tablespoon lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• ***Many recipes call for 1 tbsp of rosewater instead of lemon and vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl take half of the shredded dough and break it into small pieces with your fingers.  Mix the dough with half of the powdered sugar, then add 1 stick butter and mix the ingredients together well.
3. In a oven tray ( 11*15 inch) spread the mixed dough in a layer on the bottom of the pan, pressing it with your hand to make it even.
4. Spread the crushed nuts and the golden raisins.
5. Mix the remaining dough with the second stick of butter and ½ cup powdered sugar.
6. Press this dough on top of the raisins and crushed nuts in an even layer.
7. Once your oven is preheated, bake the layers of dough for about 30 minutes or until the dish becomes a gold-colored.
8. While the kounafa bakes, mix the water, sugar, lemon and vanilla in a saucepan to make the syrup.  Bring the ingredients to a boil and continue to heat them on high heat until the syrup is a consistency somewhere between water and pancake syrup.  (I made the mistake of making it too thick, and the syrup would not spread.  Make sure the syrup is more watery than pancake syrup!)
9. Allow the syrup to cool completely, then spread it on top of the baked kounafa.  The syrup should be thin enough to soak through the dessert, but not too thick that it stays on top and not too thin to pool at the bottom and soak the dough.
10. Allow the dessert to cool completely before you cut it into squares.

Below is a picture of two squares of my kounafa, looking a little worse for the wear, but delicious all the same!