Ekmek Kataifi

INGREDIENTS

Syrup
250g sugar
250ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 thumb-sized cinnamon bark
6 whole cloves
1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp orange blossom water

Base
200g kataifi pastry
125g ghee/clarified butter, melted
50g pistachios, roughly chopped

Custard
750ml full cream milk
lemon zest of half a lemon
1 thumb-sized cinnamon bark
3 whole cloves
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 egg yolks
50g cornflour
75g sugar

Topping
300ml thickened
1 tsp orange blossom water
30g pistachios

METHOD

Start by making the syrup. Add all the ingredients apart from the orange blossom water into a saucepan, pop on medium heat, and stir well until the sugar has dissolved and you've brought it to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove any foam that forms. Pour in the orange blossom water, stir and remove from the heat. Leave it to cool completely and refrigerate.

To prepare the base, bring your kataifi pastry to room temperature while it's unopened in the packet. Preheat your oven to 160C. Gently unravel the pastry into a baking dish and fluff up the strands. Pour over the melted ghee, ensure everything is covered and sprinkle with pistachios. Bake on the bottom shelf for an hour or until crispy and golden. Remove from the oven, pour over your chilled syrup, and hear it sizzle. Leave it to soak up all the syrup for at least 2 hours.

For the custard, add your cornflour, sugar and eggs into a large heatproof bowl, give everything a quick light whisk and pour in about 200 ml of the cold milk. Whisk until dissolved and smooth.

Pour the rest of the milk into a pot with the lemon zest, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring and keeping an eye on it often.

Remove your pot from the heat and remove the cinnamon and cloves.

To temper your eggs and avoid scrambling them, gradually add your hot milk one ladle at a time into your egg mixture, whisking vigorously continuously. Repeat until you have ladled in the majority of the milk and until you have a smooth, loose mixture.

Pour your mixture back into the pot, and pop back onto medium heat whisking continuously until your mixture has thickened and started to bubble. Pour over the kataifi pastry and smooth. To avoid the custard forming a layer of skin, immediately cover it with plastic wrap which should be touching the surface. Leave to cool and refrigerate.  

For your final layer, whisk the fresh cream and orange blossom water until you have firm peaks. Smooth over the custard, decorate with the pistachios and leave in the fridge for around 3 hours before serving. 

Tips and Notes

• Use a 1.8-litre (approx) baking dish; here is the one I use

• Separate your eggs while fridge cold (makes it easier to separate)

• You can make the syrup a couple of days ahead

• Allow at least 2 hours for the pastry to soak up the syrup

• Leave to chill for at least 3 hours before serving