Kadayif (Kadaif) Recipe

Kadayif (or Kadaif) is made with kataifi pastry, also called Tel Kadayif. These thin noodles are layered with a cardamom-flavored pistachio filling and drenched in a delicious rose water-flavored syrup. It's easier to prepare than Baklawa, and is often served with Turkish Coffee.

This Kadayif recipe has its roots in the Middle East but most likely originated in Turkey. It's popular in Greece, Albania, and throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

The crunchy texture of the nuts and tel Kadayif and the sticky sweetness of the syrup are irresistible and go great with a hot cup of samovar tea!

Jump to:

• 😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
• 🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
• 🔖 Ingredient & Substitutions
• 🍯 How to Make Kadayif
• 🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips
• 🥮 More Middle Eastern Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe

• This popular Turkish dessert takes minutes to prepare, not hours. In fact, the hardest part will be waiting for it to come out of the oven!
• Unlike traditional Baklava, Kadayif is a beginner recipe. Many cooks are intimidated by recipes that use phyllo dough. Let's be honest, the thin and fragile phyllo sheets can be a pain to work with and layer. Kataifi (sometimes called shredded phyllo dough) is much easier to work with!

🛒 What You Need For This Recipe

🔖 Ingredient & Substitutions

• Kataifi — Although the name of this shredded pastry dough "Kataifi" sounds awfully similar to the name of this recipe, "Kadayif," don't let that confuse you. You can refer to it as "shredded filo or phyllo dough" when you ask for it at your local grocery store. It is used to make cheese kunefe (kataifi stuffed with Akawi cheese) and other Middle Eastern desserts and can be found in the freezer section of most Greek or Middle Eastern markets.
• Nuts: Pistachios are the preferred nuts to use in most Kadaif recipes, however, you can also use walnuts and hazelnuts.
• Rose Flower Water — Rose Water or Orange Blossom Water is added to the syrup to give the Kadayif a Middle Eastern flair and both can be purchased on Amazon. I have yet to make rosewater from scratch, but here's a rosewater recipe if you want to try it!
• Spices — Cardamom and cinnamon are used in this recipe and work very well together.
• Syrup — Although most people choose either honey or simple syrup when making Kadayif, I prefer a mixture of both. You don't have to use raw and unfiltered honey like I did. You can also add a small cinnamon stick, whole cloves, or citrus peels to flavor the syrup.

🍯 How to Make Kadayif

Note: Defrost Kadaifi (shredded Fillo dough) according to package instructions.  

Prepare Syrup

Step 1: Add water, sugar, and honey to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, while stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.

Step 2: Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Skim off the foam that comes to the surface. Mix in lemon juice and rose or orange blossom water and boil for a few additional minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F

Clarify Butter

Melt butter in the microwave or over very low heat. Clarify the butter by skimming the white foamy surface off then pour it into a measuring cup, leaving behind the milky residue on the bottom. 

Note: I started with 1 cup of butter, which yielded ¾ cup of clarified butter).

Prepare the Kadayif Filling

Coarsely chop the pistachios in a food processor, or place them in a ziplock bag and pound until broken up. Mix cardamom and cinnamon with the ground pistachios.

Assemble & Bake

Step 1: Butter a 9" x 13" baking tray and set aside until needed. Add phyllo dough to a large bowl and break it up with your hands. Arrange half of the dough into the buttered pan.

Step 2: Pour ½ of the melted butter over the shredded phyllo dough and work in with your hands or a pastry brush, making sure all the strands are covered with butter. Press down firmly with your hands to compact the dough.

Step 3: Distribute the entire pistachio mixture evenly over the dough. Add the remaining shredded phyllo dough over the nuts and pour the other ½ cup of clarified butter evenly over the dough.

Step 4: Place the pan in the oven and bake for 60 minutes, or until the filo dough is golden brown.

Step 5: Remove the pan from the oven and slowly pour the syrup all over the pan, making sure to cover every inch. Slice into 24 squares.

Step 6: Allow the Kadayif to come to room temperature before serving. If you have that much self-control, congratulations. You're a better man/woman than I am!

🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

• Keep in mind you will need to defrost frozen Fillo Dough in the fridge overnight before you can use it.
• Most people use either simple syrup or honey to make Kadayif. I prefer a combination of the two, although if I had to suggest just one to use, it would be a simple syrup.
• When pouring syrup over Kadayif, you want the syrup to be cool when you pour it over the hot pastry. The other option is to cook the pastry first and allow it to cool, then add hot syrup over it. This helps the syrup to get absorbed better.
• If you prefer, you can cut the Kadayif before pouring the syrup all over it.

🥮 More Middle Eastern Recipes

📖 Recipe