Tel kadayıf (tehl kah-dah-yuf) is a traditional Turkish dessert often made to celebrate Bayram (Eid). It feels light to eat with its delicate layers of soft wispy pastry and chopped nuts. By brushing the layers of pastry generously with melted butter, it gives the dessert a rich flavour which pairs perfectly with the fragrant rose syrup.
Although often described as shredded filo pastry, tel (meaning ‘wiry’) kadayıf was traditionally made using a perforated tin to drizzle long thin strings of batter over a hot saç (a concave metal pan). The pan would be placed over cooling coals so that it wouldn’t be too hot, cooking the pastry gently. It is used to create various syrup-based desserts popular throughout the Middle East, such as the cheese-filled künefe/kanafeh.
Rather than rectangles, you can shape tel kadayıf as long rolls of pastry, or use round-bottomed tea cups to create dome-like structures. However, these are a bit more fiddly and time-consuming to make. Some other recipes also use less syrup with a higher sugar content to make the pastry crispy throughout, unlike the soft, fluffy texture with this recipe. It depends on your preference.
Serving tel kadayıf at room temperature gives it a fluffier bite and is ideal if you eat it within a day. Storing tel kadayıf in the fridge keeps it fresher for longer, but it will be firmer. We use freshly made tel kadayıf for this recipe which is available in most Turkish food stores and bakeries. Using long-life tel kadayıf may require adjustments to cooking times as it is usually drier.
You would need to let the syrup cool to room temperature before adding the rose water and ladling over the hot tel kadayıf. To help with timings, a suggestion would be to make the syrup in the morning and the tel kadayıf in the evening. This way, it can be left overnight to absorb the syrup completely.
Makes 24 pieces | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 45 minutes for the syrup | Baking time: 1 hour for the pastry | Additional time: To cool the syrup to room temperature and for the pastry to absorb the syrup overnight
Ingredients
For the syrup | |
800g white sugar | 2x 5cm strips of a cinnamon quill (break up the quill to get the individual strips) |
1.5L water | 1 tbsp lemon juice |
8 cloves | 4 tbsp rose water |
For the pastry | |
500g fresh tel kadayıf (available from most Turkish food stores) | 200g chopped almonds |
100g chopped walnuts | 150g unsalted butter, melted (plus extra for greasing) |
For serving | |
50-100g finely chopped pistachios | |
Hob heat settings
Method
For the syrup
Mix the sugar, water, cinnamon and cloves in a large saucepan until the sugar fully dissolves. Place on a high heat while loosely covered until there is a rolling simmer - about 15-20 minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice and continue to simmer while loosely covered for 25-30 minutes more, or until the syrup thickens slightly and goes light brown in colour. Allow the syrup to cool completely to room temperature before adding the rose water and mix well.
For the pastry
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4.
Melt the butter over a medium-low heat so that it is warm rather than hot. Gently pull apart the tel kadayıf little by little so that it is fully separated out into loose strands, without breaking them. Spread half of the tel kadayıf evenly across the bottom of a greased D5xW30xL40cm oven pan and gently brush all over with half the warm melted butter.
Next, evenly scatter over all the nuts.
Lay the remaining tel kadayif over the nuts and gently brush the pastry all over with the remaining melted butter.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until lightly browned on top.
Ladle the syrup (at room temperature) all over the hot tel kadayıf and cover loosely with a tea tray and tea towel. Leave the pastry to cool and absorb the syrup for a few hours (preferably overnight). Cut into 24 rectangular pieces and serve at room temperature or chilled, sprinkled with some chopped pistachios on each piece.
