Happy Easter!
Last minute quick dessert; if you get some kataifi dough (available in the frozen section of specialty supermarkets, ethnic stores or online), let it defrost overnight in the fridge. You can put together this bite-size dessert in a jiffy.
Extra-crunchy and buttery, gooey from the warm melting cheese, laced with a touch of honey, crowned by a glorious chocolate egg, what more would one want or need from an Easter little-sweet something?
INGREDIENTS: Quantity will make at least 12 nests and can be multiplied.
- 1/2 package of frozen kataifi dough (shredded phyllo), defrosted
- 2 large slices of white sweet cheese (can substitute mascarpone or ricotta)
- honey or syrup, as needed
- 1/2 stick of melted butter (will have leftovers)
- 12 chocolate eggs
METHOD:
- Defrost the kataifi dough in the fridge overnight; the dough will be fine in the fridge in the package for a couple of weeks. When ready to start, remove it from the package (a small portion) and grab a small rope at a time; coil it around two fingers like yarn until a nest is formed and place the nest in a mini-muffin cup. Repeat till the pan is full; set it aside for one hour until the dough dried out a bit, covering the muffin pan with another similar pan to apply pressure on the shaped nests.
- Melt the butter and set it aside. Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C) and when ready to bake, pour 2 teaspoons of melted butter or oil onto each formed nest. Bake until the nests are golden-brown (caramel color).
- Using a small cookie cutter, cut round shapes in the cheese. Place one shape of cheese in the middle of each nest and insert back in the oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a drizzle of honey and garnish each mini-nest with a chocolate egg.
This cheese is specially made for Arabic sweets and desserts as it has no salt. It is available at all Middle-Eastern stores.
37 Comments
Oh, Joumana, I love them! The crispy shell with the honey-sweetened mascarpone filling and chocolate eggs? Stunning! But how cute are they? Fabulous Easter treat!
These kataif nests look like they are so much fun to eat! I’ve had some that used three pistachio nuts nested in the middle, and they were delicious as well!
Thease look just fantastic. Diane
So cute!
Happy Easter to you too!
Cheers,
Rosa
so cute!!! happy easter
Oh these are adorable! The cutest easter treat. Have a great day!
Very festive! Happy Easter, Joumana!
They are so lovely!
Happy Easter!
How delightful!! Happy Easter!
Oh those are just to adorable, Easter-y and springy!
Happy Easter!
These are darling.
So wonderful Joumana and quite the quickie version of sweet morsels. What is not to love! Happy holiday weekend Joumana and I hop you have lovely day planned ahead.
chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors
So cute! What a creative idea. Happy Easter!
Aww., the nests look adorably cute!
We don’t have kataif available in our area but those are adorable!!!
These are adorable! I may have to make them as a non-Easter treat later this week!
Happy Easter Joumana!
Simply adorable Joumana! happy Easter!!!
Adorable little nests! What a perfect treat for Easter!
Encore un dessert à fondre de plaisir.
Je vais voir si ce fromage existe dans mon magasin oriental.
Joyeuses Pâques Joumana et à très bientôt.
I particularly like kataifi dough and these nests are adorable Joumana!
These are really beautiful, Joumana, what a great little treat! Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
These are really cute and I love what you’ve done with them. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Blessings…Mary
Oh my, those look like a real labour of love! Very impressive.
These look AMAZING..
I’ve never seen shredded phyllo before! I love this idea and will save in my Easter file for next year.
The looks deliciously and SO cute. I never heard of these kataif doughs. Will have to look for them next time I go for shopping
Oh! These are so cute…love the crunchy texture of the nest…hope you had a great Easter
These are precious. So precious. I remember a little over a year ago – in February – preparing and thinking of mom’s 80th, you did the little basket dessert and I had to make them for her party. Had to! But never did. I found them at Harrod’s in London and thought of you. I still want to make them… why does life pull us away from our wants? I am truly, honestly, so sorry and so sad that I have missed reading your posts over the last two months. I would see them come into my e-mail, and delete them – with a heavy heart, daily. I didn’t at first, but it became apparent I could never catch up. I am thrilled to be participating in the planning of an important local slow food conference in our area which has taken up way more time than I ever imagined it would. Important work, but I really miss the relationships I have developed through blogging and know there will be a hole from what I have missed these past two months. I have published only three posts since February, so I am eager to cook, entertain, read, and write. Happy Easter and Spring to you and your wonderful clearly extremely fortunate (already knew that family!
Valerie
How cute!
Happy Easter!
these are adorable :O)
These are adorable. Hope you had a lovely Easter!
waou!!! ils sont trop mimi!! joyeuses Pâques à toi! bises!
They are so adorable…Hope you and family had a lovely Easter weekend
yuuumm im in love with ur recipes!
Wawww I like this recipe! That’s so original and simple!
I am lebanese, I love cooking lebanese food and I don’t know about this recipe! I know “3ech el boulboul” with pistachios inside the kadaif nest but not this one!!!! That’s a great idea to do that at Easter with the chocolate egg on the top! So the guests who don’t like Maamouls can eat this!!
Thank you so much to share your recipes!
By the way, I love your recipes pictures! They are so well photographed and look perfects and so yummy!
@Juliana: I came up with this idea so I am not surprised that you had never seen this recipe before~ Thanks for your kind words and happy cooking! Sahtein!
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