Cheese Halawat al-Jibn
This recipe is Syrian Halawat al-Jibn, a sweet cheese dessert made with a dough of mozzarella cheese, semolina, sugar, and water. Orange blossom water is then added, and the dough is spread on plastic wrap greased with a little sugar syrup, filled with ashta, rolled, and chilled in the refrigerator. It is then cut, garnished with crushed pistachios, and served cold with a little sugar syrup.
This is a sweet cheese dessert made from cheese dough and syrup.
Like a soft cheese roll dessert soaked with syrup.
It is often rolled or filled, then served with syrup or cream.
Ingredients
- 500 g Mozzarella cheese
- 200 g (1 cup) Sugar
- 160 g (1 cup) Medium or fine wheat semolina
- 1/2 cup Orange blossom water
- 3/4 cup Sugar syrup
- 3/4 cup Crushed pistachios
- 1 1/2 cups Warm water
- 1/2 kilo Ashta
- 2 cups Water for the sugar syrup
- 4 cups Sugar for the sugar syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon or the juice of half a small lemon Citric acid or the juice of half a small lemon, for the sugar syrup
- a little Sugar syrup for greasing the plastic wrap and hands
Instructions
- Place the pot over medium heat, then add 1 1/2 cups warm water to the pot; preferably, the water should be hot.
- Add the sugar to the pot over the water.
- Add the semolina to the pot gradually, stirring continuously so that it does not clump.
- Continue stirring the semolina mixture in the pot over medium-low or medium heat until the semolina grains begin to open and the raw semolina taste fades slightly.
- Add the mozzarella cheese to the pot in stages, stirring continuously.
- Continue kneading and stirring the mixture in the pot over slightly below-medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the cheese melts completely and becomes a cohesive, stretchy dough with no traces of cheese pieces.
- Add the orange blossom water to the pot at this stage, then continue kneading the dough in the pot until it absorbs all the orange blossom water and becomes cohesive again.
- Spread a sheet of plastic wrap on the table.
- Put a little sugar syrup on the plastic wrap on the table.
- Put a little sugar syrup on your hand.
- Transfer the Halawat al-Jibn dough onto the plastic wrap on the table.
- Spread the Halawat al-Jibn dough on the plastic wrap on the table until it reaches the desired thickness.
- Leave the Halawat al-Jibn dough on the table until it cools.
- Trim the edges of the Halawat al-Jibn dough on the table with a knife so that the roll will have a neat shape.
- Spread the ashta over the Halawat al-Jibn dough on the table, leaving a small gap at the edge because the ashta may come out during rolling.
- Roll the Halawat al-Jibn dough filled with ashta on the table to form an evenly thick roll.
- Cut off the sealed end of the Halawat al-Jibn roll on the table using a knife.
- Transfer the Halawat al-Jibn roll to a tray.
- Leave the tray of Halawat al-Jibn in the refrigerator for about 1 hour until it firms up; the chef later mentioned that it remained in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours before cutting.
- Remove the tray of Halawat al-Jibn from the refrigerator after it has set.
- Cut the Halawat al-Jibn roll in the tray or on the work surface with a knife into pieces in your preferred size.
- Garnish the Halawat al-Jibn pieces with crushed pistachios.
- Arrange the Halawat al-Jibn pieces on a serving platter.
- Garnish the serving platter with a little additional ashta in the center, if desired.
- Add a little sugar syrup over the Halawat al-Jibn on the serving platter when serving.