Katayef - Pancakes with Custard Cream

This Arabic dessert is traditionally made during Ramadan. In other words, katayef are yeast mini pancakes with filling. You can use not only custard cream as a filling, but also nuts or sweet cheese. The recipe is not difficult. Everything is very quick and very delicious!

For the batter:

Flour

1 cup

Milk

1 cup

Water

1/2 cup

Sugar

1 tsp

Yeast

1/2 tsp (dry)

Baking Powder

1/2 tsp

For the cream:

Milk

1 cup

Cream

1 cup (any fat content)

Starch

1/4 cup

Water

3 tbsp

Bread

3-4 slices (white, 1.5 cm thick)

Sugar

3 tbsp

Custard cream for katayef is usually prepared the day before or a few hours before baking the pancakes. It should cool down and set. Mix milk, cream, sugar, and add finely chopped white bread. Heat everything over low heat, stirring constantly until the bread completely dissolves.

Then, pour diluted starch into the mixture in a thin stream. While stirring intensively, thicken the mixture and remove from heat.

It is better to use cornstarch, but potato starch will also work.

Pour the cream into a separate container and let it cool, stirring occasionally (to prevent the formation of a skin). Then cover with plastic wrap (place the wrap directly on the cream again to avoid forming a skin) and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Now, let's prepare the pancakes for katayef. Dissolve dry yeast and sugar in water and let sit for about 5 minutes. Then add milk and sifted flour. Mix everything until smooth, without lumps, and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Bake the pancakes on a non-stick skillet on one side. Pour a thin stream of batter into the center of the skillet (hold the ladle vertically) to make a pancake about 9 inches in diameter. Once the top side of the pancake dries up, remove it from the skillet.

If using a regular skillet, grease it lightly with oil before each pancake.