Kanafeh cones with tahini mascarpone & crushed pistachio are the most fun and unique way to prepare shredded phyllo dough! Plus, the tahini mascarpone filling is to die for! These desserts will be the hit at your next get together!
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One day, while my mom was visiting Egypt, she was walking through the busy streets of Cairo, when she saw these amazing Kanafeh cones in one of the shops. She was SO excited because she knew how much I would love them…and of course, try to make them. So she took a bunch of pictures and sent them to me. That’s when the fun began!
But, I can’t lie, these were kind of tricky to make. First off, you need to order cream horn molds, which isn’t the biggest deal thanks to Amazon. Then, you really want to make sure you’re working with good, fresh (at least not in your freezer for months), pliable phyllo dough and since I had to use frozen it made it really difficult. If it’s dry, it continuously cracks and breaks and you can’t wrap the dough.
Womp womp to frozen phyllo! But it’s all I have so…
Even though I got them to work out as cones, I definitely struggled with having a fully sealed bottom and continuous strands. The easy fix for the hole is to drop some melted chocolate down there and allow it to harden or drop a blueberry in. Get creative if you need to! You can put anything to block the little hole (if you have them) from dripping, and since the filling isn’t really liquidy you shouldn’t really need it.
So, I decided to fill them with this amazing tahini mascarpone. It was SO good! I was actually kind of surprised I loved it as much as I did, but I definitely could’ve eaten 4 of them in one sitting! I crushed up some pistachios and sprinkled a bunch in the cone and on top and Nadia came in with the dried lavender. Again, DELICIOUS! I think it’s definitely worth the effort because not only did they taste amazing, but they got an incredible amount of attention and I think they’d be a star at the next event or gathering!
Special thanks to Tasbih from Cleobuttera for her amazing explanation/how-to on making the cones!
These Kanafeh Cones with Tahini Mascarpone & Crushed Pistachio are incredibly delicious! They are going to be a hit at your next party or gathering!
- 1 pound packaged shredded phyllo dough (Kataifi) (if you're lucky, fresh)
- 3/4 cups ghee or butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 2 cups sugar, white
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh
- 1 cup mascarpone
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup pistachio, crushed
In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, add sugar and water. Heat until sugar melts, stirring regularly. Allow the mixture to come to a boil for 3 minutes and DO NOT stir. Then add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or about 1 teaspoon. Then boil another 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
Remove kanafeh from package. Take about a (3/4"/ 2cm) thick strand of kanafeh and re-wrap the rest or cover with damp paper towel to prevent from drying out.
Roll the kanafeh strand around the cone form. Start by placing one end of the strand in the middle of the cone, then beginning from the tiny, closed end of the form, tightly wrap the remaining strand over the end and overlapping that middle piece and up until you almost reach the wide opening of the form. Leave a small piece of the metal form showing; this will later make it easier to grab onto while removing the baked cones. Make sure that the kanafeh is wrapped as tightly as possible without tearing, and that there are no gaps showing. To make the kanafeh stick to itself and prevent unrolling, dampen your hands with a little bit of water, then use them to apply pressure on the wrapped kanafeh, pressing tightly on it until its stable and all the stray strands are stuck. Don't get it too wet; just damp enough to stick the kanafeh to itself. Repeat with the remaining kanafeh.
Place the wrapped kanafeh cones on a baking sheet, cover loosely with a sheet of foil or parchment paper and leave to air dry until the kanafeh feel hard to the touch; 3 hours to overnight.
When ready to bake, adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat the oven 200C/ 400F.
IMPORTANT: Loosen the hardened kanafeh from the metal form so its not so stuck to it anymore, but do not remove completely. This will make it easier to later remove the kanafeh from the form without breaking. If you don't do that, you'll have a very hard time removing the baked kanafeh from the form.
Pour the melted ghee (or butter) into a shallow bowl. Dip and roll the kanafeh cones into the ghee to saturate. Allow excess ghee to drip back into the bowl.
Place the ghee dipped kanafeh cones on their sides onto a baking sheet. Bake the cones, rotating them every 5 minutes on a different side to ensure even browning until the kanafeh is all golden brown in color, 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven, then immediately transfer the cones to a clean pan. Drizzle the piping hot kanafeh with the cooled syrup. Move the kanafeh around to coat with the syrup.
Then place the cones standing upside down to cool completely and allow to drip all the excess syrup and ghee.
Once cooled, carefully twist the cones to remove from the form. If you're having a hard time removing it, place in the freezer to cool further then try again.
In a bowl, stir together mascarpone and tahini until fully combined. Then add the powdered sugar in a little bit at a time.
Fill a pastry bag or ziplock bag with tahini mascarpone. Hold the kanafeh cone upright in one hand and squeeze the filling into the cone with the other until you have the desired amount. Top with pistachios.
You can fill these cones with anything you'd like! You can also use a baby spoon to fill them if you don't have bags. Because I had to wrap my phyllo dough thickly (due to breakage), I was only able to make 12 cones from one package. If your dough is fresher you will be able to make more.
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