Ingredients

300g kataifi; 125g of butter (or ghee); 1 cups of sugar; 1.2 cup of water; or 1.2 cup of milk (optional); 100g of kaymak (Turkish clotted cream); 3/4 cup of crashed wallnuts (or pistachios); 1 tbsp of lemon juice.

Preparation and Cooking

• Unravel kataifi (the shredded phyllo dough) and place it in a square-shaped baking tray (to achieve a kataifi mixture about 2.5cm thick) and spread the dough evenly over the tray.
• Melt the butter and pour it over the kataifi, and add the wallnuts and mix, making sure all the strands are covered. Then level the mixture by pressing gently over the tray.
• Place the tray in Area E of the wood-fired oven and bake at 200-280^oC without flame radiated heat for 20-30 minutes, until the Heavenly Mud turns golden brown.
• While the desert is baking, prepare the syrup. Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. After 5 minutes, stir in lemon juice and boil for another 5 minutes to ligthtly thicken the mixture.
• Slowly add the syrup to the hot kataifi, and allow it to sit for a few hours to fully absorb the syrup.
• It can be served plain or with cream (kaymak) on top.

This desert can wait few weeks in the fridge, but it should be heated and served warm.