Name: Knafe – Middle Eastern Sweet Cheese Pastry
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: ¾ pounds FOR THE PASTRY:; 1 teaspoon Store-bought Phyllo Dough (kataifi) (typically Come In 1 Pound Package); 1 pound Lemon Zest; 1 stick Sweet Cheese Or Fresh Mozzarella; 1 cup Butter, Melted; ½ cups Red Or Orange Food Coloring; 1 teaspoon FOR THE SYRUP:

Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Knafe – Middle Eastern Sweet Cheese Pastry

Serves 8

Prep20 min

Cook35 min

Ingredients

¾ pounds FOR THE PASTRY:
1 teaspoon Store-bought Phyllo Dough (kataifi) (typically Come In 1 Pound Package)
1 pound Lemon Zest
1 stick Sweet Cheese Or Fresh Mozzarella
1 cup Butter, Melted
½ cups Red Or Orange Food Coloring
1 teaspoon FOR THE SYRUP:

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

374Calories

15 gProtein

27 gFat

20 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 8 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Mozzarella Cheese	1 oz (28g)	85
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Pastry	not in our table	0
Phyllo Dough	not in our table	0
Syrup	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By tastykitchen. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,634 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Phyllo dough + syruptop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Phyllo dough + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (phyllo dough, lemon, cheese, butter, syrup):

Applefits about as well
Orangethe original
Vanillafits about as well
Grapefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against phyllo dough, lemon, cheese, butter, syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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