We are so honored to host a guest post for our Ramadan crafts 30-day challenge from Rose Dahlan.

Sister Rose is sharing how she made these baklava mini cheesecakes, which reminded me of our Bakalwa Cake Pops when I first saw them. I reached out to her in our mutual Facebook group and asked if I could share the recipe, in case a parent or guardian wanted to try this one with children as well.

To celebrate our 11th annual Ramadan crafts 30-day challenge, we are hosting guest posts for most of the month, if you have a craft, resource, or recipe you’d like to share, please let us know.

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Ingredients

For syrup

• 1cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 180 ml honey
• 1 teaspoon rose water

Nut Filling

• 150g walnuts
• 75 g blanched almonds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 2 table spoon of icing sugar

Cheesecake mix

• 400 g cream cheese, at room temperature
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 200g Greek yoghurt
• 150g thickened cream

Fillo and Kataifi Pastry

• 100 g melted butter
• 10-12heets Fillo Pastry
• A large handful of Kataifi Pastry
• ½ cup crushed pistachios
• 2 tsp dried rose petals

Method

take your Fillo Pastry, Kataifi Pastry and cream cheese out of the fridge, and allow them to come up to room temperature.

Syrup

• Bring all ingredients together in a medium saucepan for 20minutes until thick and syrupy. Allow to cool.

Nut filling

Preheat oven to 160°C.

• Spread nuts on a baking sheet and toast for 5-10 minutes in the oven. Let them cool, then chop them up roughly with a knife or in a food processor.

• Transfer nuts to a bowl and add 2 table spoon of icing sugar ,salt, and cinnamon. Stir and set aside.

Cheesecake filling

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, caster sugar, lemon zest and vanilla, followed by the eggs one at a time.

• Stir through the Greek yogurt and set aside.

• Preheat oven to 160°C. Release the collar from an 18cm or 20cm springform pan. Tear off a sheet of baking paper and place over the base, then reattach the collar, allowing the baking paper to stick out the bottom edges.

• Take one sheet of FilloPastry, brush with butter and lay inside the pan, buttered-side down, pushing into the sides and allowing one end of the pastry to overhang the top edge of the springform pan.

• Repeat process with until the bottom of the pan is completely covered by about 8-10 sheets of Fillo.

• Using a spoon, place the nut filling on bottom

• Pour ½ of the cheesecake batter into the prepared tin lined with Fillo.

• Repeat with the remaining cheesecake batter and half of the remaining nut filling.

• If the batter is still exposed on top, scrunch up a sheet of Fillo and place on top.

• Sprinkle the Kataifi pastry on top and brush with butter. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until golden on top.

• While the cheesecake is still warm, pour over cooled syrup and top with crushed pistachios and rose petals. Leave to cool completely in the spring form tin to set before serving.

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