Pistachio cream filled Qatayef - Stuffed Middle Eastern Pancakes Recipe

Here's how to make the perfect Qatayef and a delicious Pistachio Cream filling to stuff them with. Qatayef are stuffed pancakes that date back to 10th century Arabia. These stuffed pancakes are a light and refreshing dessert that is perfect to serve during hot summers.

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Qatayef Batter Ingredients (makes 35):
200g (7oz) All Purpose flour
60g (2.1oz) Fine semolina
1 Tbsp Powdered Milk
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tsp Instant yeast
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking soda
475ml (16fl oz) water

Syrup ingredients:
100g (3.5oz) Sugar
65ml (2.2fl oz)Water
1/2 Peel of an Orange
1/2 Tsp Orange Blossom syrup (Optional)
1 Cinnamon Stick (substitute with a pinch of ground cinnamon)
Squeeze of Lemon juice

Pistachio Filling:
325g (11.5 oz) Mascarpone (can also use any thick cream such as Kaymak, Extra thick cream, Clotted cream, Eshta)
200g (7 oz) Pistachio Butter (Pistachio Paste, you can make this by blending Pistachios and sugar together in a blender)
2 Tsp Orange Zest (optional)

100g (3.5 oz) Pistachios

How to make the syrup:
Wash your Orange and use a sharp knife t peel the rind off 1/2 of the Orange.
Cut the rind sections into short strips about 1 cm (1/3 in) across, till you have a tablespoon of chopped rind
Add your sugar and water to a small pot along with a squeeze of lemon juice and place on a medium high heat till the sugar comes up to a boil.
Once the syrup is boiling, add in your Cinnamon and orange peel, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add in your orange blossom syrup when the 10 minutes are up
Pour your syrup out into a jug, making sure to catch any of the peel using a strainer or fork.
Pour out the pieces of orange peel onto some grease proof paper and separate them into individual strands, let it cool till hard, we'll use this candied orange peel to decorate the Qatayef.

How to make the Qatayef Batter:
You can mix this together in a Blender, food processor, mixer or even by hand
Add all the dry ingredients to your mixing vessel and pour the water over
Mix together until well combined, making sure to scrape the sides of the vessel to dislodge any stuck ingredients
Pour out into a bowl and let it rest for at least 10 minutes, it's ready to use when small bubbles start appearing on the surface, indicating the yeast has become active.

To cook the Qatayef:
Place a non-stick pan on a medium heat.
When heated add about a tablespoon of batter or enough to achieve the size of pancakes you'd like. Air bubbles will form all over the surface of the pancake, they should be an even size and spread throughout
Leave your pancake to cook until the air bubbles pop and the top of the pancake is no longer wet, then remove from the pan and set aside on a plate. Cover the plate you are placing the pancakes on with a tea towel, this will stop the pancakes from drying out while you cook the rest. The pancakes should be golden brown on the bottom and a cream colour on the top, the bottom will be smooth and contain loads of tiny holes, whereas the top will have many medium holes in it.

To make the Pistachio Cream Filling:
Add your Pistachio Butter along with your Mascarpone to a small bowl along with your orange zest. Mix thoroughly until well combined
Prepare a piping bag with a round nozzle, or use a sandwich bag, cut the tip off and then add in your filling.

To assemble your Qatayef:
Chop your pistachios into small pieces, you are aiming for the size of rice krispies. Add them to a bowl when chopped
Place a pancake in the palm of your hand with the browned side facing down
Fold the pancake into a semi-circle so that the cream top of the pancake is now the inside of this folded semi circle
Pinch together the edges of the pancakes and they should stick to each other and seal
Go around the edge of the pancake pinching till you have sealed 2/3rds of the pancake, the other third is where we will be piping our filling in to. Fold all your pancakes this way
To fill, insert the tip of your piping bag all the way to the end
Apply pressure to the bag, fill the pancake while pulling the piping bag out, when you get to the end of the pancake fill the whole opening with cream
Hold a filled pancake in your hand and gently press the top half of the exposed cream into the chopped pistachios
Dip all the filled Qatayef and then lay them out in a decorative manner on a serving platter
Top each of your Qatayef with a piece of candied orange peel
Before serving, drizzle the syrup over the top of the Qatayef

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