No need to miss out on this dairy treat with my fantastic parev take on the Middle Eastern marvel. It’s totally more-ish and utterly delicious — the perfect pud for a meaty meal.

Method

• To make the syrup: put all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium heat.
• Once reached boiling, turn down slightly and cook for a further 10 minutes until it thickens slightly. Leave to one side to cool whilst making the filling and topping.
• To make the filling: take a few tablespoons of the oat milk and mix with the cornflour (cornstarch) until you get a paste (a slurry) and set aside.
• Put the rest of the milk, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan and bring to the boil on a medium heat.
• Once boiled, turn the heat down low and mix in the parev cream cheese and the cornflour slurry, stirring until you have a thickened consistency, similar to thick custard.
• Pour into the base of your cooking dish — in which you will also be serving in the knafeh. Heat your oven to 185°C (fan) - 190°C.
• In a separate bowl melt the parev butter. Shred up the pastry and pour over the melted butter, using your fingers to rub together to ensure that everything is well coated.
• Sprinkle this over the cheese mixture, approximately 1.5cm thick and bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the cheesy mixture is bubbling around the edges.
• As soon as the knafeh comes out of the oven, liberally drench with the syrup and serve warm.

@joanna­­_nissim