Halawat el Jibn (Sweet Cheese Rolls)
Halawat el Jibn is a superb Middle Eastern dessert full of savory flavors. Sweet cheese rolls with fine semolina and the perfect syrup decorated on top with pistachios! The perfect marriage of flavors!
Ingredients
- 1 cup semolina fine
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups fresh mozzarella
- 3 cups whole milk ricotta for the filling
- Simple syrup see below
- pistachios for garnish
Simple Syrup
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
- lemon juice a squeeze
Instructions
- Prepare the simple syrup and make sure it cools ahead of time. The recipe is below.
- Lay large pieces of plastic wrap on a table or flat surface. I suggest making the plastic 3 feet by 3 feet in length and width. This will help you spread the dough later on.
- Once the plastic wrap is down, drizzle 3 tablespoons of simple syrup all over the plastic. This will give the dessert some slight sweetness.
- In a pot, add the water and sugar and stir on high heat until the sugar melts and starts bubbling.
- Shred the fresh mozzarella into small pieces.
- Once the sugar and water mix is boiling, add the cheese and stir with a wooden spoon.
- Keep stirring and trying to break up the clumps until the cheese is melted.
- Once it's melted, add the fine semolina, and keep mixing.
- Add the orange blossom, making sure to continuously mix.
- While mixing, break up any cheese and semolina clumps. This ensures that you have a smooth and consistent "dough".
- At this point, hold your pot with one hand and using your other hand, mix the semolina and cheese dough vigorously, stretching the dough upwards and then pulling it back down. Repeat this process a few times, about 5 times, until your dough looks solid and is stretchy. As you continue vigorously mixing, the mixture should start forming into a dough- like consistency and should pull away from the edges of the pot. You should mix and stretch the spoon upwards to make it more malleable.
- Once done, remove the pot from the stove.
- Add the dough mixture to the plastic wrap. Drizzle 1 more tablespoon of simple syrup on top of the dough.
- Fold half of the plastic wrap on top of the cheese dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a rectangle. The thickness depends on what you prefer, however do not roll it paper thin.
- Cut off the uneven edges and add dollops of ricotta on a long edge of the dough.
- Roll twice like you would roll a cinnamon roll and cut again into a long log.
- Cut the log into a few smaller logs but not into small pieces. Add to a plate or tray and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Once refrigerated, cut into smaller pieces when it's serving time. Drizzle with a little bit of simple syrup and garnish with pistachios.
Notes
- Prepare the simple syrup and make sure it cools ahead of time.
- I suggest making the plastic 3 feet by 3 feet in length and width. This will help you spread the dough later on.
- Once the plastic wrap is down, drizzle 3 tablespoons of simple syrup all over the plastic. This will give the dessert some slight sweetness.
- While mixing, break up any cheese and semolina clumps. This ensures that you have a smooth and consistent "dough".
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!