Halawet el-Jibn

About This Recipe

Halawet el-Jibn — the sweetness of cheese — is one of the Levant's most surprising desserts: a smooth, stretchy dough made by melting mild white cheese into semolina and syrup, rolled out thin while warm, filled with thick ashta cream, and sliced into elegant pinwheels drenched in rose and orange-blossom syrup. The result confounds first-timers — chewy yet silky, dairy-rich yet floral, somewhere between pastry and confection. The craft is all in the dough stage: the cheese must melt fully and be worked with the semolina until glossy and elastic, then rolled immediately, because it stiffens as it cools. Made well, it is among the most refined sweets on the Lebanese table, served cool with crushed pistachios and extra syrup.

Ingredients

Serves 10

• 500 gakkawi cheese, desalted and crumbled
• 1 cupfine semolina
• 1/4 cupsugar
• 1 cupwater
• 1 cupqishta (thick cream) or clotted cream
• 2 cupssimple syrup with rose water
• 1/4 cupcrushed pistachios

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook dough

   Bring the water and sugar to a simmer in a wide non-stick pan, then add the desalted, crumbled cheese and stir over medium heat until it melts completely into a stretchy mass. Rain in the semolina while stirring vigorously and keep working the dough for about 5 minutes, folding and pressing, until it is smooth, glossy, and pulls away from the pan in one elastic piece.

   Any unmelted cheese lumps now become lumps forever — stir until the mixture is perfectly uniform before adding semolina.

2. 2

   Roll

   Turn the hot dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap or a syrup-brushed surface, cover with a second sheet, and roll it out to about 3–4 mm thick while still warm and pliable — it stiffens quickly as it cools. Peel off the top sheet and spread or pipe a line of ashta cream along the dough.

   Brush your rolling pin and surface with a little of the syrup to stop sticking without flour.

3. 3

   Roll and slice

   Using the plastic wrap to help, roll the dough snugly around the cream into an even log about 4 cm thick, sealing the seam underneath. Let the log set for 10 minutes, then slice it into 3 cm rounds with a sharp knife wiped clean between cuts, so each pinwheel shows a neat spiral of cream.

4. 4

   Serve

   Arrange the slices on a platter, douse generously with the cold rose water syrup, and scatter crushed pistachios over the top. Some cooks add candied orange-blossom petals. Serve cool or at room temperature with extra syrup on the side — never hot, as chilling sets the texture.

Variations

• •

  Flat presentation: spread the dough in a layer, top with ashta, and roll loosely or fold rather than slicing — the casual home style.

• •

  Mozzarella version: use fresh mozzarella (drained well) with a squeeze of lemon in the dough where akkawi is unavailable.

• •

  Pistachio cream filling: blend ground pistachios into the ashta for a green-hearted luxury version.

• •

  Mini rolls: cut the rolled sheet into squares and roll individual bite-sized cylinders for a party platter.

Storage

Keep refrigerated, covered, with the syrup spooned over for up to 2 days — the dough firms when cold, so let slices sit 15 minutes at room temperature before serving. It does not freeze well; the cheese dough turns grainy on thawing.

Frequently Asked Questions