Sunday, February 7, 2010

How'd they do that?

Last week when I was putting together my Citrus Dim Sum, I had planned to do a dessert to complete my red snapper dinner. In my research I had come across a dessert that had intrigued me. It was a goat cheesecake pastry from a 2007 NY sweet shop review by the Wandering Eater. It's beautiful and seemingly simple. A mini cheesecake in a nest of kaitfi. Well...not really that simple. There was no recipe to help me out. I was on my own.

Finding the kataifi (shredded phyllo dough) was simple.
The Greek deli down the street had exactly what I needed. Just defrost and peel off what you need. You make the nests by mixing the shreds with a little melted butter and then mold into the bottom of muffin cups. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes and you've got nests.Except that these nests seem a little short. The little mini cheesecakes sit like top hats on these flat little nests.But how to get deeper nests? I had just the thing. A popover pan. The individual cups are deeper and wider than the muffin pan cups. Another batch was soon cooling on the counter.Getting there, not as pretty as the restaurant's neat, little cheesecake but it's getting there.

6 comments:

Making Space said...

Wow - sooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!

Spiced candied kumquats? Amazing!

How do you eat those, are they finger food?

Incredibly gorgeous photos.

LaDivaCucina said...

Wow, very nice Sham! Kind of like my noodle cake, a little nest of crunchy goodness. Can I have one for breakfast with my coffee? Right now? Please? Diva very tired of cooking...

Dani said...

They're so pretty Sham! Great job.

laura said...

How gorgeous! It doesn't look like you needed a recipe!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

What a lovely little treat. I wish I could grab one and take a bite.

Big Shamu said...

Thanks everyone for the great comments. My brain is still mulling over the best way to make these but I do have to say they taste pretty good.