Halawet el Jibn

Method

1. Cut 100 g of akkawi cheese into 1 cm slices and soak in a bowl of cold water for 2 hours, changing the water three times, to draw out the salt. Taste a corner: it should be barely salty. Drain well, pat dry and coarsely grate.
2. Make the attar: bring 50 g of sugar and 40 ml of water to the boil in a small pan, simmer 5 minutes without stirring, then take off the heat and add 0.5 tsp of lemon juice and 0.5 tsp of rose water. Leave to cool completely — the syrup must be cold when it meets the hot dough.
3. In a small nonstick pan over low heat, dissolve 30 g of caster sugar in 60 ml of water. Rain in 30 g of fine semolina and stir constantly with a silicone spatula for 3 minutes until it thickens to a smooth paste with no dry grains.