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Syrian halawet el jibn cheese rolls coated in syrup and scattered with pistachios
Prep35 min
Cook25 min
Serves6 servings
CuisineSyrian
Middle East

Halawet el Jibn: Syrian Cheese Rolls Filled with Ashta Cream

Halawet el jibn is a chilled Syrian sweet: a semolina-and-cheese dough rolled thin around thick cream. Learn cheese substitutes, flower water, syrup consistency, rolling without tearing, storage and fixes for common mistakes.

Total: 2 hrLevel: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 7

Cook the syrup and cool it

8 min

Fine bubbles in a small pot of syrup, checking its consistency with a spoon
Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cook briefly on low. Stop around 103°C and add the flower water after it cools

Put 220 g sugar, 160 ml water and 1 tsp lemon juice in a small pot over medium heat. When it bubbles, drop to low heat and cook for 2–3 minutes to a light syrup of 103–105°C. The sign is that the large bubbles have turned fine and the syrup runs off a spoon just slightly slower than water. Turn off the heat, and once it cools to 60°C or below, stir in 2 tsp orange blossom water and 1 tsp rose water. Adding flower water while it is hot drives off the aroma, so cooling first matters.

STEP 22 / 7

Set the ashta-style cream

12 min

Stirring white ashta-style cream with a spatula in a small pot and checking that a streak remains on the bottom
Scrape the bottom over medium-low heat until the spatula leaves a streak. Chilled, it reaches a rollable firmness

Put 300 ml milk, 100 ml heavy cream, 18 g cornstarch and 15 g sugar in a pot and whisk well to dissolve before turning on the heat. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring and scraping the bottom, for 6–8 minutes. Past 70°C it suddenly turns heavy, and a line drawn across the bottom of the pot with a spatula stays for 1 second. Tear 20 g of the white part of the bread finely, add it and stir for 1 more minute until smooth. Turn off the heat, and once it has cooled slightly, stir in 1 tsp orange blossom water, spread it in a shallow container and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

STEP 33 / 7

Knead the cheese dough

10 min

Semolina and cheese dough stretching on a wooden spoon in the pot
Knead over low heat until the cheese melts and stretches when lifted with the spoon

In a separate heavy pot, put 180 ml water, 35 g sugar and 120 g fine semolina, and stir constantly over medium-low heat. When it turns into a white, heavy porridge in about 3 minutes, lower the heat and add 250 g low-moisture shredded mozzarella and 60 g cream cheese. Work it by pressing with a wooden spoon at 70–80°C until the cheese melts completely into a single stretchy mass. If a browning color appears on the bottom, take it off the heat for 10 seconds, and at the end stir in 1 tsp orange blossom water and 10 g unsalted butter.

STEP 44 / 7

Roll it thin while still warm

7 min

Rolling the cheese-and-semolina dough thin with a rolling pin on a syrup-brushed surface
Roll to about 3 mm while the dough is warm. Shape it into a rectangle before it cools

Brush 2 tsp syrup thinly on the work surface or a large cutting board and place the cheese dough on it. Brush 1 tsp syrup on top, and with a rolling pin roll it into a rectangle 3 mm thick, about 35 cm wide and about 28 cm tall. This step uses no heat, but the dough tears easily once it cools. It rolls best right after it cools to a temperature you can touch, so if an edge tears, push it back with your fingers and spread it little by little from the center outward. Thick areas leave steps when rolled, so aim for the same thinness out to all four corners.

STEP 55 / 7

Place the cream and roll

8 min

Placing a band of white cream on the thinly rolled cheese dough and rolling from the front
Make the cream a band 3 cm wide, roll 1.5 to 2 turns and cut free

Lightly stir the chilled ashta-style cream and place it in a band 3 cm wide, 2 cm in from the front of the long edge. A spoon or a piping bag both work, but an even thickness gives a stable cut surface. Lift the front of the dough to wrap the cream, and after 1.5 to 2 turns, lay a knife flat to cut it free. Put the seam side down and brush only 1 tsp syrup on the surface to prevent drying. Too much cream gets pushed out from the sides after chilling, so any extra is better served on the side of the plate.

STEP 66 / 7

Chill and slice

45 min

Slicing the chilled halawet el jibn roll with a knife and scattering pistachios
Let it settle 45 minutes in the refrigerator and cut while wetting and wiping the knife

Move the rolls to a tray, cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Once cold, the cheese dough settles and the cream is less likely to run when you cut. Wet the knife and wipe it, then cut into pieces 5–6 cm wide. Wiping the blade after each piece keeps the white lines of cream from smearing. On a hot day, return the rest to the refrigerator after cutting half, and finish just before bringing it to the table to keep its shape.

STEP 77 / 7

Finish with syrup and pistachios

5 min

Cut halawet el jibn arranged on a plate and finished with pistachios and syrup
Drizzle cold syrup in a thin stream, scatter chopped pistachios and bring it to the table

Arrange the pieces in the center of a plate with the cut sides slightly up, leaving about 1 cm between them, and drizzle about 50 ml of cold syrup in a thin stream over all. Chop 40 g pistachios coarsely to 2–3 mm and scatter them over the surface and onto the empty space of the plate, serving extra syrup on the side if you like. No heat is used here. Finish just before eating, and the surface is glossy, the cheese dough stays chewy even when chilled, and the cream stays light rather than heavy. If someone wants less sweetness, drizzle only 30 ml of syrup over the plate and serve the rest in a small bowl.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 3

Syrup

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Granulated sugar 220 g Caster or white sugar also works, but granulated is easy to handle and keeps the aroma light
Water 160 ml Measure first so you don't over-reduce
Lemon juice 1 tsp Prevents crystallization and tightens the sweetness slightly
Orange blossom water 2 tsp Add after the syrup has cooled slightly off the heat
Rose water 1 tsp If you don't have it, use 1 tsp more orange blossom water
2 / 3

Ashta-style cream

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Whole milk 300 ml Plain, unadjusted milk is easiest
Heavy cream 100 ml About 35 percent butterfat
Cornstarch 18 g Dissolve in the milk first to prevent lumps
Granulated sugar 15 g For a cream that isn't too sweet
Orange blossom water 1 tsp Add just before it cools
White part of sandwich bread 20 g Tear finely. A home trick for a richer mouthfeel
3 / 3

Cheese dough and finishing

Ingredient Amount Substitutes & notes
Fine semolina 120 g Coarse semolina tears easily when rolled
Water 180 ml For the dough
Granulated sugar 35 g Supports the sweetness of the dough
Low-moisture shredded mozzarella 250 g Blot with paper towels if it is wet
Cream cheese 60 g Makes up for the one-note character of mozzarella alone
Unsalted butter 10 g Helps the dough work smoothly on the surface where you roll it
Orange blossom water 1 tsp Added at the end of the dough
Chopped pistachios 40 g Unsalted. Chop just before using if possible
Syrup for finishing 50 ml A little at a time just before eating
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Cut into a chilled white roll, and the scent of flowers rises

Halawet el jibn, written حلاوة الجبن in Arabic, is a Syrian cheese sweet. Fine semolina and a melting white cheese are worked together in a pot, rolled out thin while still warm, and wrapped around a thick cream called ashta. It is finished with cold syrup, chopped pistachios and the scent of orange blossom or rose water. Cut it with a fork and white cream appears inside the chewy, stretchy dough.

It is most often described as a sweet of Hama and Homs in Syria, and you also find it in Lebanon, Turkey and in pastry shops in the diaspora. It uses ingredients close to those in knafeh, which is eaten piping hot, but halawet el jibn is a rolled sweet served cold. Compared with barazek (in Japanese), another Syrian sweet that leans on the toasty flavor of sesame, here the star is the elasticity of the cheese and the scent of flower water.

The hard parts of making it outside Syria are that local cheeses such as akkawi and majdouli are hard to find, how to approximate ashta, and how to roll the dough without tearing it. This recipe uses easy-to-find mozzarella and cream cheese, paired with an ashta-style cream made from milk, heavy cream and cornstarch. The sweetness is a little lower than in a Syrian pastry shop, but the flower water and pistachios stay, to preserve the outline of a Syrian sweet.

About the name

The English spelling varies: Halawet el Jibn, Halawet el Jeben, Halawet el-Jibn and so on. The literal meaning is close to "sweetness of the cheese."

Bringing a Syrian cheese sweet into a home kitchen

This sweet has three parts: a cold, fragrant syrup, the ashta rolled inside, and a stretchy dough of semolina and cheese. Replace any one of them with a Western-dessert habit, and even if it looks similar, the impression when you eat it changes.

Part The local backbone A realistic home approach
Syrup Sugar, water, lemon, rose water or orange blossom water Cook lightly to about 103°C and add the flower water after turning off the heat
Ashta Thick, high-butterfat cream, or a milk-set pastry cream Set milk, heavy cream and cornstarch, and chill to a firmness that can be rolled
Cheese dough White cheeses such as akkawi or majdouli with fine semolina Add cream cheese to low-moisture shredded mozzarella and develop elasticity over low heat
Aroma Flower water, pistachios, cold syrup Don't overdo the fragrance; add a little syrup just before eating

Where you draw the line on substitutes matters. Mozzarella can approximate the cheese, but don't swap the semolina for cake flour. The grains of semolina give the cheese dough its frame, so it doesn't turn sticky or tear even when rolled thin. Ashta can be approximated with mascarpone alone, but without the cooked-milk aroma it loses some of its Middle Eastern character. If you have time, the ashta-style cream in this recipe brings you closer to the lingering finish.

Ingredients (serves 6)

Ingredients for halawet el jibn: semolina, mozzarella, milk, heavy cream, pistachios and flower water laid out in a kitchen
Ordinary dairy plus semolina and flower water gives the sweet its Syrian outline
Allergy information

This recipe uses dairy, wheat and nuts. Semolina is derived from wheat. Even if you leave out the pistachios, cheese and dairy are the main ingredients, so if you have a dairy allergy, choose a different sweet.

Ingredients and tools worth thinking about

Milk, heavy cream, mozzarella and cream cheese are easy to find at an ordinary supermarket. What's worth looking for in specialty shops or online isn't the everyday dairy but the flower water, a way to judge temperature, and a tool for chopping pistachios evenly. On the first try in particular, judging the syrup and the cheese dough by feel alone makes over-reducing and under-kneading likely.

Orange blossom water also gets reused in knafeh and basbousa. Since you use it by the teaspoon, rather than hunting for a cheap large bottle, it wastes less to keep one bottle that is easy to use in food.

Stop the syrup at "slightly thickened." With a thermometer it is easier to stop before 103–105°C, and you can also feel the cheese dough suddenly come together once it passes the 70s°C.

Pistachios can be chopped with a knife, but large pieces roll off the surface and pieces that are too fine release oil. If you keep making Middle Eastern sweets, a small food processor that chops nuts to a uniform coarse size can also serve for barazek (in Japanese).

Method: roll while the dough is warm, then chill and cut

Halawet el jibn is not a sweet to eat with the heat of freshly made. You roll it out thin while it is warm, roll it up, then chill it to settle. If you make the syrup and cream first and cool them, you can move to rolling the moment the cheese dough is ready.

Causes of failure and how to fix them

What goes wrong most often with halawet el jibn is the state of the dough rather than the sweetness. If the cheese dough is loose, it can't be rolled; if it is stiff, it tears. Syrup that is too thick sticks to the teeth, and syrup that is too thin leaves only the fragrance running off. On your first try, don't aim for perfect thinness; prioritize a dough that can be rolled.

Problem Main cause Fix
The dough is sticky and can't be rolled Semolina not cooked enough, cheese too wet Return to low heat and knead 1 minute. If still loose, add 1 tsp fine semolina
The dough cracks Too cool, uneven thickness, semolina too coarse Roll while warm and push torn areas back with your fingers. Use fine semolina next time
The cheese turns oily and separates Heated over high heat, nearly scorched on the bottom Take off the heat and stir for 10 seconds, then return to low heat. Don't boil
The cream runs Ashta-style cream under-cooked or under-chilled Cook until a streak remains on the bottom and chill at least 30 minutes
The syrup turns back into sugar Too little lemon, over-stirring, over-reducing Add the lemon juice and don't stir hard once it starts to boil. Stop around 103°C
The aroma is too strong Flower water added while hot, too much Add after cooling off the heat, and stick to teaspoon amounts the first time

"Any mozzarella is the same" is not true. Fresh mozzarella with a lot of water is quite hard to handle at home. If you use it, choose a low-moisture shredded or block type, and if you can see water in the bag, blot it with paper towels before putting it in the pot. If you want some saltiness in the cheese dough, adding a little cream cheese does less damage to the aroma than moving toward sliced or processed cheese.

Serving, storage and making ahead

The easiest serving temperature is about 5–10 minutes out of the refrigerator. Too cold and the cheese dough tightens; too long at room temperature and the cream softens. Strong black tea, unsweetened coffee or Arabic coffee with cardamom go well with it. Serving about 2 pieces per person after a meal keeps the sweetness from getting too heavy.

State Storage When eating
Same day Refrigerate the rolls before finishing Cut just before eating and add syrup and pistachios
Next day Airtight container in the refrigerator The surface dries, so add the syrup just before eating
Day 2 Eat soon, refrigerated Serve before the aroma of the cream fades
Freezing Not recommended Thawing makes the cream watery and weakens the dough's elasticity

If you're planning what to serve alongside, it fits after salty, tangy Levantine dishes. Line up hummus, falafel and tabbouleh, and finish with a small serving of cold halawet el jibn, and the dairy sweetness cleanly rounds off the meal. To compare Middle Eastern sweets, make the hot cheese sweet knafeh and the syrup-soaked semolina cake basbousa on separate days, and the differences become clear.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make it with mozzarella alone?

Yes. With low-moisture mozzarella alone you get stretch, but the flavor tends to be one-note. This recipe adds 60 g cream cheese to supply dairy richness and a light tang. Fresh mozzarella has a lot of water, so even at the stated amounts the dough tends to turn loose, and I don't recommend it the first time.

Can I use mascarpone instead of ashta?

Yes. If you're in a hurry, mix 250 g mascarpone with 2 tbsp heavy cream, 1/2 tsp orange blossom water and 2 tsp sugar, and it will roll. But without the cooked-milk aroma it leans more toward a Western dessert than the ashta-style cream in the recipe. If you prioritize a clean cut surface for guests, choose mascarpone; if you want to move toward the local dairy aroma, the cream made in a pot is better.

Is it fine without rose water?

Yes. With orange blossom water alone it still comes together as halawet el jibn. Conversely, putting a lot of both flower waters makes the aroma too strong. On the first try, make orange blossom water the lead and keep rose water to 1 tsp or less, and the aroma is easy to eat even in a home kitchen.

What do I use if I can't find semolina?

It's better not to substitute cake flour or bread flour. The elasticity and slightly grainy mouthfeel of the dough change, and only the stretch of the cheese comes to the front. When you look, choose "fine semolina" or "durum semolina." If you only find coarse, crush it lightly in a food processor before using, and it will tear less.

Can I make it the day before?

Yes. Go as far as rolling it up, then seal and refrigerate. Do the slicing, syrup and pistachios just before eating. If you add syrup the day before, the surface loosens and the cream looks watery. For guests, make the rolls and syrup separately the day before, and on the day you only cut and finish, which is more stable.

Sources

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