Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes

Name: Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes
Prep time: 16 min
Cook time: 29 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Saudi Arabian
Ingredients: 6 tablespoons White Chocolate; 1 cup Unsalted Pistachio; 3 tablespoons Condensed Milk; 5 tablespoons Milk; 25 Oreo Cream Biscuits; 1/2 cup Milk; 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder; 1/2 teaspoon Vinegar; 1 pinch Salt; 150g Sevaiiya; 1 tablespoon Ghee; 120ml Dark Chocolate; 4 tablespoons Malai

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Dessert recipe with Saudi Arabian flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 70 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 45 min total

6 tablespoons White Chocolate
1 cup Unsalted Pistachio
3 tablespoons Condensed Milk
5 tablespoons Milk
25 Oreo Cream Biscuits
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Vinegar
1 pinch Salt
150g Sevaiiya
1 tablespoon Ghee
120ml Dark Chocolate
4 tablespoons Malai

Step-by-step instructions

For Chocolate Cake:Ready all the ingredients. Powder the oreo biscuits, pinch salt and mix warm milk as needed and make a cake batter. Add in baking powder and vinegar and mix.
Grease a loose bottomed tin. Pour a 1cm thick layer of the batter.
Bake in a preheated oven @160°C for 7-8 minutes or until the knife comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
For Homemade Pistachio Paste:Ready all the pistachio paste ingredients. Slightly melt white chocolate on a double boiler.(else the mixer blade may break) Coarsely powder the pistachio in mixer. Add in condensed milk.
Add in slightly warmed and slightly melted white chocolate and milk as required and crush to a smooth paste.(Green food colour can be add. I haven't.) 6 For Kunafa: In a kadhaai take ghee and roast the sevaiiya on slow gas. Keep stirring until a pleasant roasted aroma releases. Cool it. Add in the Homemade pistachio paste.Mix well.
Lip smacking Kunafa is ready. Spread a 2 cm layer on the cooled chocolate cake.
Melt dark chocolate and strained malai and prepare the chocolate ganache. Cool and pour on the Kunafa layer.
Garnish Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake with chopped pistachio and silver balls. Keep in fridge for 2-3 hours. Then unmould the Kunafa Cake.
I also prepared Kunafa cupcakes. Cut and enjoy. The cake looked so pretty that we could either save it or have it!! ☺ 11 Cross sectional view of the Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake.
Enjoy with a new sweet delicacy this festive season with family and friends.

Why this works on a weeknight

Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes lands at about 45 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sweet Finishes collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍮 Sweet Finishes Dessert Saudi Arabian