Pistachio Kunafa Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes

1. For the chocolate cake, gather all the ingredients. Crush the Oreo biscuits to a powder, add a pinch of salt and work in warm milk a little at a time to make a batter, then mix in the baking powder and vinegar.
2. Grease a loose-bottomed tin and pour in a 1cm-thick layer of the batter.
3. Bake in an oven preheated to 160C for 7 to 8 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean, then cool on a wire rack.
4. For the homemade pistachio paste, gather all the ingredients. Melt the white chocolate slightly over a double boiler (so the blender blade doesn't break). Coarsely grind the pistachios in a mixer, then add the condensed milk.
5. Add the just-warmed, slightly melted white chocolate and a splash of milk if needed, and blend to a smooth paste (stir in a little green food colour if you like).
6. For the kunafa, heat the ghee in a kadhai and roast the sevaiyya over low heat, stirring, until it smells pleasantly toasted, then cool. Stir in the homemade pistachio paste and combine well.
7. Spread a 2cm layer of the kunafa over the cooled chocolate cake.
8. Melt the dark chocolate with the strained malai to make a ganache, let it cool, then pour it over the kunafa layer.
9. Scatter with chopped pistachios and silver balls, then chill for 2 to 3 hours before unmoulding.
10. The same method makes kunafa cupcakes. Slice and enjoy.

Tips from the ZestyPlate Kitchen

• Toast the kunafa (sevaiyya) gently in ghee until golden and fragrant; this is where the crunch comes from.
• Warm the white chocolate carefully for the pistachio paste so it blends smooth instead of seizing.
• Cool each layer before you add the next, so they stay defined and set cleanly.
• Give it the full 2 to 3 hours in the fridge before unmoulding, which lets it slice tidily.