You may have noticed I got a new camera! So hopefully my photos will begin to look a little better. I got a bit carried away with this one and went rooting through my cupboards trying to find Middle Eastern style props. Hope it looks suitably exotic and makes you think of far off places as opposed to Dublin 16. Baklava is basically lots of thin filo pastry layered with chopped nuts and spices, then drenched with honey syrup. It’s crunchy, nutty and it’s a really nice alternative dessert . I like it served with creamy vanilla ice-cream and a strong dark bitter coffee. I based this recipe on Rachel Allen’s recipe but made a few tweaks. I have eaten some great baklava in my time, but I’ve also had some really sickly sweet versions that would melt your teeth. So I was interested in making one for myself. This recipe worked out really well and though it seems complicated, it’s not at all and it’s actually kind of therapeutic to make.
Here’s how:
– 300g of nuts (I used 100g of shelled, unsalted pistachios, 100g of blanched almonds, 100g of roasted hazelnuts.)
– 1 heaped tsp. of ground cinnamon powder
– 500g of filo pastry – they usually come in packs of 270g.
– 150g of butter melted
Syrup
– 300ml of water
– 350g of castor sugar
– 125ml of runny honey
– 1 stick of cinnamon or heaped teaspoon of ground
– Zest of one orange – I used a vegetable peeler to get large think slivers of zest
– 1 tsp. of cloves
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Chop the nuts roughly. You can either put them in the food processor on pulse mode. Or you can roughly chop them with a knife. Mix in the cinnamon with the chopped nuts and leave aside.
Take out your pastry sheets and cut them in half. They should now each be about 24 x 22cm. Make sure that you have a baking tin that the pastry fits into. Line the baking tin with greaseproof pastry. Begin by placing one sheet of pastry on the baking tray. With a pastry brush, lightly brush the sheet with melted butter. Add another sheet of pastry on top. Again brush this layer with melted butter. Repeat. Once you have completed six layers this way, add one third of your nut mixture on top. Make sure it is evenly spread on the pastry.
Then continue by adding another six layers of melted butter and pastry on top of that. Add another third of the nuts. Then add another six layers of butter and pastry. Add the final third of nuts and a final six layers of pastry. It’s a wee bit time consuming, but it’s worth it. Once you have finished this, cut the pastry into small squares or diamonds. Make sure you cut all the way through to the bottom. Then, place in the oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Reduce to 170 degrees Celsius if it looks like it might be burning.
Meanwhile, make the syrup, by heating the water, sugar, honey, spices and orange in a saucepan. Simmer all the ingredients for 15 minutes, allowing the liquid to reduce until it’s thick and syrupy.
Once the baklava has cooled for about ten minutes, pour the syrup over the whole pastry, letting it seep through all the cracks. Once cooled, serve with a palate knife. I like to serve mine with a dollop of crème fraiche or yoghurt. Or of course ice-cream.
What worked:
I didn’t expect people to like it so much. So that was a nice surprise.
What didn’t work:
I think I cut mine slightly too big and it’s really hard to cut once cooked, so do cut carefully before cooking.
