Baklava

Yesterday I decided to bake some tasty Baklava. As soon it started baking in the oven and the warm aroma of roasting cinnamon, cloves and nuts filled the house, I got extremely excited for our trip to Greece! If only we had more time to spend on the Grecian islands (and strangely enough, I got an autum-feeling (it must be the cinnamon)). At least we’ll now know which parts of Greece we’ll want to see when we go there again.

Well, here is the recipe (it is a mixture of a few recipes I found, but I usually improvise as I bake certain puddings):

For the baklava:

500g nuts (finely crushed) – walnut, macadamia s and cashews work best

250g butter (melted)

400g Phyllo pastry (atleast 12 sheets of pastry – you will need more depending on the size of your baking tray)

2 tablespoons honey

Cinnamon powder, to taste

Clove powder, to taste

Some olive oil

For the syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

100ml honey

5ml vanilla essence

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cloves

30ml lemon juice

2 tablespoons rose water

1.       For the syrup:

First make the syrup by dissolving the sugar in water over low heat. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the honey, lemon juice and vanilla essence and stir well. Add the cinnamon stick and cloves and leave to simmer over low heat for 20 – 30minutes while continuing with the Baklava filling.  

2.       For the Baklava filling:

Preheat the oven on 180°C. Roast the crushed nuts with some olive oil and add two table spoons of honey, mixing well. Add cinnamon and clove to taste (I prefer using a lot of cinnamon as this makes the filling tastier – don’t be afraid to use powdered clove, it adds a great taste).  Roast over low heat (for about 5 minutes), mixing the spices well into the nuts.

3.       Layer two sheets of phyllo pastry on a greased deep-baking tray. Generously brush the melted butter over the pastry. Add another two layers of pastry and brush more butter over the pastry. Layer another two sheets of pastry and brush some more butter over it. (Do not worry if the pastry sheets crumple – it adds texture when baked).  Add some of the roasted nuts. Layer a single sheet of pastry, brush some butter on the pastry sheet, add a second layer of nuts, layer another two sheets of pastry, generously brushing the melted butter between each sheet and continue until you use all the roasted nuts (I found that I can get three layers from 500g of nuts).  To finish the top layer of the baklava add two more sheets, generously brushing the remaining butter on both layers, especially the top layer. Cut the baklava into squares or diamond shapes, making sure you cut through to the bottom. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the baklava is golden brown.

4.       Once the baklava is in the oven, remove the syrup from the heat and add the rosewater, stirring well. Let the syrup cool. Once cooled down, remove the cloves and cinnamon stick.

5.       As soon as the baklava is removed from the oven, pour the cold syrup over the pastry and let cool.

6.       Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

What is your favourite dessert from a foreign country?