Baklava

Let me tell something. I now love Baklava thanks to it being made at home! Before I made Baklava myself I never really appreciated the effort that goes into making it and to be honest had no idea what real Baklava tasted like. I’ve only tasted Baklava that is so sweet it makes your mouth shiver. After my mom made the silly mistake of buying filo pastry instead of puff pastry I was faced with the challenge of putting the filo to good use. Turns out it wasn’t that much of a silly mistake after all.

You could say it’s cheating to buy ready-made filo pastry, but I’m simply using the service that the grocery stores offer. Besides who has the time to roll out paper-thin pieces of pastry?

What I love about baklava is how it is so crisp and sticky at the same time. It has an almost spongy nut filling that is brightened up with spices and orange zest. The pudding is drenched in homemade orange syrup which makes it sticky and chewy.

Baklava

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Baklava

• the zest of 2 oranges
• 300g ground almonds
• 100g pistachio nuts, crushed
• 100g castor sugar
• the seeds from one cardamom pod
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp rose-water/ vanilla extract
• 150g butter, melted
• 250g filo pastry

Orange Syrup:

• 200ml water
• the juice of 1 orange
• 250g castor sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. To make the filling combine the orange zest ground almonds, pistachio nuts, castor sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, and the rose-water/ vanilla extract in a bowl.

I used my Zyliss citrus zester to zest the orange

3. Using a kitchen brush, brush a 12 by 9 inch baking tin. Place your first layer of filo into the tin so that it covers all sides of the tin. Brush with butter and then place your second layer.

Continue until you have 4 layers, each with a brushing of melted butter in between.

4. Pour your filling into the tin and press down.

Pour a little butter onto the filling. Place a sheet of filo onto the filling. Brush with butter. Place the next layer and brush with butter. Continue until you have used up all of your filo sheets. Brush the top layer of with butter. Slice away any pastry that hangs over the edges of the tin. Using a very sharp knife (I used my Zyliss knife), cut diagonals lines across the baklava. Cut in the opposite direction to make diamonds.

5. Place in the oven and leave to bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

6. During this time you can prepare the orange syrup. Place the syrup ingredients into a saucepan over a medium heat. Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes until it has reduced and become syrupy. Stir occasionally.

7. Once the baklava is completely baked remove from the oven. Immediately pour the syrup over the baklava.

Leave to soak for a few minutes before serving.