Baklava question & recipe

[Phteven]

Do you pour your sauce on while it is hot or wait for it to cool down?

And how do you wait until it has soaked in before you eat it? I'm not sure I have that kind of will power.

[Netix]

Never made it, but do know you pour the syrup on hot.

[Phteven]

I did that because I'm impatient. It sizzled! Sizzling always makes me feel happy

[RhiChiChi]

Yum! I just had a couple of pieces that were left over from new Years

[Maruschke]

Soooo yummy . Enjoy.

[Netix]

I did that because I'm impatient. It sizzled! Sizzling always makes me feel happy

Mmm.... Sizzling....

[Olive]

Yum yum yum!!

[Glamourcide]

Syrup goes on while everything's warm, then you're *supposed* to leave it sit for a minimum of 1 hour to allow the syrup to get in there properly I know it's tough... I know. You've just inspired me to go get all the stuff to make it tomorrow... mmmmm!

[Rouge]

Yep hot syrup. Definitely. I haven't made baklava since home ec class. But it left an impression, what can I say.

[NaeNae]

onyx - this is my all time fav sweet treat ....... can I please trouble you for the recipe please ??

[Phteven]

The layering and nut chopping is kind of time consuming but it's actually super easy to make.

Ingredients

448 g filo dough (I bought it from the cold section of the supermarket instead of making it but it does have 220 in it)
455 g chopped nuts (I used pistachio and walnuts)
225 g butter (this was way too much - I used the leftover for white sauce today and still have heaps left. I would say 100g is plenty)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I also added 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom)
235 ml water (1 cup)
200 g white sugar (1 cup) (I used raw because that's what I had)
5 ml vanilla extract (DH doesn't like vanilla so I used cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick)
120 ml honey

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.
Unroll filo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan (I didn't cut -the length was a perfect fir and I folded the width). Cover filo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.

Melt butter.

Place one sheet of dough in pan, brush butter on with pastry brush. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Make syrup while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted (I boiled with about 8 cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick). Add honey (and vanilla if you use it). Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon syrup over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers (as if -we ate it from the pan). This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

If you use too much butter it will be soggy so a pastry brush is good for spreading the butter. I let my DS paint the sheets and finished each sheet myself because he didn't really get it even.
It doesn't matter if the filo gets a bit wrinkly - it will just add crunch.
One recipe I read said to cut down to the bottom layer of pastry and then cut through that after the sauce has sunk in. I just cut all the way because I couldn't really tell where the bottom layer was.
I used a bit more cinnamon than the recipe said because I figured I may as well finish the bottle.
If you chop the nuts too fine they will be oily so I cut by hand instead of using a food processer but you could just give them a whizz.
I didn't measure the honey - just used a generous desertspoon.
I also squeezed about half a lemon into the syrup because that stops it from going hard and setting.

[dantri]

Oooooooooo I'm in heaven just thinking about this. BB is bringing back awesome memories for me at the moment. The travel threads and now memories of eating my own weight in fresh baklava daily in Istanbul. I seriously lived off the stuff lol.

Damn I'm going to have to make some. It is seriously the yummiest sweets ever!


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[MistyFying]

Can you believe I've never made it before? I've been a great consumer of it though you've inspired me to try to make it.

[Tegam]

I'm going to try this. I had no idea it was so easy. Mmm maybe ill wait til ive lost the Xmas bulge first hehe