Beautiful baklava.

I'm extremely excited about this post as it's something that has been on 'the list' for a long time. I have two main lists to do with food, the first is places I want to dine and the second, the more important obviously, is things I want to make and bake. Baklava has been pretty high up but always something I've not got round to making. Mostly because it's quite pricey to make when buying all the ingredients what with all the nuts and the filo pastry. 

On this lucky day I found myself owning most of the ingredients and so set myself to make it. I thought it would be labour intensive and a faff to make but really it was so simple and worth the little effort you do need. The flavours ended up tasting a bit Christmassy (which I love but some people don't) so maybe next time I would leave out the cinnamon from the nut mix. Also feel free to mix up the nuts you use depending on your own personal taste.

Serve with tea or coffee after a Middle Eastern or Turkish meal. Alternatively just gobble it up all by itself. 

Walnut, pecan and pistachio baklava

150g pistachio

75g pecan nuts

75g walnuts

150g light brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

22 sheets filo pastry (cut in to 25cmx15cm or to the size of your dish/tray) 

75g butter, melted

For the syrup

180g caster sugar 

180ml water

1/2 cinnamon stick

Zest and juice of half a lemon and orange

2tbsp or 30g dark honey. 

3 cloves

3 cardamom pods, crushed

1 1/2 tsp orange blossom water

Start by putting all the ingredients for the nut mix in to a food processor until blitzed finely with a few chunky bits. If you don't have a food processor then chop the nuts up as finely as you can and then mix with the sugar. 

Next cut the filo to shape and then cover with a damp cloth. This is important as filo pastry dries out very quickly. Then taking one sheet at a time, place in a lined tray and brush with the melted butter in between each layer. Do this until you have 6 sheets of buttered filo. Tip half of the nut mix on top and spread out so it's even and flat. Repeat the process again until you have 6 layers of filo and then top with the rest of the nuts. Press down and then continue with the pastry until you have 10 sheets on top.

 

Taking a sharp knife cut out squares, diamonds or rectangles in the top sheets.

Place in a preheated 180 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. 

While the baklava is baking, start making your syrup. Place all the ingredients in a small pan and boil until it reaches 108 degrees Celsius. The syrup will be thick and coat the back of a spoon easily. Keep it hot until ready to pour over the baklava but don't over boil or burn. It's best to reach the right stage just as the pastry is ready. 

When the baklava is out of the oven, take the sharp knife again and cut all the way through where you cut before. It's a little tricky as the top layers will be loose but just be careful and keep going. Once cut, pour the syrup over the top and leave to cool. When it is cooled fully, wrap and leave for at least 7 hours or overnight so the syrup has time to soak fully.