tits gooey-sweet family of nutty pastries has its origins in the layered filo desserts of medieval Central Asia, which, combined with the Arab tradition of soaking pastries in syrup, produced the baklava known and loved today from Uzbekistan to northern Japan. Africa. Often found in huge, golden bowls on the counter of hometown bakeries, it’s also surprisingly easy to make at home.
Preparation 30 minutes
Cook 65 minutes
makes 1 tray, at 8-10 . to feeddepending on appetite
250 g butter
300 g walnut pieces
75 g pistachio kernels
125 g ground almonds
Zest of 1 orange
A good pinch of salt (optional)
1 tsp ground cardamom seeds (about 15 pods)
12 sheets of filo dough (2 x 270g packs)
250 g granulated sugar or caster sugar
Juice of ½ lemon
1 tbsp orange blossom wateror to taste
1 A word about the philosophy
I say surprisingly simple, but I can’t advise you to make your own phyllo dough. I tried a recipe for the stuff used in baklava and it requires more patience and finesse than I possess. However, if you want to give it a try, you can find many recipes online, or in Arto Der Haroutunian’s classic book. Middle Eastern sweets and desserts†
2 And on the nuts
While I’ve recommended my favorite combination below, you can pretty much use any nuts you like and can afford; pistachios, while delicious, are particularly expensive, while walnuts on their own can be too bitter for some taste buds. As long as you are about the same weight feel free to adjust.
3 Start filling
Once you have your store-bought or homemade phyllo dough and have chosen the nuts, you can start on the filling. Melt the butter. Grind or roughly chop the walnuts until you have a coarse rubble (if using a food processor, be careful they don’t turn into nut butter). Cut the pistachios into thin strips – these give crispness and color to the finished pastry.
4 Finish the filling
Combine the walnuts, pistachios and ground almonds in a bowl, then mix in the orange zest (scrub the orange well before grating the zest), salt (optional, but recommended, or the baklava can become overwhelmingly sweet), ground cardamom ( if you’re not a fan of cardamom, omit it and replace with cinnamon to taste) and five tablespoons (75 ml) of melted butter.
5 Grease the mold and cover with filo pastry
Preheat oven to 180C (160C Fan)/350F/Gas 4. Generously brush an approximately 12″ x 12″ baking pan with some of the remaining melted butter. Place the filo pastry on a work surface and make sure the nut mixture is within reach. Line the tin with a sheet of phyllo, brush with melted butter and repeat with five more sheets, buttering as you go.
6 Add the filling and cover with more filo dough
Spoon the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo, making sure it’s packed quite tightly without pressing it too tightly. Cover with remaining filo dough, brush each sheet again with butter before adding the next. Be extra generous with the butter on the top layer.
7 Cut into diamonds and bake
Cut through the phyllo layers with a sharp knife, filling parallel lines about 4 cm apart, then repeat on the diagonal so that the dough is divided into diamond shapes. Bake for about an hour, until the top is richly golden, turning the baklava halfway through so that it colors evenly.
8 Make the syrup
Meanwhile, put the sugar and lemon juice in a pan with 125 ml water. Bring to a boil, stir to dissolve sugar and simmer for about 10 minutes until syrupy. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then stir in orange blossom water to taste (brands vary greatly in strength, so add a little at a time).
9 Soak in syrup, bake again, then cool
Remove the baklava from the oven and increase the heat to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Pour the syrup over the top of the baklava, especially along the pre-cut lines, and return to the oven for five minutes. Let cool completely, then run a knife along the lines to loosen them before attempting to lift the pieces out of the tin.
