Thursday, October 21, 2010

Baklava

Baklava is a delicious phyllo pastry popular in Middle Eastern countries. Its supposed origins are Turkish, dating to the Byzantine Empire (or even further), though many cultures claim it for their own. Many Greek and Lebanese restaurants do serve this. Baklava is usually layer with crispy phyllo dough alternate with sugary spiced nut mixture, and the whole thing is then soaked in fragrant sweet syrup made with honey, lemon and cinnamon.




The baklava I made is a bit different from the traditional kind. Instead of the layering kind I made it into rolls and didn’t bath it with sugar syrup or honey. I cut down the amount of sugar in the filling and replace it with some dried apricots. Making this is a bit time consuming and handling the tissue paper-thin phyllo dough can be tricky at times as they break easily. But the end results were all worthwhile. You will be rewarded with exotic, flaky, crunchy, sweet and decadent dessert.If you can get phyllo dough do try this out as I am sure you are going to love it as much as we do.


Ingredients:

½ cup toasted almonds
1 cup toasted walnuts
½ cup chopped dried apricots
3 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp honey
Zest of one orange
Juice of half orange or more

18 sheets of phyllo dough
1 ½ stick/3/4 cup tbsp of melted butter

1. Place all the ingredients except the phyllo dough and melted butter in the food processor. Run the machine until the mixture is finely chopped, sticky and comes together in a ball. If it is too dry add a bit more orange juice. Set it aside while you prepare the dough.
2. On a dry work surface place 1 sheet of phyllo. Using a pastry brush, lightly cover the entire sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Cover the first sheet with a second sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Continue until there is a stack of 6 sheets of phyllo.

3. Cut the stacked phyllo rectangle into 6 equal pieces and then cut each strip into two. You will get 12 equal pieces all together.  Put about 1 tbsp of filling at one end of the pastry strip and then roll it up. Continue doing the same to the rest of the pastry.

4. Brush each roll with some melted butter and bake in a pre-heated 375 degree F oven until lightly brown.
5. Remove the baklava and let it cool on a wire rack before serving.

39 comments:

hana said...

sedapnya baklava... aritu beli jugak baklava pistachio sbb teringin sangat nak makan.. hihi

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

this is new to me, it look very similar to a spring roll.

Aunty Liew said...

The filling seems so yummy to me!
Nice dish!

Zurin said...

beautifully Made!

Joyti said...

The baklava looks delicious. And I like that you formed spring-roll shapes instead of the standard diamond-ish ones...seems easier to eat.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

I believe I will like this... the lightness of the phyllo pastry and the exotic flavours of the filling...

ijayuji said...

hi gert! 1st time i makan baklava terussssss jatuh cinta! sedap betullah! drooling tgk ur giant baklava :D

Shereen said...

Gert,
I Baklava hantu!!!!I've tried all sort of recipes and to me semua sedap..hahahaha.I have 2 kilos of pistachios from Bahrain but I saja takmo buat as my tummy looks as though I'm 5 months pregnant...side effects of my makan holiday in Malaysia!!

pigpigscorner said...

I like how you cut down on the sugar as I often find baklava very very sweet.

Bakericious said...

looks like popiah, sound delicious too.

My Little Space said...

I like the way you roll them, Gert. Normally, baklava is done by stacking them or layering them. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
Kristy

ReeseKitchen said...

I have no idea what is this but it do looks delicious. And it's a great dessert to serve during parties or gathering but it really takes a lot of time. Thanks for sharing this...:)

Kana said...

I like the spring roll stuff, looks neat.

WendyinKK said...

I've always wanted to try out baklava,but was very very scared with the amount of sugar used.
I think this is a very nice improvisation.
Thanks!!!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

There was a time that I love eating this sweet delicious desert. I guess it was after I returned from my trip to Greece. I noticed you didn't add pistachios in the nut mixture...isn't it the key ingredient? But I think it still looks really good ...crunchy light outside and sweet nutty filly, yum!

Anonymous said...

I made mine and after baking and cool dip in melted chocolate at both end. My child like pecan nut which is what I use in recipe.

I also made some roll and cut it and baked it.


Ann

Unknown said...

Delish, I had some yesterday stuffed with a pistachio cream..

Zoe said...

I love baklava...would make some for my family. Thanks for sharing :D

Blissmade Designs said...

I love Baklava! I will have to try your version!

Anonymous said...

hello there.
I love your blog.
your baklava looks delicious!
I've not made these for a while by looking at yours, I'll probably make them again next week.
I did too cut down on the sugar and I baked them in muffin cups.
Keep on cooking and sharing!
Thanks

Your #1 Fan said...

Yay for less sweet baklava! They look delicious! Thanks for sharing.

Pretty. Good. Food. said...

Uh oh, this means trouble!!! If I make these, I'm afraid I will eat every single one of them!!!! :)

Michigan Food Blog said...

love baklawa fingers. i try to stay away

ann low said...

Mmm..look so good for an afternoon tea.

Cherine said...

beautifully made!

Magdalena said...

Grate baklava. Looks yummy. Once I've made it, including sheets. And it was a hard job. At this point I am only going to eat it! :)However, according some sources, baklava origins from ancient Persia. Regards, Magdalena

Beachlover's Kitchen said...

aiyooo..you so rajin make this...hmmmm..I saw its sell at the store but never had one of this b4..must try one day!

Unknown said...

what a lovely idea

Kulsum@JourneyKitchen said...

I won't bring on the topic of where Baklava originated but I did have the best best Baklava in Turkey while on a summer vacation. Thats a thing to say because living in the middle east I have tasted quite a bit of Baklava. Yours look fabulous :)

mycookinghut said...

Yeah Baklava is really sweet! Love your idea of cutting down the sugar!

ICook4Fun said...

Hana, ha ha this dessert kat sini mahal sangat. Satu keping kecik cost like $3 so baik buat sendiri :)

Sonia, yes it does look like spring roll.

Wai Kitt & Zurin, thank you.

Indie Tea, yes I think this is much easier to handle compare to the traditional diamond shape kind.

Shirley, I am sure you will too. The pastry is super flaky and the sweetness of the filling is perfect.

Ijayuji, memang lah sedap kan. Ni actually tak besar sangat. Just two bite size saja :)

Shereen, ha ha you like it too. So what are you doing to make out of the 2 kilo pistachios?

Pigpigscorner, yes especially when they soak it in syrup. Way too sweet for my taste too.

ICook4Fun said...

Jess, it is.

Kristy, you are most welcome.

Reese, this is a dessert from the Middle East. If you have a chance do try it out. I am sure you are going to like. Yes this is great for party.

Maya, look like spring roll but it is actually a dessert.

Wendy, you have to try it out at least once as I am sure you will like the flaky pastry :)

Bee Bee, traditional kind used Pistachios but you can actually improvise by using any type of nuts or dried fruits.

Ann, I guess kids like it with chocolate.

Jennifurla, mmmmm sounds good too :)

ICook4Fun said...

Zoe, you are welcome.

Blissmade Design, hope you like it.

Anon, thank you for you support and your kind words.

Jet, you are welcome.

Pretty.Good.Food, ha ha yes this can be addictive. You can't stop at just eating one or two.

Mira, :)

Anncoo, yes it is.

Cherine, thank you.

Magdalena, yes handling the phyllo is hard work :)

Lesley, do try this Baklava out if you have a chance. I am sure you are going to like it.

Lily, thanks

Kulsum, thank you.

Leemei, thank you.

Angie's Recipes said...

They look so crisp! I like them with nuts.

Jun Indochine Kitchen said...

Oh your post made me really miss this dessert! I haven't had any since I left Australia many, many years ago. I had the opportunity of tasting baklava - flown over from Beirut - by a friend and I had no words to describe it.

I think it is time to make some myself!

Dywa Delsan said...

Wow! it looks so delicious. I think I'll gonna try that.

Unknown said...

I just made some of the Baklava Rolls. Oh how I could get hooked on these. They are so AWSOME. Thanks for sharing.

Miruna said...

I know this recipe a bit different. Instead of making rolls, you put one sheet of dough, all the ingredients on top of it and you cover it all with another sheet of dough. Cut the whole thing into little squares about 1 inch and then pour on top of it a syrop made of water, honey and sugar. And then put it in the oven.

Anonymous said...

Hi...Was thinking of baking this for this raya. Wondering do they keep well? Can I store them in air-tight bottle? For how long according to your experience?