Baklava

Baklava is my all time favourite dessert. Since my family returned to India after our 15 long years in Libya (where I grew up), Baklava suddenly disappeared from my life. I used to lust and dream about the crispy-nutty-sweet-succulent dessert. My search for Baklava continued for years and finally I found by pure coincidence an Arabian restaurant which retails Baklava. But the good news is that since I  did my pastry course from the baking school last week, I can make my own phyllo/filo pastry sheets. It is super complicated but I was ready to re-create some today to quench my desire for some Baklava. It literally took me the  whole day but the efforts was well worth it. I am not posting the recipe for phyllo dough here as it is not easy to make it without visual directions and lot of practice. The best option is to buy ready made phyllo/filo sheets or you may even replace it with spring roll sheets.

Ingredients

For the Covering

1. Filo Sheets- 20 sheets (approx. as this depends on the size of your baking tray, I used a 12 * 10 tray)
2. 1 cup melted butter

For the Filling

1. 1 cup finely chopped almonds
2. 1 cup finely chopped cashews
3. 1 cup (4 oz) finely chopped walnuts
4. 1/4^th cup finely chopped pista (for garnish)
5. 1/4 cup caster sugar
6. 2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Sugar Syrup

1. 2 cups sugar
2. 2 cups water
3. 1 stick cinnamon
4. 4 cardamom pods

Method

1. Mix all the nuts except for the pista with the sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.
2. Boil the sugar and water in a pan. Add the cardamom pods and the cinnamon stick and boil for 20 minutes till the syrup turn pale gold and sticky.
3. Brush a 12X10 in baking dish with butter. Brush 10 sheets of filo with melted butter.
4. Lay them on the dish one by one.
5. Spread half of the filling evenly.
6. Top it off with further 10 sheets of pastry, buttering each sheet.
7. Spread rest of the filling evenly.
8. Top it off with remaining 10 sheets of pastry, buttering each sheet.
9. Brush the top of the pastry with more butter.
10. With a sharp knife, score the top layers in large square shapes.
11. Bake in a preheated 160C oven for 90 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.
12. Remove from the oven and slowly pour the syrup over the top.
13. Let it sit for at least 5-6 hours for it to absorb the syrup.
14. ENJOYYYYY

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