“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.”
Aristotle Onassis
BAKLAVA, importantly homemade phyllo pastry has been on my list of things to do forever. I am SO GLAD I made this exquisite dessert. It’s the best ‘from scratch fine pastry dessert‘ I’ve made of late, one I meant to do for ages. A Daring Baker challenge I had no intention of missing, yet I very nearly did! The process seemed intimidating, but was eventually a beautiful experience; the end result bowled me over!
Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.
It was many years ago. Tweeting in 2009 with Peter @ Kalofagas got me inspired and I headed over to check out the first of his inspirational Baklava series. He’s also done one on making phyllo from scratch {his version uses yeast in the dough} ending in a delicious looking Spanakopita made under the watchful eye of his Mum. { This man is the Greek god of good food!} This was one thing I had to master but life got the better of me, and time whizzed by, somewhat out of control.
I haven’t been on the net for ages… no twitter, no face-book, no blogs and it’s all down to the kids summer vacations! Out of town for 2 weeks {a trip to HKG and Down Under} and many to-do’s have been lost – my ‘have to do macarons for Mactweets. I struggle to feed the blog, get a pup for the kids, reply to an infinite number of mails … I’m clearly beginning to feel the pressure!
But this I HAD to make and the process was absolutely joyful. I love the rolling pin, and the dough was silky beautiful. As we are a country that makes fresh thin flat bread for practically every meal, rolling was fun and the only thing that took a little while. The trusted Thermomix kneaded the dough in a flash …thank heavens for it! It also chopped the nuts as fine as could be in nano seconds … a blessing in disguise.
Baklava, a sweet rich pastry made with layers of phyllo dough and nuts sweetened with simple syrup. It is widely knows as a Greek dessert, but it’s origin has really never been pinpointed as many Middle Eastern countries also name it as their own. There are local versions from Iran, Turkey, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia and Cyprus.
The end product was as exquisite. The phyllo was easy to handle and layered to perfection. I made the whole portion of the dough {didn’t read the fine print} so fell slightly short of layers, but that wasn’t a problem. Layered deserts are always easy to fiddle around with! I halved the filling and the syrup. This has been one of the best Daring Baker challenges I’ve enjoyed so far.
The phyllo from scratch recipe was similar to the pastry we made for the earlier ‘Strudel‘ for Daring Bakers 2 years ago. The filling was an endearing blend of nuts, sugar and cinnamon all balanced beautifully… an Alton Brown recipe {I forgot the cloves… sigh}. The soaking honey syrup with orange and cinnamon completed the Middle Eastern charm …. left us longing for more!
It looked ever so pretty as well though I didn’t stray from the challenge recipe and typical appearance. I loved pouring the cool syrup over the hot, freshly baked baklava, the crackling sound music to the ears! I have to make this again one day, and try the many charming different versions at Kalofogas including Baklava cigars or Baklava Daisies.
Thank you Erica for an outstanding daring challenge; it was a beautiful one, very fulfilling. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the beautiful baklava our other daring bakers have rolled from scratch!
[print_this]Recipe: Baklava
Summary: Baklava, a sweet rich pastry made with layers of phyllo dough and nuts sweetened with simple syrup. Exquisite and outstanding make ahead dessert.{Minimally adapted from following recipes}
Phyllo Dough Recipe – Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
Baklava – Adapted from Alton Brown, Food Network
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours + overnight rest
Ingredients:
- Phyllo Dough:
*Note 1: To have enough to fill a 9” x 9” baking dish with 18 layers of phyllo I doubled this recipe.
*Note 2: Single recipe will fill a 8” x 5” baking dish.
*Note 3: Dough can be made a head of time and froze. Just remove from freezer and allow to thaw and continue making your baklava - 185gm all purpose {plain} flour
- 1/8tsp salt
- 1/2 cup less 1 tbsp water, plus more if needed
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
- 1/2 tsp cider vinegar, {could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste}
Method:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt. Mix with paddle attachment.
- Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
- Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water.
Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes. - Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
- Thermomix: Place all ingredients in the bowl of the TM. Process on Speed 6 for 7 seconds. Then knead on bread setting for 3.5 minutes. Turn onto counter, roll into a neat ball.
- Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
- Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best {Mine rested for 2 days and it was still perfect}
- Rolling your Phyllo
** Remove all rings and jewelry so it does not snag the dough**
Use whatever means you have to get the dough as thin as you can. - Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly smaller than a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
- Roll out the dough until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.
- When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine
- Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.
Ingredients for Syrup:
- 150ml honey
- 150ml water
- 140gms sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 pieces candied orange peel {or fresh}
- A few cloves or a pinch or ground clove {I forgot this}
Method:
- When you put your baklava in the oven start making your syrup. When you combine the two, one of them needs to be hot, I find it better when the baklava is hot and the syrup has cooled.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved.
- Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
- Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and orange, allow to cool as baklava cooks.
Ingredients for Filling:
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 85gm blanched almonds
- 80gm raw walnuts
- 75gm raw pistachios
- 75gm sugar
- Phyllo dough {see recipe above}
- 100gm {1/2 cup} melted butter
Method:
- Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
- Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can. Set aside.
- Thermomix: PLace all ingredients in TM bowl. Process on Speed 6 for 5 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times till you get the consistency you desire.
- Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan.
- Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet.Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. {Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it’s not needed}
- Sprinkle 1/2 of the nut mixture on top.
- Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times.
- Sprinkle 1/2 of the nut mixture on top.
- Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 .
- On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
- Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance.
- With a sharp knife cut your baklava in desired shapes and number of pieces. If you can’t cut all the ways through don’t worry you will cut again later. A 9×9 pan cuts nicely into 30 pieces. Then brush with a generous layer of butter making sure to cover every area and edge.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. {Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven}.
- When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled {will still be warmish} syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava!
Next morning all syrup is absorbed. - Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup.
Serve at room temperature.
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