Baklava

The classic Lebanese layered pastry-and-nuts sweet! This is one of my favourite recipes from my book Recipes for Ramadan, and I’m sharing it today as part of my travel recipes series for Ramadan 2018! Click above to watch my video from the United Arab Emirates, and then check out the delicious recipe below that!

This recipe was kindly shared for my book by my friend Ola Attar – many thanks for your contribution!

Serves 8, 1 hour 20 minutes (plus 2 hours cooling time)

Pastry ingredients

• 14 sheets filo pastry, thawed
• 175g butter/ghee
• 200g nuts – a mixture of almonds and walnuts is traditional, but cashews and pistachios also work
• 75g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Syrup ingredients

• ½ cup caster sugar
• 100g honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
• 250ml warm water

Baklava (Image: Ola Attar)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C, and grease a baking tray with a little butter

2. Grind the nuts, sugar, cardamom and cinnamon together in a food processor until the nuts are granulated, then reserve.

3. Melt the rest of the butter in a bowl in the microwave

4. In the baking tray, lay one sheet of the filo pastry, and brush with some melted butter. Lay another sheet of filo pastry on top, and brush again. Continue layering until 9 sheets are used.

5. Spread the nut mixture evenly over the pastry, then add another 5 sheets of filo pastry on top, spreading with butter between each layer.

6. Using the clean palms of your hands, press evenly down over the whole pastry to compact it.

7. With a sharp knife, cut long diagonal slits deep into the pastry creating diamonds roughly 4 centimetres long.

8. Spread the top with remaining melted butter, then bake in the oven at 160C fan forced for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden. Place the tray on the base of the oven to prevent the pastry burning. (If using a gas oven, cover the top with baking paper).

9. While the pastry is baking, add all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat, stirring continuously, until all the sugar has dissolved. Reduce the heat and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

10. When ready, switch off the oven, remove pastry, and then pour over the syrup, allowing it to flow into the slits. Return the tray to the warm oven and stand for 5 minutes (do not turn the oven back on)

11. Remove from the oven, stand for 2 hours, allowing to cool, and the syrup to absorb into the pastry. Serve at room temperature.

For more recipes like this, check out my travel cookbook Recipes for Ramadan, available through Amazon.com today! Click here for more!