Baklava Recipe Nadia Hussain Food

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 350 degrees F. Combine the nuts, cinnamon and ground crackers in a bowl.
• Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with some of the butter. Layer 10 pieces of phyllo in the dish, brushing each piece with butter before adding the next (keep the remaining dough covered with a damp towel). Sprinkle a quarter of the nut mixture over the dough. Layer 4 pieces of phyllo on top, brushing each with butter before adding the next; sprinkle with another quarter of the nut mixture. Add 4 more phyllo pieces on top, brushing each with butter, then add another quarter of the nut mixture, 4 more pieces of phyllo with butter, and the remaining nuts.
• Layer the remaining 10 pieces of phyllo on top of the nuts, brushing each with butter; brush the top piece with extra butter. Cut into the baklava to make strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Then make diagonal slices, about 1 1/2 inches apart, to create a diamond pattern. Bake until golden, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the syrup: Bring the sugar, honey and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice and boil 2 more minutes, then let cool slightly.
• Pour the syrup over the warm baklava; let soak, uncovered, at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish with nuts.

ORANGE BLOSSOM BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3 and grease a square 21cm/8¼in cake tin. In a food processor, blend the nuts until ground to small, even pieces. Stir in the golden syrup, salt, cocoa powder and orange zest and put to one side.
• Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat, or on low in a dish in the microwave, then open the first pack of filo pastry. Cut the sheets in half so that you have a pile of squares. Place the cake tin on top and trim the pastry with a sharp knife so that it is the same size as the base of the tin.
• Brush a square of pastry with butter and lay it in the base of the cake tin, then do the same to every square to lay all the pastry inside the tin. Press the pastry down firmly every time you put in a square. Put the nuts on top and press down again to create an even layer.
• Open the second pack of pastry and, again, cut it in half and trim the edges to fit the tin. Layer each piece, one on top of the other as before, brushing with melted butter, and pressing down. If there's any butter left over, just pour it on top.
• With the pastry still in the tin, use a sharp knife to cut out the squares, making sure to get all the way to the bottom layer. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 130C/110C Fan/Gas 1 and bake for a further 45 minutes.
• To make the syrup, mix together the sugar, honey, orange blossom water and orange juice in a small pan. Add the crushed cardamom pods and let them infuse for a couple of minutes, then remove. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Once the baklava is out of the oven, pour the syrup all over and leave to cool completely before serving.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Make syrup first so that it can come to room temperature: In a small saucepan, combine honey, sugar and water. Bring to a slow boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved. Add lemon juice, cinnamon sticks and peels and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove peels and cinnamon sticks and allow to come to room temperature before using.
• Combine walnuts, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and 3 tablespoons melted butter together in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Place phyllo between sheets of waxed paper and cover with a slightly damp towel to prevent phyllo from drying out. Brush bottom and sides of an 18x12-inch inch pan generously with melted butter.
• Place 8 phyllo sheets into bottom of pan, brushing each sheet generously with butter. Take an additional 4 sheets of phyllo and place in pan allowing sheets to drape over each of the 4 sides of pan. Brush these with melted butter.
• Spread 2 cups of nut mixture into pan, distributing evenly over bottom. Fold over the overlapping phyllo sheets brushing each with butter, to envelop the nut mixture.
• Repeat layering process 2 more times to form 3 nut layers.
• Top pastry with remaining phyllo dough and generously brush top layer with melted butter. Tuck in the buttered phyllo neatly around.
• Score through top layers of pastry with a sharp knife making 6 strips lengthwise then cut 10 strips diagonally to form diamond shaped pieces. Stud each diamond-shaped piece (and any odd looking ones near the ends of the pan) in the centre with a whole clove per piece. Pour remaining melted butter over pastry and lightly sprinkle some water on top too (wet your hand under the tap twice and shake this out over the pastry).
• Bake pastry in a 325°F oven for 1 hour to 75 minutes, until nicely golden-brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully spoon cool syrup over seam in pastry. Allow to stand at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut through the scored pieces and serve.
• Note: The clove studding each piece is not traditionally eaten, it is removed by the person whose piece it is before eating. The clove is there to add its 'perfume' to the piece as it bakes (and it looks pretty, too).