Baklava With Cardamom And Rose Water Food

BAKLAVA WITH ROSE WATER

Steps:

• Make the syrup: Bring 2 cups water, the sugar and honey to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium low; simmer until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 20 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and rose water. Pour into a large liquid measuring cup or heatproof bowl and refrigerate until ready to use (or up to 1 day).
• Make the baklava: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees F. Pulse the nuts, confectioners' sugar and cinnamon in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the vanilla and salt.
• Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with melted butter. Trim the phyllo to 9 by 13 inches with kitchen shears (fig. A); cover with a damp towel. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo in the prepared baking dish and brush with butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet. Scatter about 3/4 cup of the nut mixture evenly over the phyllo stack. Top with 2 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet, then top with another 3/4 cup of the nut mixture. Repeat to make 2 more layers (use 2 sheets of buttered phyllo and 3/4 cup nut mixture for each layer), then top with the remaining 6 sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet (fig. B). Scatter the remaining nut mixture on top.
• Cut the baklava into 32 triangles (fig. C). Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown and crisp, about 40 minutes (tent with foil if the nuts are browning too quickly).
• Remove from the oven and pour the prepared syrup evenly over the top. Let the syrup soak in, at least 2 hours.

ROSE WATER AND ORANGE BLOSSOM BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the walnuts, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl and set aside. In the bottom of a greased 9 by 13-inch pan, put 1 layer of phyllo and brush liberally with butter. Repeat 6 more times, buttering each delicate layer, until you have 7 layers of phyllo. Spoon 1/3 of the nut mixture over the phyllo and top with 5 more individually buttered sheets of phyllo. Repeat the process 2 more times and finish with 7 layers of phyllo. Brush the final layer with butter and bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes.
• While the baklava is baking, make syrup. Add all of the syrup ingredients to a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the syrup evenly over the top. Cut into squares or diamonds and serve.

PISTACHIO BAKLAVA WITH CARDAMOM AND ROSE WATER

Steps:

• . For the sugar syrup: Combine syrup ingredients, except rosewater, in small saucepan and bring to full boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to ensure that sugar dissolves. Transfer to 2-cup measuring cup and set aside to cool while making and baking baklava; when syrup is cool, discard peppercorns and stir in rosewater. (Cooled syrup can be refrigerated in airtight container up to 4 days.).
• Nut filling: Pulse pistachios in food processor until very finely chopped, about fifteen 1-second pulses; transfer to bowl. Measure out 1 tablespoon nuts and set aside for garnish. Add ground cardamom, sugar, and salt; toss well to combine.
• To assemble and bake: Brush 13- by 9-inch traditional (not nonstick) baking pan with butter. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Unwrap and unfold phyllo on large cutting board; carefully smooth with hands to flatten. Using baking pan as guide, cut sheets crosswise with chef's knife, yielding two roughly evenly sized stacks of phyllo (one may be narrower than other). Cover with plastic wrap, then damp kitchen towel to prevent drying.
• Place one phyllo sheet (from wider stack) in bottom of baking pan and brush until completely coated with butter. Repeat with 7 more phyllo sheets (from wider stack), brushing each with butter.
• Evenly distribute about 1 cup nuts over phyllo. Cover nuts with phyllo sheet (from narrower stack) and dab with butter (phyllo will slip if butter is brushed on). Repeat with 5 more phyllo sheets (from narrower stack), staggering sheets slightly if necessary to cover nuts, and brushing each with butter. Repeat layering with additional 1 cup nuts, 6 sheets phyllo, and remaining 1 cup nuts. Finish with 8 to 10 sheets phyllo (from wider stack), using nicest and most intact sheets for uppermost layers and brushing each except final sheet with butter. Following illustration 6, use palms of hands to compress layers, working from center outward to press out any air pockets. Spoon 4 tablespoons butter on top layer and brush to cover all surfaces. Following illustration 7, use bread knife or other serrated knife with pointed tip in gentle sawing motion to cut baklava into diamonds, rotating pan as necessary to complete cuts. (Cut on bias into eighths on both diagonals.).
• Bake until golden and crisped, about 1 ½ hours, rotating baking pan halfway through baking. Immediately after removing baklava from oven, pour cooled syrup over cut lines until about 2 tablespoons remain (syrup will sizzle when it hits hot pan); drizzle remaining syrup over surface. Garnish center of each piece with pinch of reserved ground nuts. Cool to room temperature on wire rack, about 3 hours, then cover with foil and let stand at least 8 hours before serving. (Once cooled, baklava can be served, but flavor and texture improve if left to stand at least 8 hours. Baklava can be wrapped tightly in foil and kept at room temperature up to 10 days.).

PISTACHIO BAKLAVA WITH HONEY AND ROSE WATER

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat the water, sugar, honey and lemon juice until it comes to the boil and cook for a minute. Now add the orange blossom and rose waters, boil for a few seconds, and remove from the heat. Allow to cool before using on the baklava.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• Grind the nuts. We want them to be medium-fine - if they are ground too finely, the resulting filling will be very dense. Combine with the sugar and cinnamon, then add the orange blossom and rose waters and mix well. Set aside.
• In a dish (I used one 21 x 28cm), brush the base with a little melted butter, then add a sheet of filo. Brush with butter, then add another sheet. Brush with butter, and continue until you have six sheets of filo in the dish. Add the filling, and spread out. Be gentle so you don't break the pastry. Now add the rest of the pastry, in each case adding a layer, brushing with melted butter, then adding the next. Finish by brushing the sixth sheet with butter.
• Cut the baklava into pieces - long rectangles, diamonds, squares, or whatever whimsical shapes take your fancy. Do this carefully with a sharp knife and make sure to go all the way through to the base. You might want to leave a border of "scrap" baklava where the pastry is a bit untidy at the edges. This means the final result is neater, and as the cook, you get to enjoy this "angel's share".
• Bake the baklava for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden. When done, remove from the oven, allow it to sit for a minute, then pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava. Be sure to get the syrup in between each cut. If you see syrup forming pools in some areas, don't worry - it will all be absorbed.
• Allow the baklava to cool fully before serving. Decorate with chopped pistachios and dried pomegranate seeds(**).
• (*) By this, I mean the lightly aromatic rose water. If you have the much more intense rose extract, then use just a few drops and not a whole tablespoon!
• (**) To dry pomegranate seeds - remove the red seeds from the white pith, and spread on a non-stick baking tray. Leave in the oven at 60°C (140°F) for several hours until the seeds are dry. They will remain slightly sticky but should keep their colour and not turn brown.

BAKLAVA WITH CARDAMOM AND ROSE WATER

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup sugar with 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Add honey, lemon juice, and rose water, continue simmering 2 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool.
• Meanwhile, shell the pistachios if they are not already shelled (you will need 9 oz after shelling). Chop finely (food processor is highly recommended). Combine the chopped nuts with 1 tbsp sugar, the cinnamon, and the cardamom in a bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Trim the filo to lay flat in the bottom of a loaf pan. Melt the butter and brush the sides of the loaf pan with some of the melted butter. Add the first sheet of trimmed filo and brush it with butter. Continue adding sheets of filo and brushing with butter until 10 sheets have been added (brush the top sheet with butter too).
• Add half of the nut mixture and spread evenly on top of the filo.
• Place another sheet of filo on top of the nuts and carefully brush with butter (it will be loose, be careful you don't tear it). Repeat until you have 5 layers on top of the nut mixture.
• Add the rest of the nuts and spread evenly.
• Continue layering more filo and butter until you have about 10 sheets of filo on top of the nuts.
• Cut the baklava into 16 pieces by cutting in half the long way and then cutting into 8ths the short way.
• Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 F and bake another 30 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, re-cut the baklava, and then pour the sugar syrup on top of the baklava. Do this immediately, do not let the baklava cool before pouring on the syrup.
• Allow the baklava time to cool to room temperature (and to absorb the syrup) before eating. It should cool for at least an hour.