Baklava

 

                Baklava, a favorite, uses mixed nuts, honey and phyllo pastry to great advantage. Greek desserts are usually served with thick, strong coffee ; sugar can be added, but no milk or cream are offered with it.

                As the fragile phyllo pastry dries out very quickly, it is a good idea to keep the pieces covered with a slightly dampened dish towel until you are reay to use them.

Makes 15 pieces

• 12 oz (375 gr) package phyllo pastry
• 160 ml unsalted butter, melted
• 500 ml finely chopped walnuts
• 250 ml finely chopped almonds
• 60 ml sugar
• 10 ml ground cinnamon
• Pinch ground cloves

Sugar syrup

• 500 ml sugar
• 500 ml water
• 30 ml honey
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 15 ml lemon juice
• 1 thin strip lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 325F (165C).
2. Butter the base of a 13 in x 9 in (33 cm x 23 cm) baking dish.
3. Trim the phyllo pastry sheets to 14 in x 10 in (35 cm x 25 cm) pieces.
4. Place 10 sheets of phyllo, separately, into the pan, brushing each sheet with the melted butter.
5. Mix together the nuts, sugar, cinnamon and cloves and spread half this mixture over the pastry.
6. Layer another 3 sheets of pastry over the nut mixture, brushing each sheet with the melted butter.
7. Spread over the remaining nut mixture and top with the remaining pastry sheets, each brushed with melted butter.
8. Brush the top sheet with melted butter again and slice through the top layers with a very sharp knife to create diamond shapes ; sprinkle lightly with water to prevent the pastry from curling and lifting.
9. Bake in the oven for 1 hour ; cover the pastry with aluminium foil if it begins to brown too quickly.
10. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup, place all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved ; heat to boiling and boil for 10 minutes, stirring often.
11. Remove from heat and cool ; strain, and pour over the baklava when it is removed from the oven.
12. Let the syrup soak in for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

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