I don’t enjoy baklava very much as I find it a bit too sweet but as it was my first challenge I wasn’t going to say no. The word phyllo got me thinking and wondering if I even had tasted such a dough. It took me a couple of days to connect the dots and realise phllyo is actually FILO. It was such a duhh moment!
I wasn’t too keen on the filling and wanted to try a nut-free baklava and I ended up mixing sunflower seeds, to give a bit of texture, dried strawberries and chocolate chips. The result was satisfactory but I think I might stick to the original version in the future!
The phllyo dough was especially hard to deal with, but it is probably my fault as I don’t own a proper rolling pin. It wasn’t as thin as I would have liked it but ah well..
There are three essential parts to making baklava; the filling, the dough and the syrup.
185g all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
105ml water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon cider vinegar. I used malt vinegar
To make the dough, combine flour and salt. Add the water, oil and vinegar to the flour and mix until you get a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes and you will end up with a smooth, soft and almost elastic dough. Lightly cover the dough in oil and wrap it tightly in cling film. Leave to rest for 2 hours.
To roll the dough, use a chunk of dough as big as a golf ball. Make sure you flour your hands and counter thoroughly. Try and get the dough as thin as you can.
After each layer is rolled out, make sure you flour it excessively to ensure the next layer does not stick to it. (This was my mistake.)
50g Sunflower seeds
20g Dried strawberries
2 tablespoons of Chocolate chips
100g sugar
½ teaspoon allspice powder
Chop the sunflower seeds as finely as you can or if you have a food processor, pulse it on high until finely chopped. Combine with the rest of ingredients and set aside.
½ inch cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
150g water
100g sugar
150g honey
2 lemon slices
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice.
Heat the sugar and honey in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and let it boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain mixture. Allow to cool while the baklava bakes.
Putting the baklava together
As my phllyo layers were far from perfect, I decided I would hide its flaws but making baklava rolls instead. I followed this method and it was actually quite an enjoyable task. Oh, also remember to brush melted butter on each layer of the phyllo, another thing I forgot to do!
Bake at 150’C for 30 minutes, remove then cut the pastry to fit the specific size you want. Continue baking for another 30 minutes until the phyllo is brown and looks crispy.
Once the baklava has cooled down, pour the syrup evenly over the top. Leave overnight as the syrup will absorb into the pastry, giving it a lovely texture.
Verdict : I enjoyed making baklava but I think my next attempt will involve a more authentic flavour. I may also have to stick to store bought phllyo pastry..
