Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Baklava- Layered Sweet Pastry



Baklava is a rich sweet pastry, made with layers of thin sheets of pastry, filled with nuts and soaked in syrup.  It has been claimed by ethnic regions , some say it as Greek and some as Turkish....


   Wherever this sweet originated, this is just one amazing sweet.  Everytime when we buy a big box of baklavas, it disappears within a day.  Few times I failed in trying this baklava, however it's not a complete failure, I have to say a bit dry.  Still you can claim that as a type of baklava.  To me this one was perfect, completely soaked, perfectly cooked layers and the right amount of nuts.  If you are planning to make this sweet for your friends and family or any occasion , just make it a day ahead which will give enough time to soak in the syrup.  I made this last week , nothing has left now, still I'm dreaming about this delicious pastry.
So let's go to the recipe for my sweet little sweet.
Here is the link from which I followed the recipe with few variations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6mICkUdelQ

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hr 15 minutes
Makes 15 squares

Ingredients:
Phyllo pastry- 500 g( 20 sheets)
Walnuts- 100 g
Almonds- 100 g
Pista- 100 g
Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp
Brown sugar- 1 tbsp
Butter- 250 g
For the syrup:
Honey- 100 g
Brown sugar- 200 g
Lemon juice- 2 tsp
Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch stick
Orange blossom water or rose water- 1 tsp

Method:
In a food processor , pulse the nuts along with cinnamon and sugar until looks coarse.
Next prepare the layers of pastry.  Open the pastry cover , place all the pastries in a wide flat surface, cover it with a damp cloth to avoid drying.
Take a 20 cm square tin.  Grease with butter and line with baking parchment paper.  Melt the butter completely until looks runny.
Take a sheet of pastry and lay it in the tin, brush with butter all over the pastry.  If the pastry sheet is hanging out of the tin, fold it over in the tin and brush with butter.  Repeat the same process until you get 8 layers of pastry.  Now spread the nut mixture on top of the pastry and press it with a back of the spoon.
Now again start layering the pastry in the same method as mentioned and finish with 4 layers of pastry.  Now again spread it with nuts and press with the back of the spoon.  Now again start layering the pastry  and finish with the remaining 8 layers of pastry.
Note:
Remember that when you are using a 20 cm square tin, you'll be able to fold each pastry into two layers and for each and every layer you have to brush the pastry sheet with butter.

Continuing...
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.  Make square shapes in the pastry using a sharp knife.  Make just insertions do not cut it out completely. Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you can see that the pastry will be light brown in colour, at this stage cover the tin tightly with aluminium foil.  Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degree Celsius and bake it for further 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes remove the foil, increase the temperature to 180 again and bake it for further 20 minutes until the top layer of pastry looks brown in colour.  At this stage take it out, pour the syrup all over the pastry little by little.  If the syrup looks floating on top, allow it absorb for few minutes and then pour the syrup again.  Now cut the squares and completely and let them sit in the tin and soak in syrup for minimum 5 to 6 hours. You can leave it in the tin until it gets finished or place them in a separate serving plate.

To make the syrup:
Add the honey, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon juice along with 150 ml of water.  Bring it boil in medium heat.  Stir continually until the sugar gets completely dissolved.  Boil for 5 minutes until it looks syrupy.  Finally add the rose water to the syrup and take it off from heat.
You can prepare the syrup when the baklavas are baking in the oven.

This recipe goes to 17th Mediterranean Cooking event by Tobias Cooks, also sending this to best recipe of the month by Nancy.


104 comments:

Unknown said...

yumm..

My Kitchen Antics said...

ah...the best baklavas ive had are here in london can u blve tht..its just oozing with ghee and i love love it
urs look as beautiful as tht

Raji said...

The baklava is looking so rich and the colour is also so good. I love baklava..we get very good baklavas here, last time i tried making it turned out dry. Will try ur recipe next time. Thanks so much for sharing this.

Priya Sreeram said...

lovely-- ayeesha this one is bookmarked !

Shama Nagarajan said...

too tempting dear

schmetterlingwords said...

Wow... These have come out so perfect!! Excellent job ma... Do u have any idea of preparing this again this week?? ;-))

Nandita SS said...

Yummy Baklava. I have to try this sometime :)

Priyanka said...

Wow.........it looks absolutely beautiful

tasteofbeirut said...

I love your baklava and wish I could have a bite right now! I have a 10-minute method that works like a charm that I use and posted about that a friend taught me.

Prathima Rao said...

Perfect presentation as usual!!! I have heard so much bout this amazing dessert...Thx to u , i shall now try it out..;)
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Rookie Qookie said...

Ohhh..These look real tempting and I wish I had some :|

Cheers,
Reshmi

Sravs said...

Looks so yummy and Nice clicks !!!

Ramya said...

Baklava looks delectable
I always wanted to try this...
After seeing ur Baklava clicks, i cant resist.will try out sooooon.

Amelia@SavoryandSweet said...

I love baklava! My husband and I used to go to a greek festival every year and I would always get it.
I need to try to make it sometime...thanks for the video. :)

Anita said...

Umm umm good, beautiful picture, looks so tempting..

Pari Vasisht said...

I'm yet to relish this delicacy, enjoying it virtually.
FOODELICIOUS

harini-jaya said...

wow! I can never have enuf of baklavas...am always scared to get them home as all of us are capable of finishing it in one sitting :)

divya said...

Yumm, very tempting and mouthwatering ....

Pavithra Elangovan said...

I love baklava.. just our fav too. Looks absolutely perfect tooo tempting.

Reshmi Mahesh said...

They look so sweet and yummy...

Marina said...

Oh, this sounds so complicated for my cooking skills :) But it looks great!

Hema Mahen said...

Looks so good and tempting, i have never tasted it before...so a must try :)

Pia said...

Super Yummy

Cook Healthy

Panchpakwan said...

Wow so yummy and delicious baklava.

aipi said...

Whoo..gorgeous n perfect looking. Flaky n moist at the same time..YUM!!


US Masala

Foodie Ann said...

Sounds very familiar don't remember the taste...Anyways this looks great...

Torviewtoronto said...

beautifully done delicious

Anu Santanu said...

Oh.. I love your Baklava..

Vimitha Durai said...

They look yummy... Can i grab one...

Rita said...

I am so so impressed! Baklavas are my one of my family's favourite desserts. Wish I could learn to make these; your are perfect!
Rita

Plateful said...

I have a penchant for Arabic sweets and I love baklava. I've never tried to make it at home though. Thanks for the delicious recipe. And Ayeesha, your pictures are so creative. Love it!

Priya dharshini said...

Nice recipe for baklava....No one can say no to it..

Shanavi said...

What more could i Say ? Simply perfect n super...

Unknown said...

I have so many baklavas....urs is so perfectly layered and shaped yummy!
Smitha
http://smithasspicyflavors.blogspot.com/

Priya Suresh said...

Omg, am inviting myself to ur place, those baklava looks out of the world..

Sensible Vegetarian said...

This looks so good.

Anonymous said...

This gives me another reason to forgo the Greek pastry shops near my office! Thanks for the great recipe!

Padma said...

Love this dessert... looks mouthwatering.

Unknown said...

Looks absolutely amazing, I love baklava and this is the best and most tempting pic of baklava I am seen, love it.

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

nt of a sweet tooth...but droooooooling and mouthwatering baklava with amazing pics...yummmm

Unknown said...

thats very intersting and hard worked bhaklavas.loving it

Vidhya said...

Your Baklavas look out of the world.

NIDHYA said...

Love the baklava, so rich and delicious..

Aaha Oho

Soumya..... said...

Rich and beautiful, already bookmarked!

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Pastry looks so inviting. I can almost touch them.Wonderfully prepared.

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Unknown said...

Actually, some say it's Armenian too. I love making baklava. you've done such a good job with it.

A little bit of everything said...

I tried making baklava several times, and like you said, it turns out dry. Yours looks perfect. I have to try your recipe since I'm a sucker for Turkish treats.
Thanks for sharing, hope you're having a wonderful day

sulagna said...

Hi aeysha :) firstly the baby in the display pictures, is yours ??? my heart just lost a beat looking at those eyes :)

and waow you have one super awesome blog here..following you right away..your pictures and the table settings are so tastefully done !! lovely

Anonymous said...

looks so good........never had baklava before, i am definitely trying this out

Rekha shoban said...

wow!!!yummy sweet pastry!!nice click!

Unknown said...

Testy Pastry

deeksha said...

looks tasty and beautiful

Awayofmind Bakery House said...

Thanks for dropping me a lovely message and then I discovered your blog here! Your recipes are fabulous, will come back to check out soon :)

Ummi said...

Salam umm Mymoonah...what a lovely Baklava you have there...i wonder how it taste, looks so tempting! Normally we use ghee in our special rice ie. tomato rice, beriyani or some of our traditional Eidul Fitri cookies only..Maybe I should try it out one day..thanks for sharing.

Manu said...

Wow! They look soooo inviting. This is one of my husband's favorite sweets! I have never made it at home as I have always thought it would be too hard. Thanks for sharing, now I may try it myself! :-) By the way, I had a look around... you have sooo many interesting and yummy recipes! I will be back for sure! :-)

Sushma Mallya said...

They looks so Perfect ....loved the way u have presented it yum!

Zareena said...

Baklava looks delicious and yummy. Great Ayeesha, that you tried making them at home.Love the pics.

Shobha said...

Awesome dessert ...I love this one...but the pastry sheets are not available here...can't make it :(

Nammi said...

yumm!!!, can I have a piece please :)

Katerina said...

This is one beautiful baklava. I use my family's tecnique and roll it you can check it in my blog. Your photos are perfect!

sharada said...

baklava looks so professional...seems perfect & great!

chandrabali Dutt said...

wow ur blog looks so creative...amazing fotos

chandrabali Dutt said...

wow ur blog looks so creative...amazing fotos

chandrabali Dutt said...

wow..luv ur recipes

Mari Nuñez said...

I have never taste this, but it looks so delicious. I have to try it. I have seen various recipes of baklava, yours looks extraordinary GOOD!

Have a great day :)

Three-Cookies said...

Thanks for visiting my blog, and glad to have discovered yours. You have very interesting recipes - I love baklava, those in the photos look super crunchy! And strawberry pizza is unique!

Nandinis food said...

The pastry is very cute and tempting. Looks lovely and love the colour.

Umm Mymoonah said...

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments.
To Taste of Beirut, I did checked your 10 minute baklava, that's really great.

Suja Manoj said...

This looks irresistible,rich and yummy,thanks for sharing dear.

Claudia said...

I didn't know this pastry but it seems to be sooo delisous! Thank you for let me know it, i'll try it so soon!

Golose Ricette said...

grazie per la visita, ricambio volentieri... anche se ho un po' di problemi con la lingua....

Archana said...

wow!

Unknown said...

Innovative .......mouthwatering Recipe......

Sonia said...

Mmmm...the baklava is looking so inviting, very difficult to resist. I wish it cud fly to me, cant wait to make my lot, really love this italian dessert. Yours is looking gorgeous... !

Chocolate Freckles said...

I had not found a recipe I was willing to try for Baklava until now!!! This looks absolutely amazing!!!! Love Baklava!!! :)

Simply Life said...

oooh I wish I could have a piece right now - looks great!

Unknown said...

I just love Baklavas - the local restaurant here makes the best ones and the owner is always in the kichen dishing everything out - asked him for his recipe and you can guess what he said - If I tell you then you may not come as often :) - I guessed some of the ingredients but now I can make it -So thanks for sharing the recipe :))

Lakshmi said...

Baklava has come out soo well, looks irrestibly yummy.

Unknown said...

Sinfully delicious:)So rich!!

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

What a wonderful blog and lods of deliciousness galore...
Yummy!
One of the prettiest baklava i have ever seen and perfectly so too!

Sweet Artichoke said...

They look perfect: nutty, sweet and crunchy! You have all my admiration for successfully preparing these delights! (had a few failed attempts, too...)

Binys Recipes said...

hey dats looing soooo gud...and great colour tooo

DAMLA said...

Ne kadar güzel görünüyor. Ellerinize sağlık.

Hasna said...

An award waiting for u...

http://hasnasdelights.blogspot.com/2011/02/rasgulla-blackforest-cake-one-lovely.html

Malar Gandhi said...

Oh man, that luks gorgeous, incredible preparation. Loved ur clicks.

sonu said...

looks perfect and delicious...u got such beautiful layered flaky pieces..luved it !

Mary Bergfeld said...

This is such a lovely recipe. Your photos of the baklava are wonderful as well. I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings...Mary

Ila said...

wow baklavas s new 4 me.. but looks yummy tempting :)

sojo said...

ooooooooooooo wowwwwwwwww... so professional... feel like taking it out from the picture and having....

Cooking Gallery said...

The baklava looks great :), I've tried it once and liked it but I cannot eat too much of it, probably because the one I tried tasted incredibly sweet, even too sweet for my palate...

Kankana said...

Seriously Mouthwater .. looks soo delicious and moist .. Right now i only wish I was your neighbor !!

MaryMoh said...

This is sweet but very delicious. I love it with tea.

Zalieda Zaliedana said...

Baklava looks very yummy, New recipe to me.I have to try this sometime,Btw,Your blog looks lovely with lots of yummy recipes.

Rani acharyulu said...

Wav,wonderful Sweet Pastry.It looks so rich and yummy.Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe.I book marked this recipe.
cheers

the Junkie book said...

these so much resemble the classic goan sweet bebinca. they bake the sheets too. baklava is a recipe i'd always wanted. looks so royal!! thank you!

Coraine said...

Hihi! thanks for dropping by my blog! =)
You have a very nice food blog!! pictures are so nicely taken...
love it! I'm so going to follow your blog. Hope to hear from you soon~

Coraine @ Life is like a Long Journey

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

What beautiful photos of one of my favorite treats! It's been WAY too long since I've mad baklava, but now I'm craving it!!!

MegSmith @ Cooking.In.College said...

Wow Baklava is such an amazing thing to make at home. That is incredible and so pretty. It looks delicious.

Thanks for your comment! The roasted golden beets are so wonderful and a little more mild than the red beets. I hope you are able to find them sometime soon!

From the Kitchen said...

It has been a long time since I've made baklava and we love it. You've inspired me!

Best,
Bonnie

Pavani said...

awesome recipe..

peea said...

yummy... yummy

Lavanya Selvaraj said...

Looks divine!

Reshmi Ahmed said...

Hey i baked them last week for talhah's aqiqa...came out great ! :) pls do send ur no. I lost it somewhere.....Wud love to talk to u ...been quite a while....

Anonymous said...

Hi Ayesha, just saw your baklava recipe, its amazing...I have phylo pastry sheets in my pantry as I was meaning to try this for quiet sometime...
Why we need to cover the tin with foil during baking, will it get evenly browned from all side...pls let me know...

suknaya

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