Baklava

‘Baklava’ –  this Middle eastern rich sweet dessert finds a fan in most of us. It is very hard to resist when you find one right in front of your eyes. A bite of this sweet which I prefer to call as ‘Bake-lava’ gives a pregnant pause once inside the mouth before you  express your contentment!!! Crispy, nutty, crunchy, flaky, sweet with a hint of lemon gives an unmatchable taste to this dessert which is without a doubt, simply out of this world.

This dessert does have lot of variations in terms of its constituents and the way it is pronounced. Turks and Greeks are fierce competitors when it comes to Baklava. However, what remains the same is the heavenly taste and yes, it comes right out of the bake oven. It is said that this is one of the dishes which is treasured during the holy month of Ramadan.

It is traditionally prepared by layering ‘Filo’ dough with enough butter-greasing in between sandwiched layers of nuts combined with a sweetener in the form of honey or sugar, then baked, glazed and soaked with sugar syrup or honey, before serving it fresh.

Having said that, it is a wide belief that Baklava is one sweet which demands your sweat. Well, I would say, it isn’t that difficult as it is believed to be. I decided to make use of the usual pastry sheets readily available in the super markets. With them, few nuts, spices and some sweeteners, one is all set.

Along with the nuts, I included cardamom for flavour, lemon zest to elevate the taste, and cinnamon and cloves to bring in the aroma.

Let’s look at a simple recipe / method for preparing Baklava.

All the Baklava lovers out there, I am sure, this will be the recipe that you would love to go with. This quick and easiest way to prepare it, is made possible by easily available ingredients.

Other sweets : Desserts 

 

Total time: 35 minutes

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 20 minutes

Makes: 20

Ingredients:

Pastry sheet: 1(10 “*10 “)

Melted butter: little (For brushing)

Warm honey: 0.25 cup

For filling:

Pistachios: 0.25 cup

Cashew: 0.25 cup

Almonds: 0.25 cup

Walnuts: 0.25 cup

Brown sugar: 0.25 cup

Lemon zest: 1 tbsp.

Cinnamon powder: 1 tsp.

Cardamom powder: 0.5 tsp.

Powdered cloves: 0.5 tsp.

Note:

• The store purchased pastry sheet is definitely lifesaving here as baking baklava is a time consuming task otherwise, but care should be taken to ensure that the sheets are properly thawed before use. Keep the pastry sheets out of the freezer much ahead of time to ensure this
• The nuts should be powdered, but coarsely

Quick Video :

Method:

• Coarsely powder each of the nuts (perhaps few pulses in a food processor or a mixer)

• In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients mentioned under the “For filling” section, mix well and keep aside

 

 

 

• Take the thawed pastry sheets. (You may dust the floor if required while unrolling the sheets) Unroll the sheet and cut out a sheet of 10*10 (you may take the entire sheet. I had to fit it in my baking tray which is no bigger). Divide it into 2 portions again and keep aside

• Meanwhile, preheat the oven at 200 deg. centigrade
• Line the baking tray with a parchment paper or baking sheet. Transfer one of the cut pastry sheets onto the baking tray

• Grease the sheet with butter. Sprinkle the filling evenly

• Place the next layer of the pastry sheet over this and grease the top of the sheet with butter

• With a pizza cutter (it is easier to mark using this) mark the layers diagonally to form diamond shaped units. Care should be taken to ensure than the filling doesn’t ooze out in the process

• Transfer the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake at 200 °C for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the top layer turns soft, puffy and golden brown in colour

 

• Take the baking tray out and let it cool

• Meanwhile, heat the honey (only warm) and brush it over the baked baklava when the baklava is still hot

• Yummy, delicious and rich Baklava is ready to serve!!! Serve it fresh and immediately. This sweet dish is ready to relish!!!

• Garnish with chopped pistachios or powdered nuts

• You can preserve it for about a day or 2. But I am sure the sweet will get over much earlier as you cannot settle down with just a piece or two!!!

Baklava and Ramadan Stories:

One day, while on a visit to one of the Turkish stores nearby, my hubby was tempted by the varieties of sweets on display. And there was one shelf full of Baklava variations. The sight was simply so hard to resist for him that he started narrating stories about Baklava and other sweets from the Middle East and asked if we could try one? And that was the first time that I tasted it. As is so typical of me, and the fact that I relished this sweet, an instant thought popped out of my mind effortlessly – Why not try this at home!!! And since then, I had been trying out various combinations and ways of preparing this sweet and finally here we go, I could finally arrive at this recipe which is quick to prepare and  with easily available ingredients around.

Also, this sweet reminded me of my days and friends back in Kanpur. During Ramadan, a good friend of mine would shower us with all goodies, mostly sweets, as we were vegetarians and they were indeed a delight to have. She would invite me over to her home and her mom would serve me with the best of the sweets prepared for the festival. Other fond memories were the bustling markets of Kanpur, offering wide range of sweets during Ramadan. Sweet memories indeed!!!