Baklava a la Virginia
Ingredients:
Filling:
350g blanched, roasted and crushed almonds
350g crushed walnuts
½ cup icing sugar
Ground cinnamon – about 1 dessertspoon
Ground cloves – about ¼ teaspoon
500g filo pastry or 24 sheets of filo pastry
500g unsalted butter, melted and clarified.
It is important to clarify the butter, as the milk content of the butter softens the pastry.
Syrup:
½ cup honey
2 cups sugar
1½ cups water
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 small cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves.
Method:
Syrup:
Add all ingredients into a saucepan and boil gently until the sugar has dissolved.
When it starts to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Turn off and cool.
When cool remove cinnamon sticks and cloves.
Filling:
Mix crushed nuts with the icing sugar, ground cinnamon and ground cloves.
To make up Baklava:
Unwrap filo pastry, spread flat on a tea towel and cover with a dry tea towel then a damp one to stop drying out while assembling baklava.
Place one sheet of filo in a buttered baking dish (approx. 42cm x 30cm x 5cm), brush all over with melted butter and place another sheet on top.
Continue adding sheets of filo, buttering in between, until 10 sheets are used.
Sprinkle half (3/6th) of the nut mixture over the filo.
Add two more sheets of filo, brushing the first sheet with butter and sprinkle another 1/6th of the nuts on the second.
Repeat two more times, until all the nuts are used.
Top with 8 more sheets of buttered filo.
Trim edges and brush top layer with butter.
With a sharp knife, cut through all of the filo sheets to make a diamond pattern.
Brush remaining butter over the top.
Bake in a moderate oven, 180o C for about ½ hour, or until the pastry is a light golden brown.
Spoon COLD syrup over hot baklava as soon as it comes from the oven and hear it sizzle.
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