Majida Rashid
Happy New Year!
Baklava is a sweet fairy tale that recounts the memories spent with the family.
This holiday season we were lucky to have out of town visitors. It gave us a chance to celebrate not only the season but their presence as well. We ate plenty of sweet dishes, I guess, like everyone else. Come January and I thought I am done with eating sugary food. Apparently not. One night I pondered about January’s column. I got my answer when I woke up in the middle of the night and the word baklava popped up in my mind.
Fortunately, the idea came two nights prior to the guests’ departure. So, I made baklava the next day and we enjoyed fresh home-made dessert.
Greeks say they invented baklava and Turks claim it was their invention. I’m glad we have such a yummy dish, irrespective of who created it.
Baklava is easy to make. I prefer making it at home than eating store-bought because I can adjust the sweetness. The latter is too sweet for my taste. I usually use light syrup, which can be doubled.
Phyllo pastry comes frozen. The box of phyllo pastry usually contains two packets each wrapped separately. I used only one packet for this recipe.
Pistachios can be replaced with walnuts or almonds.
Important to remember: If the baked pastry is hot the syrup should be cold and vice versa. It’s important to keep one of them at room temperature.
Baklava
Ingredients
1 packet of phyllo pastry
4-6 oz butter, melted
For the filling
8 oz pistachio nuts
15-20 cardamom pods
For the syrup
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon orange blossom, rose or cardamom essence, optional
Directions
• Pre-baking
Place the Phyllo pastry on the counter, while it’s still wrapped in its cover, for a few hours.
Oil a baking tray big enough to accommodate the phyllo pastry sheets snugly.
Line it with parchment paper and leave aside.
Coarsely grind the pistachios and the cardamoms.
• For the syrup
Boil together the sugar and the water.
Brush down any sugar that sticks on the sides of the pan.
When the water thickens a little then fill a tablespoon, hold it a little above the pan at a slightly tilted angle. Slowly pour down the syrup. Syrup is ready when it becomes thick and the last drops are a bit gooey and drip slowly.
Immediately remove the pan from the fire.
Place the pan in ice to arrest further cooking.
Preheat oven at 300°F.
• Baklava assembly
Leave aside some nuts for the top layer.
Oil the parchment paper and place three layers of phyllo pastry on it and brush with the melted butter.
Sprinkle the pastry with some of the ground pistachios.
Cover with three more layers of phyllo pastry and gently brush the top layer with melted butter.
Repeat until the phyllo pastry is finished.
Remember to butter and sprinkle nuts on top of every third layer of the pastry.
Butter the top layer and sprinkle the reserved nuts and put in the oven.
Check the top after 30 minutes of baking.
Continue baking, checking every 5 minutes. It should be done in 40-45 minutes. If not, bake for a few more minutes.
Remove from the oven when the top is golden brown.
Cool slightly.
Cut into square or diamond shaped pieces.
• Before serving
Using a pinky finger check the temperature of the syrup. It should be at room temperature.
Mix in the essence.
With a spoon pour the syrup over the warm pastry.
Cool completely.
Transfer onto a serving dish and serve with tea or coffee.
This baklava is light, crispy and flaky. For denser, sweeter baklava, similar to the store-bought, use both phyllo packets and increase the number of layers before buttering and sprinkling the nuts. Increase quantities of other ingredients and amount of syrup to your liking and drench the pastry in the syrup.
Serves 3-4
—————
Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food @Frontiers_Of_Flavor. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.word press.com.
Baklava is a sweet fairy tale that recounts the memories spent with the family.
This holiday season we were lucky to have out of town visitors. It gave us a chance to celebrate not only the season but their presence as well. We ate plenty of sweet dishes, I guess, like everyone else. Come January and I thought I am done with eating sugary food. Apparently not. One night I pondered about January’s column. I got my answer when I woke up in the middle of the night and the word baklava popped up in my mind.
Fortunately, the idea came two nights prior to the guests’ departure. So, I made baklava the next day and we enjoyed fresh home-made dessert.
Greeks say they invented baklava and Turks claim it was their invention. I’m glad we have such a yummy dish, irrespective of who created it.
Baklava is easy to make. I prefer making it at home than eating store-bought because I can adjust the sweetness. The latter is too sweet for my taste. I usually use light syrup, which can be doubled.
Phyllo pastry comes frozen. The box of phyllo pastry usually contains two packets each wrapped separately. I used only one packet for this recipe.
Pistachios can be replaced with walnuts or almonds.
Important to remember: If the baked pastry is hot the syrup should be cold and vice versa. It’s important to keep one of them at room temperature.
Baklava
Ingredients
1 packet of phyllo pastry
4-6 oz butter, melted
For the filling
8 oz pistachio nuts
15-20 cardamom pods
For the syrup
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon orange blossom, rose or cardamom essence, optional
Directions
• Pre-baking
Place the Phyllo pastry on the counter, while it’s still wrapped in its cover, for a few hours.
Oil a baking tray big enough to accommodate the phyllo pastry sheets snugly.
Line it with parchment paper and leave aside.
Coarsely grind the pistachios and the cardamoms.
• For the syrup
Boil together the sugar and the water.
Brush down any sugar that sticks on the sides of the pan.
When the water thickens a little then fill a tablespoon, hold it a little above the pan at a slightly tilted angle. Slowly pour down the syrup. Syrup is ready when it becomes thick and the last drops are a bit gooey and drip slowly.
Immediately remove the pan from the fire.
Place the pan in ice to arrest further cooking.
Preheat oven at 300°F.
• Baklava assembly
Leave aside some nuts for the top layer.
Oil the parchment paper and place three layers of phyllo pastry on it and brush with the melted butter.
Sprinkle the pastry with some of the ground pistachios.
Cover with three more layers of phyllo pastry and gently brush the top layer with melted butter.
Repeat until the phyllo pastry is finished.
Remember to butter and sprinkle nuts on top of every third layer of the pastry.
Butter the top layer and sprinkle the reserved nuts and put in the oven.
Check the top after 30 minutes of baking.
Continue baking, checking every 5 minutes. It should be done in 40-45 minutes. If not, bake for a few more minutes.
Remove from the oven when the top is golden brown.
Cool slightly.
Cut into square or diamond shaped pieces.
• Before serving
Using a pinky finger check the temperature of the syrup. It should be at room temperature.
Mix in the essence.
With a spoon pour the syrup over the warm pastry.
Cool completely.
Transfer onto a serving dish and serve with tea or coffee.
This baklava is light, crispy and flaky. For denser, sweeter baklava, similar to the store-bought, use both phyllo packets and increase the number of layers before buttering and sprinkling the nuts. Increase quantities of other ingredients and amount of syrup to your liking and drench the pastry in the syrup.
Serves 3-4
—————
Foodie Majida Rashid lives in Texas. Food and cooking are her passion. Her presentation about her love of food can be viewed on USA Today’s network: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=l0xi566VSPo – We Spread Love Through Food @Frontiers_Of_Flavor. Her philosophical writing can be read at apakistaniwomansjourney.word press.com.
