Baklava
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- Easy
- Makes 20 squares
Ingredients
FILLING
- 50g walnuts, finely chopped
- 50g almonds, finely chopped
- 150g pistachios, finely chopped
- 50g ground almonds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 100g melted unsalted butter, plus extra for the tin
- 2 x 270g packs filo sheets, trimmed to fit the tin
SYRUP
- 70g unsalted butter
- 100g soft light brown sugar
- 200ml runny honey
- 1 lemon, zested and 1/2 juiced
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to serve
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
Method
- STEP 1
Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. To make the syrup, melt the butter and sugar in a pan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Add the honey and simmer for a few more minutes. Pour in 250ml of water, the lemon juice and zest, salt and the orange juice and zest. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly.
- STEP 2
Add all the chopped nuts, ground almonds, cinnamon, cardamom and 50g of the melted butter to a bowl and mix.
- STEP 3
To assemble the baklava, brush a 20cm x 30cm deep baking dish with melted butter. Brush 4 of the filo sheets with melted butter then layer up in the bottom of the dish. Add 1/3 of the filling mix, top with another 4 sheets of buttered filo and add another 1/3 of the mix. Top with another 4 buttered sheets, then the remaining mixture and finish with a final layer of 4 buttered sheets.
- STEP 4
Using a sharp knife, gently cut a classic criss-cross baklava pattern into the pastry all the way through to the bottom layer. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the baklava is deep golden and crisp. Remove the baklava from the oven and drizzle over the salted honey syrup, then put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes to crisp up. Top with extra sea salt and leave to cool before serving.
