Sweet And Irresistible Baklava For You

By Deanne Shepard


When you crave for something really moist and sweet, try this traditional eastern specialty. Once, the great part of Europe was part of Ottoman Empire. In these parts, baklava is still prepared and served in all special occasions. It is made of nuts, sugar and layers of very thin pastry called phillo or filo, with the addition of spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, refreshed with some lemon juice.

Phillo sheets should be sized to fit your pan. For making one rich cake maybe twenty sheets are needed. Every sheet should be coated with oil or with melted butter. You should place three to four coated sheets in your pan first, and then sprinkle everything with coarsely ground or finely chopped nuts adding a small spoon of cinnamon and some other spices of your choice.

Syrup is made of sugar and water, approximately three cups of sugar and one and a half cups of water. Sugar can be partially replaced with honey. Mix everything together and add your favorite spices, cinnamon, cardamom or cloves. Add some lemon juice and cook until it becomes syrupy.

Once done, the cake should be cut to diamond shapes or cubes, using a sharp knife. Finishing layer needs to be sprinkled with water. Bake in preheated oven for approximately half an hour, on 180 degrees. Sugar syrup should be cooled and poured over hot cake. Few hours later, your cake is ready to be served.

Instead of using walnuts, you may use any other nuts, including hazelnuts, almonds and pistachio. You could also add chopped dry fruits, for example figs, raisins and apricots. In some parts of East they use chopped dates. You will need maybe four cups of filling, but you can add more, if you like. Cinnamon is always there, but you can add cloves and cardamom as well.

Replacing lemon juice with orange juice is also really interesting. Add vanilla, orange zest, lime or some other spices. In various parts of Asia they often replace sugar with honey, or use them together. Use your imagination to create combinations that will satisfy your palate. It is simple and really funny.

One very interesting and irresistibly tasty version is made with the addition of chocolate. The recipe is basically the same, although you might prefer different spices, for example vanilla. When you are making sugar syrup, you should add maybe 200 grams of chocolate before pouring it over your hot cake. In this case the syrup doesn't have to be cooled, but you still need to cool the cake before serving it.

Another really delicious version includes two cups of ground almonds, two cups finely chopped almonds and two cups of finely chopped apricots. The preparation is the same, but you can add some apricot liqueur in your syrup, together with some vanilla and lime or orange juice. Very interesting combination you will surely enjoy in.




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