Homemade Honey & Rose Baklava

Helloooooooooo to all! If you have been keeping tabs on this blog and wondering if I somehow died in the process, I apologise for the biggest lag. Like I explained in my previous post, life has just gotten so much BUSIER. I won’t go into too much detail about what’s keeping me busy but let’s just say it’s a four letter word starting with the letter ‘w’. Yeah, I wish I had a cooler excuse but it is because of my day job.

Now that I’ve given you an update of where I’ve been hiding for the past month, let me give you details about what you’re really here for which is some damn good baklava *Heart eyes*. Homemade baklava was on my ‘to make’ list for the longest time and I was so happy that I finally got around to it. This walnut and honey baklava recipe is super delicious and really simple! Key word: simple. I didn’t say easy. I said simple. As always, my intention is for my readers to try out my recipes but I will not sugar coat it with this baklava – The process is loooooooonnngggg. Longer than the amount of o’s I put in the word long. The total ‘assemble and bake’ time ticks just over 2 hours but if I haven’t lost you already, let me just say - IT’S SO WORTH IT.

For the filling, you can use any nut blend that you like. I simply went with roughly chopped walnuts because I had an abundance of it in my pantry and it was a good chance for me to use it all up. I researched baklava recipes for a few months before I thought I was ready to give it a go and the key takeaway from all the research I did was to let the sugar syrup cool before drizzling it over the hot baklava. This ensures that the baklava stays tender and crisp and does not turn soggy. It’s also recommended to let the baklava absorb the syrup overnight for best results. Even though it was a long time to wait, it was well worth it!

And finally what makes (and breaks) this entire recipe is the buttering of every single filo sheet. Yes, you read that right! Buttering every single sheet enhances the flavour of the baklava and keeps it all together. Sometimes people complain about the baklava falling apart and that’s due to the dry texture caused by the lack of butter. As tedious as it may seem, I can guarantee that you will thank yourself when you finally get to devour the delicious treat! There’s also different ways to layer the baklava but I went with Natasha's Kitchen's recommendation which was to do the following:

10 buttered filo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture,

5 buttered filo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture,

5 buttered filo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture,

5 buttered filo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture,

5 buttered filo sheets, 3/4 cup nut mixture,

10 buttered filo sheets and butter the top.

TIP:

1. Slice the baklava to form little squares or diamonds prior to baking. It will be much easier to cut.

2. Keep filo pastry covered with a damp towel at all times. This will prevent the filo from drying out.

Ingredients:

2x 375g packet frozen filo pastry, thawed following packet instructions

500g unsalted butter, melted

1kg walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp cinnamon powder

Crushed pistachios for garnish (optional)

Sugar syrup:

2 cups castor sugar

1 cup honey

4 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. rose water

1 and ½ cups of water

Method:

Thaw filo pastry as per packet instructions (usually a few hours).

Place all ingredients for the sugar syrup in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and boil for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Prepare the baking tray by buttering the base and sides generously. Measure thawed filo sheet against the baking tray and trim where necessary. Discard excess pastry.

Roughly chop walnuts (or pulse using a food processor) and stir in cinnamon. Mix well.

Place 10 sheets of filo pastry into the prepared baking tray one at a time, while buttering each sheet. Sprinkle ¾ cup of nut mixture over the first 10 sheets of filo.

Add 5 sheets of filo pastry one at a time, buttering each sheet. Sprinkle ¾ cup of nut mixture. Repeat 3 more times. Finish with 10 sheets of filo pastry and brush the top with butter.

Cut pastry into desired shape and place in the oven at 160 C for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until baklava is golden brown in colour.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately drizzle the cooled syrup over the top. (You will hear it sizzle) Let baklava cool completely at room temperature, preferably overnight for best results.  

Garnish with crushed pistachios before serving.