International Recipe Sampler by - HTML preview

Greece − Baklavas

Filling:
1 pound walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pastry:
1 pound phyllo pastry
6 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:
1/2 pound sugar
10 oz. water
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons lemon juice
some lemon peel
2 tablespoons honey

Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl.
Liberally butter the base and sides of an elongated or round baking dish. Measure the length of the phyllo against the baking dish roughly and, allowing 1 inch extra approximately for shrinkage, cut to length with a sharp knife. Brush each layer of phyllo with melted butter and spread over the base of the container as evenly as possible. Once you have used 5 layers of pastry, sprinkle a thin layer of filling all over the surface and add 3 more layers. Sprinkle a thin layer of filling and place 2 more sheets of phyllo on top. Sprinkle on all the remaining filling, spreading it evenly, and cover with 7−8 more layers of phyllo, brushing individually with butter. Fold any excess pastry on either of the sides over the filling and brush it with butter. Brush the top layer liberally with butter in order to get it crisp and golden. Trim any excess pastry with a small sharp knife, keeping in mind that it will also shrink.

Cut the top layers of fyllo carefully, either diagonally into diamond shapes or straight, which will result in square or elongated pieces. Be careful not to cut right down to the base, but only the top layers. This is done in order to make cutting and lifting the pieces out, once it is cooked, much easier and efficient. Using the tips of four fingers, sprinkle drops of water all over the surface and cook it in a preheated oven at 375F for 15 minutes; lower the heat to 350F and cook for a further 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the syrup. Place all the

syrup ingredients, apart from the honey, in a saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 6−8 minutes, add the honey and simmer for a further 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Let the baklava cool down then pour the hot but not boiling syrup slowly all over, through a strainer.