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Monday, June 27, 2011

Daring Bakers' Baklava



I have to admit that from the outset I was not so keen of this challenge, simply because I was not moved by how Baklava looked. It vaguely reminded me of Apple Strudle challenge quite long time ago. Rolling dough until it was transparent was just as challenging back then, but I had done that with Apple Strudle and that was the second reason I wasn’t quite interested.

But then I had a strong reason to join this challenge – I was so eager to make the home-made phyllo, the compulsory of this challenge. It might be astonishing, phyllo is an ingredient one could never find in Bangkok. I remembered ordering a phyllo pack from a shop in Singapore and my friend who had picked it up left it in his fridge and totally forgot about it on the day he left for Bangkok to see me.



Apparently I could make good use of my huge rolling pin which helped expand the phyllo dough as wide as possible quite easily. I had decided to go moderate with the recipes and be happy with a smaller size Baklava: 4 inch x 11 inch.

When the baking was done, I couldn’t resist tasting Baklava while it was still hot and crispy. I figured that it would taste better without soaking it in syrup but simply brushing the top with a layer of syrup to create a glossy surface. What do you think?



My first bite into Baklava was just delightful, it was delicious - the nutty fragrance and crispiness had fulfilled my most anticipating palate. Felt good I had taken the Baklava challenge and right there and then, I was glad I could tell everyone how delicious this Greek dessert was.

Thanks so much to Erica of Erica’s Edibles for this luscious dessert! Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.




BAKLAVA
Makes one 4 inch x 11 inch baklava.



1. Dough

Ingredients:
- 185 g unbleached all purpose (plain) flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 105 ml water, plus more if needed
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
- 1/2 tsp cider vinegar, (could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste)

Method:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt.
- Mix with paddle attachment
- Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
- Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough that sticks together, if it appears dry add a little more water.
- Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes.
- Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
- Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
- Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest for 2 hours or more.

Rolling your Phyllo
- Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly larger then a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out.
- Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
- Roll out the dough a bit to flatten it out.
- Wrap the dough around your rolling pin/dowel.
- Roll back and forth quickly with the dough remaining on the dowel. Remove; notice how much bigger it is!
- Rotate and repeat until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.
- When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent.
- Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.



2. Syrup

Ingredients:
- 150 ml honey
- 150 ml water
- 140 g sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 fresh citrus peel (lemon or orange work best)
- a few cloves or a pinch or ground clove

Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved. Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
-3. Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and lemon, allow to cool as baklava cooks.



3. Filling

Ingredients:
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 100 g almond meal
- 50 g almond chunks
- 75 g sugar
- phyllo dough (see recipe above)
- 100g melted butter

Directions:
- Preheat oven to moderate 180°C.
- Combine nuts, sugar and spices. Set aside.
- Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan
- Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet
- Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. (Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it's not needed)
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
- Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
- Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
- Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
- Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
- Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance.
- With a Sharp knife cut your baklava in desired shapes and number of pieces. If you can't cut all the ways through don’t worry you will cut again later. A 9x9 pan cuts nicely into 30 pieces. Then brush with a generous layer of butter making sure to cover every area and edge
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven)
- When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled (will still be warmish) syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava! Next morning all syrup is absorbed .
- Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup.
- Serve at room temperature

39 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, your baklava looks BEAUTIFUL! I'm sad I didn't get around to doing the challenge this month, but your photos have got me wanting to make it right now. It looks perfect. Absolutely perfect. Great job! :)

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  2. Your baklava are fantastic! Great job on that challenge.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. I'm glad you decided to go for the challenge. Baklava is just glorious! :-) Great job!

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  4. What a lovely Baklava..... great flavours :)
    Your Baklava is reminding me of mille feuille.... will just have to go n get some for myself now.... am so tempted....
    Chocolate Baklava Laced With Tequila ~ Rolling Phyllo with Daring Bakers

    Cheers,
    The Variable, Crazy Over Desserts - Nachiketa
    Catch me on facebook @ Crazy Over Desserts

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  5. Gosh your presentation looks absolutely stunning! :)

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  6. Your Baklava is so neat and geometric and perfect!

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  7. I know you said you weren't really into the look of baklava but yours looks lovely!
    You are brave making your own filo pastry, I'm lucky that it's readily available here because I don't think I'd ever make it!

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  8. Wow, your baklava is incredibly neat and beautiful. And the pictures as well... very impressive!

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  9. I always enjoy seeing your daring bakers, looks so super good! Have any left, send them this way!@

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  10. If you say it was delighful i believe you! I really would like to make one, it looks so hard though... Yours looks especially delicous!

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  11. How do you do it Kris? Those are the neatest baklava slices I've ever.seen! Great job on another challenge.

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  12. Kris, my mom was Armenian and her side of the family made baklava many times, but I never have:( I really should have done this challenge. I will add it to my mile-long list of things to make. The homemade phyllo dough would be a fun, personal challenge for me:) Your baklava looks delicious and beautiful. Wish I could reach right in and grab some:) Have a great week!

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  13. Wow, the baklava looks amazing...especially with homemade phyllo. Your baklava is very nicely cut...doesn't look like the ordinary baklava...^^
    love it !

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  14. I kind of wish I had gone with your instincts and not poured all the syrup over mine; I would have enjoyed it more. Your rectangles look like perfection!

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  15. Oh my gosh, what a great idea to brush the top with the syrup rather than letting the whole dessert soak in the syrup. Much different texture, but great for those who felt that the dessert was too sweet with all of that syrup. And as always, your photos are just stunning. Wonderful work on the challenge!

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  16. This looks delicious. Great job on the challenge!

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  17. I too had many of the same thought you had... I was not looking forward to rolling out the dough. It was well worth the delicious reward though! Your photos are beautiful and your baklava looks perfect... Well done!

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  18. The most astounding pictures of baklava that I have ever seen superb work. Your baklava pieces are so so cute and they look exquisite (a bit like Kit Kat wafers). Your photographs are very professional and I like the idea of a small amount of syrup on top I like the glossy tops.

    Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  19. Great job on this challenge! I love how you cut it in an nontraditional way.

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  20. Meraviglioso dolce e meravigliose (come sempre!!) foto!
    Buona giornata

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  21. Wow Kris...the first picture of the baklava had me drooling! What a great presentation, love it! Excellent!

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  22. Looks beautiful! The layers look really neat and crisp. Best, Sandie

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  23. you did a fab job for this challenge Kris!

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  24. wow you made your own phyllo! that is so impressive! it's challenges like this that make me simultaneously glad and sad that i left the daring bakers! hopefully i'll make it back someday. this looks so so so good.

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  25. Kris, this looks picture perfect. I do miss Daring Bakers. Their challenges are so fun! So glad that you enjoyed this, even if you were hesitant to start!

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  26. Wow Kris. That's the neatest baklava I've ever seen. All you DB'ers have inspired me to try it for myself now :)

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  27. Oh, I love it! I think your gentle glazing of the syrup really brought out how truly beautiful this layered pastry is! Great job!!!

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  28. Your baklava is so elegant! The uniform layers make it look like those thin wafer cookies. Beautiful, and I'm sure delicious too :) (Also, beautiful photos!)

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  29. I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge! I was also reminded of the strudel challenge, but it was a bit different, after all. You baklava looks amazing, with all the layers preserved!

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  30. I second that, your baklava is like dinning at a five star Greek bistro, man this is awesome. This brings back wonderful childhood memories, grabbing a Gyro and a piece of baklava after work.

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  31. Beautiful as always, love your idea of diping the slices into the syrup, yummy...
    I also loved making the phyllo, as it is not easily found in Brazil and I have never seen it in Korea. Great, now we can try all those gorgeous desserts that involve phyllo dough ;)

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  32. Wow, your photos are incredible!
    I like your idea of adding less syrup because I'm not a big fan of a syrup-soaked baklava :), so to me your baklava seems perfect, makes me want to make it myself as I missed this months challenge.

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  33. Beautiful photos of your baklava! I too wasn't super excited about the challenge at the beginning but I came around. I also liked mine hot out of the oven with the syrup just over the top layer. Nice job on the challenge!

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  34. Gorgeous take on the baklava. I love the rectangles, and next time I'm going to try what you did and just brush the top to start and taste. Even if I pour syrup on..it will be a lot less, as I think I've caused quite a ruckus with my organs due to major sugar overload lol Took me a week of no sugar to feel light and normal again!

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  35. ta baklawa est superbe!! j'adore cette forme rectangulaire! et les sublimes photos comme d'habitude!! bonne journée!

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  36. These are the most delicious baklavas I have ever seen.......gorgeous photographs.....pity I cannot pluck on right of my computer screen. I will definately give them a try.

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  37. I haven't eaten baklava in a really long time and I usually find it overly sweet. There are also some pretty bad version out there so I've mostly stayed away from it but when I look at these gorgeous baklavas you made... wow, impressive job!

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  38. That first picture is so stunning! Did you like the baklava just brushed with syrup? I tried it that way too, but found I actually liked it best on the third day, but there was only 1 piece left by then.

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  39. Baklava is one of my favorite things to make and eat but i always use store bought phyllo - I don't have the guts to make my own hehe. I love how you sliced these - they look so neat and perfect!

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