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「Recima's Baking Blog Chapter 3: Baklava」

Recima
Syrup Applied.jpg
Coming in hot and a week late, welcome to chapter 3 of the hottest blog in /b/!
Today we've got our first pastry dish, straight from the Mediterranean Sea, Baklava! Although I can't say it's my favorite Greek pastry, (that would be Tiropitas) it's still nothing to scoff at. This recipe is also quite a bit more complicated than my previous recipes, so make sure to read the instructions carefully! (I also recommend watching an online video of someone else making it if you get confused about any part.) As with all recipes, read the entire recipe before beginning yourself. Let's begin!

Servings: ~24
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Cooling time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
<Filling
>2 Cups of Finely Chopped Walnuts
>1 3/4 Cups of Finely Chopped Almonds
>1/4 Cup of Sugar
>1 Teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

<Syrup
>1/2 Cup Water
>1 Slice of Lemon
>1 Cinnamon Stick
>1 Cup of Sugar
>1/4 Cup of Honey

<Pastry
>1 Pound of Phyllo Dough (~40 10x15-inch sheets)(It's sometimes called Filo Dough)(I used this brand: https://athensfoods.com/products/phyllo-dough-sheets/)
>1 Pound of Butter (4 sticks)
>Cloves (Optional)

Continued in comments
Recima
Syrup.jpg
Baking Tools Needed:
>Oven
>Stove
>Fridge
>Saucepan
>Glass Baking Dish (Sized to around the same size as your Phyllo sheets)(I used a Metal Baking Sheet, and it turned out fine, but I recommend using a Glass Dish)
>Medium Bowl
>Large Wooden Spoon
>Knife
>Dish for Melting Butter
>Pastry Brush
>Measuring Cups
>Regular Spoon
>2 Oven Mitts
>Food Processor (Moderately Recommended)
>2 Additional Helpers (1 Helper is Strongly Recommended, while a second helper is Moderately Recommended)

Directions:
>Preheat oven to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit
>In medium bowl, mix all "Filling" Ingredients, and set aside (I recommend using a food processor to chop the nuts, I used an Ulu Knife and it took me 25 minutes)
>In Saucepan combine all "Syrup" Ingredients EXCEPT Honey, and heat until boiling
>Stir Honey into the Saucepan and let mixture cool, until you can safely place it into a Fridge.
>Melt Butter if you haven't already

It gets complicated here so here's a step by step breakdown for the next part:

You're going to have 3 repeating steps, but the 3rd step is only done for some of the layers.

>For around the first 15 layers you want to layer a Sheet of Phyllo, and then Brush it with the Melted Butter using the Pastry Brush. I recommend having one person placing each layer of Phyllo down, and another person brushing each sheet. Not all of the layers are going to be perfect, but just try to be moderately consistent; if you notice one corner that hasn't been brushed with butter for a while, try to add some extra butter there for a few layers.

>For the next 15 layers (making sure you still have 10 set aside for the final part) you're going to add an extra step. After buttering each layer of Phyllo, you want to add around 4 regularly sized spoonfuls of your "Filling" mix to each layer. Try to spread it out evenly, and remember that if one spot wasn't adequately covered in this layer, you can always prioritize the spot in the next layer. Feel free to adjust how much filling you're adding to each layer as you see fit; ideally by the time you're done with these layers you should have no filling left.

>For the final 10 layers go back to just using the phyllo sheets and butter, and try to use up the rest of your melted butter along the way.
Recima
Sheet of Phyllo.jpg
For the layering portion, it's important to work quickly so that the phyllo dough doesn't dry up. To mitigate this, I recommend putting sheets you aren't currently using underneath a damp cloth.

>Once done layering, cut the Baklava into ~3 Inch (7cm) diamonds (You don't have to cut it into a diamond pattern, but it's that's how it's usually cut; Just make sure you cut the Baklava before putting it into the Oven)
>If you want, insert Cloves into the center of each slice (For mine I did half with Cloves and half without)
>Place Baklava in Oven (375 Degrees) for 30 minutes
>After 30 minutes lower Oven temp to 350 Degrees and let cook for another 30 minutes
>Remove Baklava from Oven and pour "Syrup" Mixture over the dish. (You'll want to remove the Lemon Slice and Cinnamon Stick from the dish if they fall onto the dish)
>Let Cool for 10 Minutes, and re-cut along the lines that you previously made
>Enjoy!

NOTE: If you added Cloves, please remember to remove them before consumption! Cloves aren't edible, they just add extra flavors when cooked!

Storage:
The dish will last for a week or two at room temperature; just make sure that you don't trap the steam in with the dish or your Baklava will become soggy!

Thank you for reading my Baking blog, and as always, feel free to try this recipe out and tell me what you think! So far I haven't seen anyone comment what they've been cooking or baking under any of these posts, so I'm getting concerned that none of you are actually eating anything. I'd love to be proven wrong, so don't be shy and show us what you've made! Next chapter (which will be next week as this one was a week late) we'll be baking something Spooky for this upcoming Halloween!

See you next time!
-Recima
Recima
Baklava Served.jpg
This is the final image I have. In the future I might try to combine some images so there isn't a huge list like this one, but if you have any thoughts on the current formatting, feel free to share!
>>11914

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