Sweet Baklava

I've wanted to make Baklava for a very long time. I love nuts and though I am not a fan of terribly sweet desserts (and the Baklava is achingly sweet, make no mistake), the idea of layers and layers of rich cinnamon coated nuts set in between buttered sheets of filo pastry baked and soaked with a sweet cardamom flavoured syrup just hooked me.

Rich? Hell, yeah and not just in flavour. It is believed that until the mid 19th century, the Turkish dessert Baklava was a dessert of the rich (because of the amount of nuts used) and that Turkish sultans favoured the Baklava because the pistachios and spices (cinnamon and cardamom) were powerful aphrodisiacs. Hmmm.

There are slight variations with regards to how Baklava is made just as there are many theories about the origins of the dish. Here are some of the variations you may find when you go in search of a recipe for Baklava:

Choice of nuts: Some cooks use just pistachios while others use a combination of nuts — pistachio, pecans, almonds and walnuts are commonly used too. I like a combination of pistachios, pecans and walnuts.

Spices: Some recipes use ground cinnamon, some use ground cinnamon and clove and some ground cinnamon and cardamom. Some don't used spices at all. I favour cinnamon and cardamom as I am not a huge fan of cloves.

The syrup: you can use a simple sugar syrup, a honey-infused syrup that's spiked with rose water, a orange flavoured syrup ... they're all quite good but also all very sweet.

The pastry: Nope, this is one thing that is consistent in every recipe — you use phyllo pastry that's coated generously with melted butter.

Baklava
1 pack frozen phyllo pastry (you will probably need about 20-25 sheets)
4 cups chopped nuts (I used lightly roasted pistachios, pecans and walnuts)
1 tsp cinnamon
160g butter, melted
1cup honey
1/4 cup water
2 tsp rose water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Thaw your phyllo pastry as per the directions on the box. Usually, it takes about 2 hours to thaw in room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Once thawed, keep them covered between two sheets of damp kitchen cloths as you work on the Baklava.

Get your baking pan ready: a 8 or 9 inch square pan is ideal.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Coat the chopped nuts with cinnamon. Set aside.

Brush the base of your baking pan generously with some melted butter.

Make sure your phyllo pastry is the same size as your pan. If it's too big, trim it to fit.

Remove two sheets of the phyllo pastry from the pile and place on your counter. Brush the top layer with melted butter and then transfer into the baking pan, buttered side down. Repeat twice so you have six sheets of pastry as your base.

Spread a layer of nuts on the phyllo sheet until the pastry is covered with nuts.

Remove another two sheets of pastry from the pile and once again brush the top sheet with butter. Place the buttered side onto the nuts. Repeat with another two sheets. Add more nuts to form another layer and then layer another two sheets of pastry as before. If there are enough nuts, do another layer. The top layer of pastry should, like the base, comprise of six sheets of phyllo layered the same way as the base.

Brush the top layer generously with butter and make sure the sides are sealed well to the edge of the pan.

Use a sharp knife and cut the baklava into diagonal diamond shapes or squares.

Bake for 30-40 mins or until golden.

While the baklava is baking, make the syrup.

Pour the melted butter you have remaining into a saucepan and add the honey, water, cardamom, rose water and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally and reduce the heat to let the syrup simmer for a few minutes.

When the Baklava is ready, remove from the oven and drizzle half the syrup all over the pastry. Let the syrup soak into the pastry and after 10 mins or so, pour the remaining syrup all over the Baklava. Let it cool completely before serving.

Best eaten with a hot cup of spiced tea or coffee.

Eat your veggies ... in a cake

I wasn't surprised when I saw David Lebovitz's post about a zucchini cake. Zucchini, in the squash family of vegetables, is one of the most versatile vegetables/ingredients to cook with. Whether in a savoury tart, bread or dessert, the zucchini takes on and enhances flavours really, really well. So a zucchini cake? Sure, why not.


Over in these parts, Zucchinis are expensive but I pay the price because I love cooking/baking with zucchini.  This was my first zucchini cake, though and I was excited. I was sure it would taste good, but I wanted to know just how good.


So, apart from the usual ingredients required to bake a cake -- flour, baking powder/soda, sugar and eggs -- this cake used olive oil instead of butter, a bunch of spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) and grated lemon rind. Oh and toasted walnuts ... lots of walnuts.

It also has a glaze. A deliciously tangy glaze with lemon juice, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Sounds like a whole lot of sugar, right? But the cake itself isn't too sweet so the glaze is just the perfect finish. The use of granulated sugar adds a crunch to the glaze which contrasts well with the moistness of the actual cake. 


And the lemon? It's not what I would have envisioned for the cake but what do I know? Turns out it is just what's needed to complement the spiciness of the cake.


So, back to the zucchini.


The high-moisture content of the zucchini helps make the cake moist, I think. The result? A lovely fluffy and moist cake.


Try it. You won't regret it. I promise.

Zucchini and walnut cake
adapted from David Lebovitz

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine.
2 cups flour
2/12 cups finely grated zucchini
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3 large eggs (at room temp)
11/2 cup sugar
1 cup olive oil
2 tbsp grated lemon zest

For the glaze
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup icing sugar

Beat the sugar, eggs and oil in an electric mixer till light, about 3-5 mins; med speed. Add vanilla extract, mix for another 30 seconds.
Sift the flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat till well incorporated.
Fold in the zucchini and nuts.
Pour batter into a greased baking pan and bake in  a preheated oven (180C) for 45-50 mins or till a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove and let cake cool for 10 mins. Meanwhile make glaze by whisking the juice and sugars till they're all well mixed. Drizzle generously on cake before the cake cools.

Eat warm. Or cold.

Candied Walnuts rock my world

[caption id="attachment_517" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Syrupy walnuts: a treat that can't go wrong."][/caption]

I rarely have  any deserts at home. No biscuits  (do saltines count?), no chocolate, no cake. I have a quarter tub of ice cream in my freezer but it's been there for a while  -- remnants of  a get together with my cousins some months back. yes, months. Anytime I make a desert, it's for someone else.

What you will find in my pantry are nuts. Cashew nuts, pecan nuts, peanuts, walnuts ... even candle nuts for cooking curries.

So when my friend called to ask if she could drop by for a bit -- her daughter wanted to play with my dachshund Mojo, I panicked. What would I offer the kid to eat?

I did a quick inventory of what I had.   Saltines? Get real.  Apples? The kid would probably kick me. Old ice cream? Her mum would probably kick me. Instant noodles? That's just pathetic. Then I recalled a jar of walnuts and a recipe for candied walnuts I bookmarked some time back. The kid would like it, right? Oh well, she'd just have to.

Kid came. Kid payed with dog. Kid drank soda and then I brought out the nuts. She looked at them suspiciously, reached out her hand and picked one small syrupy walnut.

Ten minutes. Thats how long it took her to finish the bowl of nuts. Heck, she didn't even keep some for me. I know I don't like desserts, but I love nuts, candied or not.

Oh well, better me deprived of nuts than an unhappy kid without a treat. So maybe this X'Mas, you can ditch the candy cane for some candied walnuts.... ya think?

Candied Walnuts

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups raw walnut,  halved

pinch of  salt

pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 5 - 7 minutes or until toasted. Just be sure not to burn them. Remove and cool.  Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and cook on medium hear, stirring. When the sugar has melted, add the  walnuts and stir, making sure all the nuts are coated with the sugar before it hardens.  Once they're all coated, remove from heat and spread on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle the nuts with the salt and, if you wish, cinnamon. Seperate those that are sticking together and let them cool.

More desserts at Nodessert? Look at