Almond & Pistachio Baklava

Almond and Pistachio Baklava
Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of the Middle East and traditional Greek cuisine. Festive most of the time, since in Greek houses is done on festive & special days.
Traditionally made with phyllo sheets, many phyllo sheets with interlayers of nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and chocolate…
The proposal of Kitchen Stories is with roasted & crushed almonds and pistachios, sprinkled with spices and wrapped in syrupy rolls. It is easy to make, it is delicious, it's almost a mouthful.
Yours!
work: 45′ time: 1h:15′ medium:

Almond and Pistachio Baklava

Ingredients (~50 pieces)

  • 1 package phyllo sheets (~14 sheets)
  • 100g (3.5 oz) sponged cake or breadcrumbs
  • 250g (8.8 oz) almonds not peeled, roasted
  • 200g (7.1 oz) pistachios
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 200g (7.1 oz) butter, melted
  • 100g (3.5 oz) honey
Crush the almonds and pistachios and place them in a medium sized bowl.
Crush the sponge cake and join with nuts.
Add the spices and 4 tablespoons of melted butter.
Mix well the mixture of baklava filling. Leave aside for a while.
With a brush butter well a baking dish dimensions 35×40 cm (1.2×1.3 feet).
Open the package of phyllo onto the bench with the narrow side ahead. Grease two leaves and put them on top of one another.
In the middle of the phyllo put across a quantity of stuffing.
On the filling, add two tablespoons of honey.
Lift up from one end the two sheets together and fold over the filling to meet the opposite edge.
Wrap in a roll, starting from the point where the filling is. Roll up tightly until wrap well. Place it in the pan, with the union down, and parallel to the long side of the pan.
Repeat the same with the next phyllo until they are finished.
With a sharp knife cut almost all the way down at distances of 5 cm (2 in).
Grease well the surface of the rolls.
Bake in preheated oven at 180°C (356°F, Gas 4.2) for 30'-35' until browned the surface of baklava and phyllo beneath.

Syrup

  • 600ml (1.3 Pints) water
  • 600g (1.3 lbs) sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • ½ lemon juice
  • pistachios, grated for decoration
Boil the ingredients for the syrup for around ~8' until thickens slightly and set aside to cool.
When you pull the pan from the oven use the cold syrup little by little until they absorb all.
When the baklava has cooled completely and absorb the syrup, decorate with crushed pistachio.
Almond and Pistachio Baklava Almond and Pistachio Baklava Almond and Pistachio Baklava
For greater convenience split the filling into seven parts of the same weight.


Author Zambia G. Sifaki