Baklava

It’s the 100th blog post, so I’m posting a personal favorite, Baklava. I’m half Greek, so I’ve sunk my teeth into many a Baklavas. The best baklava uses fresh Phyllo dough. At Saltbox Farm, we prepared some incredible baklava, all from scratch. Enjoy the pictures and recipe below, and I appreciate you checking out A Day in the Bite. Here’s to another 100 posts!

Roll Phyllo dough out with a rolling pin to as large as you can.

Layer 10 sheets of phyllo, brushing with butter between each layer.

Sprinkle 1⁄4 of the nut mixture over the dough. and keep layering.

Brush the top layer with butter. Cut in desired shape, either diamonds or squares.

Pour honey and lemon juice over the baklava when warm from the oven and allow to soak

Baklava

Author: Michael Symon and Saltbox Farm

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Greek

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 8-10

The best baklava uses fresh Phyllo dough. At Saltbox Farm, we prepared some incredible baklava, all from scratch.

Ingredients

1 pound of walnuts or pistachios coarsely ground, plus more for garnish
1⁄2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of breadcrumbs
4 sticks/1 pound butter melted
16 sheets of phyllo dough, cut in half
Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1-cup water
6 oz honey
1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine nuts, cinnamon and bread crumbs in a bowl.
Brush a 9- 13-inch baking dish with some butter. Layer 10 sheets of phyllo, brushing
with butter between each layer. Keep the remaining dough covered with a damp towel.
Sprinkle 1⁄4 of the nut mixture over the dough.Layer 4 pieces of phyllo on top, again
with butter between each layer. Add another 1⁄4 of the mixture, 4 more layers of phyllo
then the remaining nuts.
Layer the remaining 10 sheets of phyllo, again with butter on top of the last layer of nuts. Brush the top layer with butter. Cut in desired shape, either diamonds or squares.
Bake for about 1 hour or until golden.
Meanwhile, make the syrup by simmering the sugar and water for a few minutes until transparent. Remove from the heat and add the honey and the lemon juice. Allow to cool. Pour over the baklava when warm from the oven and allow to soak, uncovered for a few hours or overnight.

Phyllo Dough

Author: Saltbox Farm

Recipe type: Dough

Cuisine: Greek

Prep time: 45 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 10-12

Phyllo Dough has many uses. If you want the best tasting baklava, then make your phyllo dough from scratch.

Ingredients

2 1⁄2 cups AP Flour
Pinch of salt
2 T plus 1 tsp neutral oil
225-250 ml water

Instructions

Add the flour and salt to a large bowl and mix well. Add the oil and half the water and begin to mix with a wooden spoon. Continue to add the water as needed to form a moist tacky dough. You may not need all the water. You may need more. Transfer dough to the table and knead until smooth. If the dough feels dry, wet your hands and continue to knead. Remember, it should feel a bit tacky, not sticky. When smooth and tacky place into an oiled bowl, turn once to coat in oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap to rest for about 1 hour.
Roll dough out with a rolling pin to as large as you can. Eventually it will grow larger and wider than the pin. If sticky, dust with cornstarch. Now, abandon the pin and begin to hand stretch the dough as you would pizza dough. Use the backs of your hands to keep rotating the dough allowing gravity to gently stretch the dough. You can get help from someone else as it grows larger or place it down on a table dusted with cornstarch to continue to gently stretch the dough, using the backs of your hands to gently pull the dough from underneath. You should end up with a dough, thin enough that you can read words on a paper through the sheet. Cut into desired size sheets, layer and cover in plastic wrap.
At this stage you can use right away, or freeze.