Welcome to the Free Recipe of the Month!
Each month I feature a free recipe for visitors and regular subscribers. Once the month has passed, the recipe is retired into the BB Recipe Archives. So bake while the oven's hot! These recipes are only here and free for four short weeks.
The free recipe-of-this-month is Best Baklavah
Best Baklavah
Nothing beats a homemade Baklavah for the freshness it offers. This is buttery and delicious and relatively easy.
Filo Pastry and Nut Filling
2 cups unsalted butter, melted and clarified
2 (1 pound) packages filo pastry sheets
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup ground pecans or walnuts
2 cups ground walnuts
2 tablespoons cinnamon
¼ cup sugar
Lemon Honey Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Juice of one lemon
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons cinnamon
*Toasting the nuts first, before grinding them makes for a more buttery flavored pastry.(I never do it J)
Preheat oven to 375 F. Have a 9 by 13 inch rectangular baking pan nearby. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Melt and clarify the butter and set it nearby in your work area.
Cut filo sheets in half and stack them into one pile and cover with a damp tea towel in your work area. Melt and clarify butter. In a medium bowl, mix the ground nuts with the cinnamon, sugar and salt.
Brush the pan bottom generously with butter. Begin layering filo sheets, brushing each generously with butter as you layer. After 6 to 8 sheets, sprinkle about1/3 cup of the nut mixture on the surface. Continue layering sheets this way, sprinkling with nuts, until filo and nut filling are used up. Brush the final layer with butter. Press slightly. Make some steam vents in the top, with a paring knife. The cut in five rows and then cut each row into diamond shapes.
Place baklava on baking sheet and then in oven. Immediately lower temperature to 350 F. after 20 minutes. Bake for 1 hour (total) or until pastry is golden brown.
Meanwhile, to make syrup, combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves (about 220 F on a candy thermometer). Let summer for 5 minutes.
Pour cooled syrup evenly over baklava. Let stand for 1 hour before serving. Recoup and extra syrup and re-pour it. Let stand an hour or refrigerate until serving.
Serve in muffin paper liner cups -splayed out as pastry cups
Makes 24-36 portions
