Turkish Baklava

Turkish Baklava

Turkish Baklava is a delicious and popular pastry.This pastry is easy to make if you have those ingredients and you know the method to made it.Turkish Baklava's can add some walnuts, hazelnuts or sometimes they add pistachio. We should eat it when the pastry in hot and crispy so that we can taste the whole filling inside the pastry and melt in our mouth.You guys must try this, it is so delicious and suitable for our tea time.

 The History Of Turkish Baklava.

The history of this scrumptious delicacy is quite controversial, and unfortunately not very well documented. Almost all the peoples of the Middle East, Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Caucasia; Turks, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians introduce baklava as their national dessert. When we consider that all of these regions once belonged to the Ottoman Empire, it is possible to think of Baklava as an Ottoman dessert. But because Ottoman is mostly equivalent with ‘Turks’, especially Greeks and Arabs don’t like this qualification.

Like the origins of most recipes that came from Old Countries to enrich the dinner tables of the Americas, the exact origin of baklava is also something hard to put the finger on because every ethnic group whose ancestry goes back to the Middle East has a claim of their own on this scrumptious pastry.

It is widely believed however, that the Assyrians at around 8th century B.C. were the first people who put together a few layers of thin bread dough, with chopped nuts in between those layers, added some honey and baked it in their primitive wood burning ovens. This earliest known version of baklava was baked only on special occasions. In fact, historically baklava was considered a food for the rich until mid-19th century.


Now the baklava parade is a history. But the reign of baklava continues. At the end of the 18th century, the French Empress Marie Antoinette ‘s old chef of pastries brought a new kind of pastry to the Ottoman kitchen. This new baklava had a differently rolled out dough and was folded differently and was shaped like a dome more or like a croissant. This baklava was called the Palace baklava or European baklava. But no dessert could replace the traditional baklava. Until the last days of the Ottoman Empire baklava was the unique dessert of the special days. For example the last Ottoman Sultan Vahdettin had offered baklava for dessert at the lunch at Yıldız Palace on 30 April 1920. 

Baklava which had given its name to a state ceremony whatever its origins are has the right to be accepted 
as an Ottoman dessert.

INGREDIENTS

For the Filling
2 cups (8 oz) finely chopped almonds
1 cup (4 oz) finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup (2 oz ) caster (superfine) sugar
2-3 tbsp bread crumbs (optional. It helps to bind the filling. I dint use it in this recipe. I came to know of this trick later)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves

For the syrup
2 cups (1 lb) sugar
2 cups (16 fl oz) water
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice

For the cover
150 grams (5 oz) unsalted butter, melted
12 oz packet filo pastry (375g) (see how to make Phyllo dough from scratch here)

METHOD

• Place all the ingredients under 'filling' in a bowl.
• Combine until blended. Meanwhile place all the ingredients for the syrup together in a saucepan and bring it to a boil, while stirring for the sugar to dissolve. Simmer for 10 minutes and leave it to cool.
• Brush a 12X10 in baking dish with butter. Brush 10 sheets of filo with melted butter.
• Lay them on the dish one by one.
• Spread the filling in the dish.
• Now top it off with further 10-12 sheets of pastry, buttering each sheet as needed. You can trim off the excess pastry hanging on the side of your baking dish. Now brush the top of the pastry with more butter.
• With a sharp knife, score the top layers in large diamond shapes.
• Bake in a preheated 160C (325F) oven for 1 hour or until the top turns golden brown. If you find that the top is turning color too quickly, then cover the top with foil.
• Remove from the oven and slowly pour the syrup over the top.
• Now comes the MOST DIFFICULT part. You have gotta to let it sit for at least 5-6 hours for it to absorb the syrup.

You must have already tried this Turkish Delight and fell in love instantly in its rich taste. Also, you probably thought it is something you couldn't prepare by yourself because it seems like a complicated dish. You are wrong – baklava is made out of layers of phyllo pastry and filled with chopped nuts. You can always use supermarket bought phyllo pastry. The key to making a perfect baklava is the baking and of course – the syrup. This delicious recipes we are sharing today will make you the master of baklava! Just try the one you like best…

                   SeZak’s Baklava 

Santorini Sublime Baklava

Pistachio Baklava

HOW TO MAKE BAKLAVA