Baklava
Ingredients
1 packet filo pastry
250g melted unsalted butter
2 cups walnuts
1 cup almonds
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 tbs pistachio nuts, crushed
Syrup
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
¼ cup honey
1 strip of lemon rind
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp lemon juice
3 cloves
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Baklava Inspired Trifle Recipe
Method
Heat oven to 190C.
Place walnuts and almonds on a flat baking tray and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. When cool enough to touch finely chop or pulse in a blender.
For the filling, mix the nuts, cinnamon and clove powder.
Cut filo pastry in half and cover with a damp towel. Butter a 20cm wide baking dish or square cake tin.
Using a pastry brush, butter 4 pieces of the pastry and stack them. Spread some of the filling along the bottom of the stack (the shorter side) leaving a 1 cm boarder. Fold in the sides and the bottom and roll into a tight tube. Be sure to make the roll as firm as you can. Place on the baking tray, seam side down, and butter. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling. When placing on the tray make sure the rolls are placed firmly against each other to ensure they do not open up during cooking. With a sharp knife, make incisions through the top few layers of the pastry at the points where you intend to cut it once cooked. Bake for 30 minutes.
To make syrup, add all ingredients except the honey to a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes. Add the honey and stir for 2 more minutes.
Slowly pour the hot syrup on top of the baklava. Once the syrup is absorbed sprinkle a line of crushed pistachios along the middle of the baklava pieces (not long ways but width wise).
Leave in the syrup for a few hours before completing the cuts always the way through and removing from the tray.
