When you crave for something really moist and sweet, try this traditional eastern specialty. Once, the great part of Europe was part of Ottoman Empire. In these parts, baklava is still prepared and served in all special occasions. It is made of nuts, sugar and layers of very thin pastry called phillo or filo, with the addition of spices such as cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, refreshed with some lemon juice.
Phillo is quite difficult to make, if you have never tried. It is much easier to buy already made sheets. The whole procedure is simple. Every sheet needs to be placed in a pan, coated with thin layer of melted butter or oil, and covered with another sheet. Every third or fourth sheet should be sprinkled with ground or chopped nuts and spices, finishing with four sheets of filo.
Syrup is made of sugar and water, approximately three cups of sugar and one and a half cups of water. Sugar can be partially replaced with honey. Mix everything together and add your favorite spices, cinnamon, cardamom or cloves. Add some lemon juice and cook until it becomes syrupy.
Finish your cake with several sheets of filo, cut it to pieces and sprinkle with cold water. The cake is traditionally cut to diamond shapes, but you may cut it into cubes if you want. It should be baked up to thirty five minutes on 180 degrees of Celsius, in preheated oven. Hot cake should be drenched with cooled sugar syrup. The cake can be served after three or four hours.
Although walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts are mostly used for this purpose, you may use almonds, macadamia nuts or any other type of nuts. In some parts of the world they add dry fruits, for example apricots or dates as well. They generally use four cups of nuts for filling, but it is nice to add more filling, if you prefer richer cakes. Cloves and cardamom taste very nice in these combinations.
You can add different spices into your syrup as well. Orange zest, cardamom and cloves are often added, but you can also add some rum, lime instead of lemon, some vanilla or any other mixture of spices. It is always quite tasty to replace at least one part of needed sugar with some honey, but it depends on your taste. Add your favorite spices in it.
One very interesting and irresistibly tasty version is made with the addition of chocolate. The recipe is basically the same, although you might prefer different spices, for example vanilla. When you are making sugar syrup, you should add maybe 200 grams of chocolate before pouring it over your hot cake. In this case the syrup doesn't have to be cooled, but you still need to cool the cake before serving it.
Really tasty filling is the one that include chopped and ground almonds and one to two cups of finely chopped apricots. If you add some apricot liqueur and orange juice and zest in your syrup, it will be even more interesting. You can play with different spices and other ingredients to create your own recipes, designed to suit your taste.
Phillo is quite difficult to make, if you have never tried. It is much easier to buy already made sheets. The whole procedure is simple. Every sheet needs to be placed in a pan, coated with thin layer of melted butter or oil, and covered with another sheet. Every third or fourth sheet should be sprinkled with ground or chopped nuts and spices, finishing with four sheets of filo.
Syrup is made of sugar and water, approximately three cups of sugar and one and a half cups of water. Sugar can be partially replaced with honey. Mix everything together and add your favorite spices, cinnamon, cardamom or cloves. Add some lemon juice and cook until it becomes syrupy.
Finish your cake with several sheets of filo, cut it to pieces and sprinkle with cold water. The cake is traditionally cut to diamond shapes, but you may cut it into cubes if you want. It should be baked up to thirty five minutes on 180 degrees of Celsius, in preheated oven. Hot cake should be drenched with cooled sugar syrup. The cake can be served after three or four hours.
Although walnuts, pistachios and hazelnuts are mostly used for this purpose, you may use almonds, macadamia nuts or any other type of nuts. In some parts of the world they add dry fruits, for example apricots or dates as well. They generally use four cups of nuts for filling, but it is nice to add more filling, if you prefer richer cakes. Cloves and cardamom taste very nice in these combinations.
You can add different spices into your syrup as well. Orange zest, cardamom and cloves are often added, but you can also add some rum, lime instead of lemon, some vanilla or any other mixture of spices. It is always quite tasty to replace at least one part of needed sugar with some honey, but it depends on your taste. Add your favorite spices in it.
One very interesting and irresistibly tasty version is made with the addition of chocolate. The recipe is basically the same, although you might prefer different spices, for example vanilla. When you are making sugar syrup, you should add maybe 200 grams of chocolate before pouring it over your hot cake. In this case the syrup doesn't have to be cooled, but you still need to cool the cake before serving it.
Really tasty filling is the one that include chopped and ground almonds and one to two cups of finely chopped apricots. If you add some apricot liqueur and orange juice and zest in your syrup, it will be even more interesting. You can play with different spices and other ingredients to create your own recipes, designed to suit your taste.
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