Caramelised, deeply aromatic, nutty, crispy and chewy… Georgia’s baklava is an absolute eating treasure! The use of almost half a litre of extra virgin olive oil in a tray of this baklava leads to next level gastonomy! Try it and you’ll understand.
Georgia’s Baklava
A caramelised, deeply aromatic, nutty, crispy and chewy baklava… an absolute eating treasure!
For the syrup
- 1.5 cups water
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, heaped
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey, heaped
For the nut filling
- 100 g blanched almonds
- 500 g walnuts
- 2 tsps ground cinnamon, heaped
- 2 tsps ground cloves
- 45 g fine breadcrumbs
- 75 g sugar
For the baklava
- 750 g fillo pastry (2 packets Antoniou Fillo Pastry)
- 400 ml extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Extra EVOO for sprinkling
Preparing the syrup
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Place water, sugar and cinnamon into a saucepan
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Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer
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Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the back of a spoon is coated with slightly thickened, sticky syrup
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Once ready, remove the syrup from the heat
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Add lemon juice and honey, combining it thoroughly, and then leave it to cool down (please see Notes below)
Preparing the nut mixture
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Place the almonds in a food processor and chop coarsely
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Add the walnuts and chop until small walnut pieces remain
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Transfer the nuts to a bowl and add the spices, breadcrumbs and sugar
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Combine well
Preparing the baklava
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Line a large baking pan (approximately 30cm x 35cm) with overhanging baking paper both lengthways and widthways
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Cut the fillo to the size of your pan and set aside the large and small pieces
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Generously drizzle EVOO over the entire base of the pan (watch video for this)
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Place 2 of the large sheets into the pan and sprinkle with a small amount of EVOO
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Continue layering the fillo sheets 2 at a time and sprinkling them with EVOO until you have about 14 layers – some of the layers can be made using the smaller fillo pieces and laying them side by side to create a fillo sheet
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Spread half of the filling evenly over the fillo
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Repeat the same process with the fillo pastry as previously described
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Spread the remaining filling evenly over the fillo
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Repeat the same process with the fillo pastry as previously described
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Using a serrated knife, score/cut the baklava along its longest length to create 5 strips of equal width
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Orient the baking pan lengthways, score the fillo into 4 strips of equal width
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Score/cut each square on its diagonal to create a pan of triangular baklava pieces
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Gently heat the 400mls of EVOO in a small saucepan, until it just reaches its smoking point
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Ladle the hot EVOO evenly across the surface of the baklava, ensuring it seeps into all the score lines
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Bake the baklava in a preheated oven at 200°C fan-forced for about 35 minutes, until golden brown
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Remove the baklava from the oven, and gently and evenly ladle the cooled syrup over the hot baklava
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Leave the baklava to cool overnight at room temperature (Georgia leaves hers in the oven once it has cooled down)
Serving Georgia's Baklava
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Enjoy Georgia’s baklava with a Greek coffee or herbal Greek tea
Notes
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In this written recipe, the lemon juice and honey are added to the syrup right after it is taken off heat. The syrup is then left to cool. In the video, the lemon juice and honey are added to the syrup when the baklava is baking in the oven and thoroughly mixed through. I don’t believe it matters which way you go with this. Just understand, that the syrup will be thinner and runnier when you add the lemon juice and honey to it when it is still very hot from simmering, and when it then cools, it will look more like the consistency shown in the video during the drenching of the baklava.