TEACHING fillo dough class, # 2 BAKLAVA

WALNUT BAKLAVA

In my family, my grandmother made baklava always for New Year. We had a huge tree in the front of the house. Long after school started (in Romania September 15th) it was a very odd type of collecting walnuts from tree. My mother and my grandmother had 2 long poles, and they “beat” the tree, so the nuts will open from the shell and fell on the ground, My brother and I used to collect them and put in basement, to get dry, on the newspaper beds….

Close to New Year Eve, my grandmother (bless her soul) start very early in the morning to knock and clean and knock and clean… many walnuts.

I brought one time, at my neighbor party BAKLAVA and they dream about many year later. I keep telling them it is very easy to make, but they don’t believe me. So this year just before holidays I get them together to teach how to deal with fillo dough.

They were surprised how easy is to use fillo dough, they didn’t know anything about

It is a very, very sweet dessert, and all I remember when I was little, was “fishing” them from a “huge” bowl of syrup. Later I found out that it was not so much syrup but my grandmother recipe it is DEFINITELY a “wet” baklava compare to a “dry “ baklava as people from Egypt make it.

Ingredients:

1lb Walnuts

1 package of Fillo Dough

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter

Syrup

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

2 tablespoons vanilla powdered

¼ cup of honey

2 tablespoons Rum (Bacardi) at end, just before you take it off stove.

 Directions:

Mix 3 cups of crushed (coarse) walnuts,one tablespoon of Cinnamon and set aside.

Brush 9/12 pan with melted butter.

Preheat oven at 375 Degrees

Use 2 or 3 layers for Fillo Dough as a base,then butter Fillo Dough add a couple more Fillo Dough, spread walnuts mixer, add 5 more layer of Fillo Dough.

Every second or third slice butter the Fillo Dough on the 5 slice of Fillo Dough spread mixture.

Keep repeating until mixture is done.

Cut in squares, with a sharp knife.

Bake at 375 degrees for ½ an hour or until golden brown.

** If Baklava is Hot do cold syrup or vice- versa

To make syrup:

Heat on stove 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water, and 2 tablespoons vanilla powdered. Heat until thick then add 8 oz of honey with 2 tablespoons Rum (Bacardi)

When syrup is thick enough remove from the heat and pour over cold Baklava.

Step by step photo cook book and the recipe you can find into my own photo-cookbok:

http://www.ilibili.com/album79

Bone appetite!

print recipe here