Baklava is a primarily Middle Eastern dessert that can also be found in Southwest and Central Asia as well as the Mediterranean. Its origins date back to the Ottoman Empire. It is a pastry like dessert that tastes very sweet and is very dense in texture. Because of its richness, it is served and eaten in very small portions.
It is essentially made up of multiple layers of filo pastry with a filling of honey or syrup and also chopped nuts. Though it is prepared in a large pan, it is cut up into much smaller bite-sized portions in different shapes prior to baking. The most common shapes for it are triangles, rectangles or parallelograms.
To begin with, a number of phyllo dough layers are placed in a baking pan, with melted butter brushed on each layer to separate them. After a few layers, chopped nuts are sprinkled over the pastry to cover it; pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are all possible options. This layer of nuts is then covered with another set of phyllo dough layers.
Once the pastry has been cooked, a syrup is then poured over it. This gives it its intense, sweet flavor. The syrup can contain honey, or even rosewater. In some parts of Turkey, this dessert is topped with milk cream flavored ice cream during the summer or a specially prepared topping called 'kaymak'.
Across the Middle East and Mediterranean, various countries prepare this dessert differently, using specific methods or ingredients. One reason for these difference could be for religious purposes. For example, the Greeks prepare the dessert with 33 pastry layers to correspond with the 33 years of Jesus' life.
Paklava is the name given to the dessert in Armenia. In this country, cloves and cinnamon are a part of the recipe. In the country of Georgia, vanilla and sour cream are two other ingredients that can be found. In Albania, the dough of the dessert can be made using egg yolks. While the dessert is quite rich in the Middle East, it tastes much lighter in Iran.
You can find phyllo dough at any major supermarket, in the frozen food aisle. While there are many variations on the dessert recipe, you should be able to make this dessert without any difficulty. First, butter a large pan before laying down 2 sheets of the phyllo dough. Brush melted butter onto the top sheet and repeat the previous steps with more sheet of dough until you have 8 layers. Cover the top layer with some chopped nuts mixed with cinnamon. Put 2 more dough layers over this, butter it up and add more nuts.
Finish the pastry with six to eight layers of dough on top. Cut into diamonds and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for fifty minutes. To make the syrup, boil together a cup of water and a cup of white sugar. Add to the mixture one teaspoon of vanilla extract and also a half cup of honey. Let it simmer for twenty minutes then pour over the pastry as soon as it comes out of the oven. Serve at room temperature.
It is essentially made up of multiple layers of filo pastry with a filling of honey or syrup and also chopped nuts. Though it is prepared in a large pan, it is cut up into much smaller bite-sized portions in different shapes prior to baking. The most common shapes for it are triangles, rectangles or parallelograms.
To begin with, a number of phyllo dough layers are placed in a baking pan, with melted butter brushed on each layer to separate them. After a few layers, chopped nuts are sprinkled over the pastry to cover it; pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are all possible options. This layer of nuts is then covered with another set of phyllo dough layers.
Once the pastry has been cooked, a syrup is then poured over it. This gives it its intense, sweet flavor. The syrup can contain honey, or even rosewater. In some parts of Turkey, this dessert is topped with milk cream flavored ice cream during the summer or a specially prepared topping called 'kaymak'.
Across the Middle East and Mediterranean, various countries prepare this dessert differently, using specific methods or ingredients. One reason for these difference could be for religious purposes. For example, the Greeks prepare the dessert with 33 pastry layers to correspond with the 33 years of Jesus' life.
Paklava is the name given to the dessert in Armenia. In this country, cloves and cinnamon are a part of the recipe. In the country of Georgia, vanilla and sour cream are two other ingredients that can be found. In Albania, the dough of the dessert can be made using egg yolks. While the dessert is quite rich in the Middle East, it tastes much lighter in Iran.
You can find phyllo dough at any major supermarket, in the frozen food aisle. While there are many variations on the dessert recipe, you should be able to make this dessert without any difficulty. First, butter a large pan before laying down 2 sheets of the phyllo dough. Brush melted butter onto the top sheet and repeat the previous steps with more sheet of dough until you have 8 layers. Cover the top layer with some chopped nuts mixed with cinnamon. Put 2 more dough layers over this, butter it up and add more nuts.
Finish the pastry with six to eight layers of dough on top. Cut into diamonds and bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for fifty minutes. To make the syrup, boil together a cup of water and a cup of white sugar. Add to the mixture one teaspoon of vanilla extract and also a half cup of honey. Let it simmer for twenty minutes then pour over the pastry as soon as it comes out of the oven. Serve at room temperature.
