Greek Honey Nut Pastry Baklava Recipes

MIXED NUT & HONEY BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Place all the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan with 300ml of water and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by a third. Leave to cool. (The syrup must be cool when it is poured over the pastry otherwise the pastry will go soggy.)
• Blitz the nuts in a food processor until coarse, then tip into a bowl and stir through the cinnamon and cloves.
• Melt the butter, using a little of it to lightly grease a 40 x 25cm shallow tin with a pastry brush. Gently unfold the filo and cover with a damp tea towel to stop it cracking.
• Layer sheets of filo in the tin and brush each layer with melted butter. After 4 layers, scatter over half the nut mixture; repeat with 4 layers of filo, then the rest of the nuts. Top with the last 4 layers of filo, then generously butter the top. Cut into diamonds with a sharp knife - ensure the blade goes right to the bottom.
• Bake on the middle shelf of the oven on a hot baking sheet for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp, reducing the temperature to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3 if the baklava looks as though it is browning too quickly.
• Remove the baklava from the oven and spoon half the cooled syrup over the top. Leave for 5 minutes, then spoon over the remaining syrup. Allow the baklava to cool before removing the individual pieces from the dish with a palette knife.

GREEK HONEY CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and orange rind. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Stir in the walnuts.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then cut into diamond shapes. Pour honey syrup over the cake.
• For the Honey Syrup: In a saucepan, combine honey, 1 cup sugar and water. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.

GREEK BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
• Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
• Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
• Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

HONEY NUT & CREAM CHEESE BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 13x9-in. baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and 1/4 cup sugar until blended. Stir in walnuts., Unroll phyllo dough; trim to fit into pan. Layer 20 sheets of phyllo in prepared pan, spritzing each with cooking spray. Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out., Spread with half of the walnut mixture. Layer with five more phyllo sheets, spritzing each with cooking spray. Spread remaining walnut mixture over phyllo. Top with remaining phyllo sheets, spritzing each with cooking spray., Cut into 1-1/2-in. diamonds. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine water, honey and remaining sugar; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Pour over warm baklava., Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate, covered, until serving.

GOLDEN GREEK BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Prepare honey syrup: In a medium-sized saucepan over high heat, combine 3/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
• Add honey, cinnamon stick, and lemon and orange slices. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Strain; cool. Syrup should measure approximately 2-1/2 cups.
• Prepare filling: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, mix nuts, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove pastry leaves from package; cover with a damp towel to prevent drying out. In a 15-1/2x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan, place 2 pastry leaves, brushing top leaf with some of the melted butter.
• Sprinkle with a third of the filling. Add 6 more pastry leaves, brushing every other one with butter. Sprinkle with another third of the nut filling. Layer 6 more leaves, brushing every other one with butter. Sprinkle with the remaining nut filling.
• Stack remaining pastry leaves on top, brushing every one with melted butter; brush top pastry leaf with butter. Trim overhanging edges, if necessary.
• With a sharp knife, cut through the top layer on the long side making 8 diagonal cuts at 1-1/2-inch intervals to form diamonds. (Cut through top layer only; do not cut through all the layers.).
• Bake 60 minutes or until baklava is golden and puffy. Turn off oven; leave in oven for 60 minutes. Remove. Pour cooled honey syrup over hot baklava. Following diamond pattern, cut all the way through baklava. Place pan on wire rack; cool in pan so that baklava absorbs syrup.

GREEK HONEY NUT PIE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the walnuts, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Brush a 9-in. pie plate with some of the butter; set aside., Unroll phyllo dough; keep covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out. Layer eight sheets of phyllo in prepared pan, brushing each layer with butter and rotating sheets to cover the pie plate. Let edges of dough hang over sides. Sprinkle a third of the nut mixture onto the bottom., Layer four sheets of phyllo over nut mixture in the same manner; sprinkle with a third of the nut mixture. Repeat these last two steps. Top with an additional eight sheets of phyllo, again brushing with butter and rotating sheets. Fold ends of phyllo up over top of pie; brush with butter. , Using a sharp knife, cut into eight wedges. Cut 1-2 additional sheets of phyllo into thin strips, rolling into rose shapes if desired; arrange decoratively over top. (Save remaining phyllo for another use.) Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown., Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the sugar, water and honey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add vanilla. Pour over warm pie. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate leftovers.