Iranian Baklava

Hello everyone!

It's been SO long, I know. Please forgive me! So much has happened in my life that I haven't had the time to focus on this page. To give you an example of what kept me so occupied... I had a baby last year. :) Sydney is 14 months old now.

My sous chef

SO... who wants to make Baklava? What an exotic dessert, right? I know it's not a traditional Romanian dessert, but it's so tasty and people get so intimidated by it that I thought I'd give it a try. Disclaimer: this is an Iranian style Baklava, not the "puff pastry" kind of Baklava. Here's how I made it... (Pssst.... this makes A LOT of Baklava, so I'd cut the recipe in half if you're not feeding an army).

The general picture is:
- make the syrup, dough and filling
- assemble
- bake
- enjoy! :)

The recipe has 3 parts: 1) the syrup; 2) the dough; 3) the filling

For the syrup you'll need:
- 2.5 cups of sugar
- 1.5 cups of water
- 1/2 cup rose water
- 2 tbsp fresh lime/lemon juice

Sugar

Water

Rose water

Lemon juice

I know it doesn't sound like the most heart-healthy dessert, but everyone deserved a treat every now and then, right? ;) This part is the easiest. Simply mix the water and sugar in a saucepan, bring it to a boil (and make sure not to overboil), then (off the heat) add the rose water and lime juice. Ta-da! Leave aside for when it's time to use it.

Syrup... in the making

Syrup

For the dough you'll need:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 tbsp prepared syrup (above)
- 1/4 cup rose water
- 1 egg
- 2.5 cups all-purpose flour

Milk

Oil

Egg

Flour

If you have a food processor, USE IT! I know it sounds weird making the dough for this in a food processor, but trust me. The heat generated by the food processor helps develop the dough. Combine milk, oil, syrup, rose water and egg in the food processor's mixing bowl (or a regular ol' bowl if a food processor's not on hand). Give it a whirl to mix everything up. Then add the flour and let it run for 5 - 10 min to form a dough that doesn't stick to your hands. I mixed mine for 5 min and the dough came out perfectly. Then divide the dough into 2 balls of equal size and immediately wrap in plastic wrap to keep warm. Set aside.

Dough

For the filling you'll need:
- 2 lbs ground blanched almonds (or other nuts that you like)
- 1/2 cup sugar (optional)
- 2 tbsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp rose water

Almonds

Sugar

Simply mix everything in the same food processor until you get a fine mixture. I didn't make mine as fine as it should have been, so watch out for this step. The baklava will be firmer if you do this step correctly.

Filling

Finally, the assembly: Get a rimmed baking sheet (17 x 11 x 1 inch preferably), oil it up (I would use a non-flavored oil such as canola/vegetable) and preheat your oven to 350 F.

Dust with flour a large, wide surface for rolling out the dough. Unwrap 1 ball of dough and roll out into a very thin rectangular layer with a rolling pin (if you like it thicker, go for it). Roll dough from center to the outside edge in all directions. Dust the dough with flour as necessary (you don't want anything sticking). Also, the finished dough should be larger than the baking sheet.

To transfer the dough to the baking sheet, roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll until it covers the whole baking sheet. Don't cut off the excess dough; let the dough hang over the edge of the baking sheet, about 1 inch on all sides.

Then spread the filling on top of the dough, spread and press down to smooth it out. This is important: find something cylindrical (a rolling pin preferably, but I didn't have one that'd fit in my pan so I used a bottle of root beer). Pack it down FIRMLY, otherwise you won't get a tight, firm baklava when baked.

Roll out the second ball of dough into a thin rectangular layer, transfer it over the filling allowing it to hang over all sides like the bottom layer. Press down on the dough evenly with your hands and smooth out the surface of the dough.

Fold and roll the overhanging dough from the top layer under the dough from the bottom layer. Press together and pinch the top and bottom edges together to seal like a pie, forming a rim around the edge of the baking pan.

Hold down the dough with one hand, pressing down with your palm while cutting the dough with a sharp knife (all the way through) into diamond shapes (or squares). Use a brush to paint the dough with oil.

Bake the Baklava in the middle of the preheated oven for 25-35 min until the Baklava is golden or pinkish in color. When it's ready, remove it from the oven and pour the syrup all over the top.

I decorated my baklava with chopped pistachios, but you can be creative. Cover immediately with aluminum foil to seal tightly and let stand at room temperature for at least 4 hours. It's important that the Baklava be covered at all times because it dried out very easily.

When it's ready to serve, use a sharp knife to lift the diamond pieces (or squares... whatever shape you cut them) and carefully lift them. The first one might not be your best attempt, but it gets easier after the first piece if out, I promise. Store in the refrigerator.

I hope you'll give this a try. Feel free to mess with the sugar quantity (I know I have!). Let me know how you liked it.

Love!
Laura