| Hazel Nut Baklava
Ingredients
For the pastry:
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 ½ cups blanched almonds
1 ½ cups walnuts
1 ½ cups hazelnuts (Filberts)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 pound phyllo dough
1 cup (two sticks) butter
For the syrup:
1 ¼ cups honey
1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 3 inch wide section of orange peel
Baking Pan - 1 13x9 baking dish, metal preferred.
Special equipment - for this recipe it is best to have a food processor of some type. You can finely chop the nuts by hand, but it is a lot of chopping.
Method:
Before we get to assembling the pastry we have to get the ingredients in shape. The first thing it to clarify the butter; this is process where we remove some of the water from the butter. This will mean that our phyllo dough will not get dense and soggy but cook up very crisp.
There is no mystery to clarifying butter. Just put the butter in a medium sauce pan and turn the heat up to medium high. When all the butter has melted and starts to bubble and foam, turn it down medium low and let it simmer away for about 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it, and if it starts to brown take it off the heat even if it has not been 30 minutes. It won't hurt the butter if it is a little brown, but we are not making ghee here.
While that is going on, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. When you buy Hazelnuts in the store (you are going to have to go to a place like Whole Foods or a natural food outlet, you probably won't find it at your local grocery) they have a papery skin on them. The skin is awful when backed so we want to get it off. This is the easiest way and it roasts the Hazel nuts at the same time.
Place the Hazelnuts on a sheet pan and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove them from the oven. Take a tea towel and place a handful of hot nuts in the towel. Make a pocket of the towel by holding the corners together with one hand. With the other hand rub the pocket in a circular motion for about two minutes. Open the pocket and you will find most if not all of the skin has rubbed off. Place the nuts in a bowl and then brush the skin off the towel and repeat until all the nuts are cleaned.
We are going to toast the almonds and walnuts as well, but I like to do them in a skillet. Set your burner to medium and place a large skillet on the heat. For the almonds you will want to toast them for 10 minutes. Every once in a while move the pan around so you get even toasting. When they start to brown and are fragrant remove them from heat and pour into a bowl.
Walnuts have more oils in them than the blanched almonds, so you will want to toast them for only about 6 or 7 minutes. Keep a close eye on them since they will go from toasted to burnt and inedible in a remarkably short time. When you can smell them at all they are done. Don't worry if they don't look very different. Remove the walnuts from the heat and pour into a bowl.
Now, if you are going to do this part by hand, get your knife out and make sure has a good sharp edge on it (you do sharpen your knives from time to time, right?). Start with the Hazelnuts. Chop them until you have a mix that looks a little bit like small grape nuts cereal. You want to be able to see small pieces. Repeat with the walnuts and the almonds.
In a large bowl combine the chopped nuts, the cinnamon, the cardamom and the sugar. Use a wire whisk to combine thoroughly.
If you have a food processor this is all a bit faster. With the steel blade attachment set in the work bowl, pour in the cinnamon, cardamom, nuts and sugar. Pulse 12 times or so for one second intervals. You will have a nice mealy nut mixture.
By now your butter should be clarified. Remove it from the hear and pour into a bowl. Now it is time to get ready for assembly. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the middle of the oven.
Phyllo dough comes frozen. It will say on the box that you should put it in the fridge and let it thaw for 2 hours. I hate this lost time, so I just microwave mine. Yeah it works and does not ruin anything. Just pop both packages of the dough in the microwave for about one minute. What you are looking for is that the dough is no longer cold at all, but it should also not be hot. If it is cool when after a minute, give it 15 second increments until it is just room temperature.
Place your pan next to the bowl of clarified butter. Place your bowl of chopped nuts next to that. Make a space for your phyllo dough. Unroll both packages of phyllo dough and set them on the work surface. Place your baking dish on top and trim the dough with a sharp knife to match the size of the dish.
Now you are ready! With a pastry brush paint the bottom of the pan with the butter (if it has set up a little, just heat it until it is liquid again). Peel a single sheet of phyllo dough off of the stack and lay it down in the dish. Lightly paint the dough with butter and then lay another sheet on top of it. Repeat until you have 10 sheets of phyllo dough in the dish.
What happens if one of the sheets tears or breaks? Well, no one dies, that is for sure. Just put the part you have in the dish and pick up the other part and set it in there where it would go if it were whole. See? Nothing to fret about here.
When you have 10 layers in the pan, spread 1/3 of the nut mix over the dough. Press it down lightly (you don't need to hammer it). Then place another piece of phyllo dough over top of it. Brush the dough with butter and repeat for a total of six layers.
Then add another third of the nut mix. Cover with six more sheets of phyllo dough, then the remainder of the nut mix. For the top you will do eight layers of dough and butter. You will probably have some butter left over so use it up on the top of the dough.
Remember you don't have to drowned the phyllo dough in butter. Just a light brush on the whole surface for each layer is what you want. If you find that you're running out of clarified butter, just melt another stick and keep going.
Place the pastry in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. It take an entire hour to bake this but I like to cut it into squares now so there is a better channel for the syrup later. Remove the baking dish from the oven and using a pairing knife, cut it into 24 approximately 2" squares. The top layer is likely to break and flake during this. Don't sweat it. It will be held on by the syrup anyway.
Return the baking dish to the oven for another 30 minutes. The pastry will be dark golden brown and flaky when it is done. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for two hours.
About 15 minutes before the pastry has cooled make the syrup. In a large sauce pan combine the wildflower honey, the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and orange peel. Over medium high heat bring this mix to a boil. When it boils turn the heat down to medium low and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the syrup form the heat and take out the cinnamon stick and the orange peel.
Using your paring knife go over the cuts you made again, so they are fresh and clear. Then gently ladle the hot syrup over the top, making sure that you get some in all the cuts and around the outside.
Allow this to sit, uncovered, for eight hours. Then dive face first into the tray!
Crunch pastry, sweet wildflower, cinnamon and orange syrup combined with the dark roasted flavor of the three nuts make this one of the all time great baklava's, even if I do say so my self!
What's that? Rose water? Belch! I hate rosewater. If you want a baklava with this flavor (which is very, very traditional) you'll have to experiment yourself. I have no use for that kind of flower in my pastry.
The flour is yours! |
