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.
This dessert is made using numerous layers of filo pastry that are filled with nuts that have been chopped up and topped with a syrup. It is baked in a large pan, but is sliced into smaller portions before it is baked. The smaller pieces are usually diamond, rectangular or triangular-shaped.
To make this dessert, multiple layers of phyllo dough are laid down in the baking pan. These layers are separated by butter that has been melted. A layer of chopped nuts is then placed on these layers; the most commonly used nuts are pistachios or walnuts, but hazelnuts could also be substituted. Further layers of phyllo are then placed over the layer of nuts.
The cooked pastry is then covered with a very sweet flavored syrup. This syrup can be made of a number of ingredients, commonly honey and sometimes rosewater or other extracts. Turkish areas further amplify this dessert by eating it with ice cream of a milk cream flavor during the summer months, or a preparation named '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 same dessert in Armenia. There, ingredients like cinnamon and cloves are also included. Sour cream and also vanilla are just two of the many ingredients used in Georgia. Egg yolks can be used to prepare the pastry dough in Albania. The Persian style of this dessert does not taste as rich or sweet as in the Middle East.
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.
Place 6 to 8 further layers of phyllo dough on top to finish. Cut the pastry into squares or diamonds with a knife and put it in the oven to bake for 50 minutes in an oven preheated to three hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit. While it is baking, make the syrup by boiling water and white sugar together, then adding some vanilla extract and half of a cup of honey. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes and pour it over the dessert as soon as it emerges from the oven.
This dessert is made using numerous layers of filo pastry that are filled with nuts that have been chopped up and topped with a syrup. It is baked in a large pan, but is sliced into smaller portions before it is baked. The smaller pieces are usually diamond, rectangular or triangular-shaped.
To make this dessert, multiple layers of phyllo dough are laid down in the baking pan. These layers are separated by butter that has been melted. A layer of chopped nuts is then placed on these layers; the most commonly used nuts are pistachios or walnuts, but hazelnuts could also be substituted. Further layers of phyllo are then placed over the layer of nuts.
The cooked pastry is then covered with a very sweet flavored syrup. This syrup can be made of a number of ingredients, commonly honey and sometimes rosewater or other extracts. Turkish areas further amplify this dessert by eating it with ice cream of a milk cream flavor during the summer months, or a preparation named '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 same dessert in Armenia. There, ingredients like cinnamon and cloves are also included. Sour cream and also vanilla are just two of the many ingredients used in Georgia. Egg yolks can be used to prepare the pastry dough in Albania. The Persian style of this dessert does not taste as rich or sweet as in the Middle East.
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.
Place 6 to 8 further layers of phyllo dough on top to finish. Cut the pastry into squares or diamonds with a knife and put it in the oven to bake for 50 minutes in an oven preheated to three hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit. While it is baking, make the syrup by boiling water and white sugar together, then adding some vanilla extract and half of a cup of honey. Simmer the mixture for 20 minutes and pour it over the dessert as soon as it emerges from the oven.
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