Baklava -Daring Baker’s June’11 Challenge

Better late than Never -I didn’t want to miss out on this month’s challenge too. Somehow managed to work on it today. My site was hacked,took some time to figure it out. Its up now and here is my post.

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

Phyllo Dough Mixing/Kneading:15-25 minutes
Resting time:30-90 minutes (longer is better)
Rolling Phyllo:varies,approx. 2 minutes per sheet

Syrup:15 minutes plus cooling
Baklava:30 minutes
Resting:Overnight

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups unbleached all purpose (plain) flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon water,plus more if needed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil,plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar,(could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar,but could affect the taste)

Directions:
1. In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt.
2. Mix with paddle attachment
3. Combine water,oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
4. Add water &oil mixture with mixer on low speed,mix until you get a soft dough,if it appears dry add a little more water (I had to add a tablespoon more)
5. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand,knead approx. 20 minutes
6. Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
7. Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
8. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes,longer is best ( I let mine rest 2 hours and it was perfect)

Rolling your Phyllo

Roll the dough as thin as you can.
1. Unwrap the dough and cut off a chunk slightly larger then a golf ball. While rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out.
2. Be sure to flour your hands,rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding,don’t worry,you can’t over-flour.
3. Roll out the dough a bit to flatten it out.
4. Wrap the dough around your rolling pin/dowel
5. Roll back and forth quickly with the dough remaining on the dowel.
7. Rotate and repeat until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough,as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice
8. When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin,carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough,just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE:you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store,it is made by machine
9. Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth,as you do with boxed dough,it is moist enough that it will not try out.

Baklava Recipe

Adapted from Alton Brown,The Food Network
30 servings

Ingredients
For the syrup:
· 1 1/4 cups honey
· 1 1/4 cups water
· 1 1/4 cups sugar
· 1 cinnamon stick
· 1 (2-inch/50 mm) piece fresh citrus peel (lemon or orange work best)
· a few cloves or a pinch or ground clove

When you put your baklava in the oven start making your syrup. When you combine the two,one of them needs to be hot,I find it better when the baklava is hot and the syrup has cooled

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved
2.Boil for 10 minutes,stir occasionally.
3. Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and lemon,allow to cool as baklava cooks

Ingredients for the Filling:
1 (5-inch/125 mm piece) cinnamon stick,broken into 2 to 3 pieces or 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (8 gm) ground cinnamon
15 to 20 whole allspice berries ( I just used a few pinches)
3/4 cup blanched almonds
3/4 cup raw or roasted walnuts
3/4 cup raw or roasted pistachios
2/3 cup sugar
phyllo dough (see recipe above)
1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
2. Combine nuts,sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can. Set aside
3. Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan
4. Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet
5. Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. (Most recipes say more,but homemade phyllo is thicker so it’s not needed)
6. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
7. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
9. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
10. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
11. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer,make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible,just looks better.
12. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance
7. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
8. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
9. Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times
10. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture on top
11. Continue layering and buttering phyllo 5 more times. On the top layer,make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible,just looks better.
12. Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance
13. Bake for approximately 30 minutes;remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. (Oven temperatures will vary,you are looking for the top to be a golden brown,take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven
14. When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled (will still be warmish) syrup evenly over the top,taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava!
15. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup.
16. Serve at room temperature.

Freezing/Storage Instructions/Tips: There are a few ways to store your Baklava. It is recommended that you store your baklava at room temperature in an airtight container. Stored at room temperature your baklava will last for up to 2 weeks. You will notice as the days pass it will get a little juicier and chewier. You may choose to store it in the fridge;this will make it a little harder and chewy,but does increase the shelf life. You can also freeze your baklava and then just set it out at room temperature to thaw.