Baklava
To celebrate the festival of Eid we’ve whipped up this mouthwatering vegan take on Turkish Baklava, featuring our amazing recipe developer Talia. Layers of buttery filo pastry are stacked with pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts and seasoned with an aromatic blend of cinnamon and nutmeg. An impressive centerpiece for your celebrations, it's deceptively simple - check out the recipe below.
Serves
Ingredients
For the Simple Syrup
<item-todo-done>350g sugar<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>400ml water<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 cardamon pods<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp lemon juice<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp - rose water essence <item-todo-done>
For the Baklava
<item-todo-done>150g pistachios<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>100g walnuts<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>100g hazelnuts<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 tsp cinnamon<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>¼ tsp nutmeg<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>24 sheets of filo pastry<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>150g plant-based butter<item-todo-done>
To Serve
<item-todo-done>2 tbsp - dried rose petals<item-todo-done>
Before you start
Saucepan | Food processor | Baking dish | Oven 160C | Filo pastry at room temp
Make the syrup
- Bash the cardamom pods with the heel of a knife and add the pods to a saucepan
- Whisk the sugar, water, and crushed cardamom pods in a saucepan
- Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes until it thickens slightly to a syrup consistency
- Take off the heat and add the lemon juice and rose water
- Leave to cool completely before draining to remove the cardamom seeds
Make the filling
- In a food processor, pulse 20g of the pistachios and transfer to a bowl for later to garnish
- Place the rest of the pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts in the food processor with the spices and process to finely chopped
- Transfer to a bowl
Assemble
- Unwrap the filo and as your working, keep the rest of the filo sheets covered with a damp (but not wet) tea towel to prevent them from drying out
- Trim the filo sheets to fit the size of your tray
- Brush butter over the base of a deep baking tray
- Lay 10 sheets of filo over the base, brushing butter between each one. Scatter over half the nut mixture. Lay another 4 sheets, with butter brushed in between and scatter over the remaining nut mix. Cover with the final layer of 10 sheets of filo, brushing between each one
- Generously brush the top layer all over | Using a sharp knife, slice the baklava in the tray into diagonal squares
- Place in the oven for 45 minutes until deep golden, risen and crispy all over
Finish and serve
- Immediately drizzle over half of the cool syrup
- Wait a few minutes as it soaks through the layers before pouring over the rest
- Leave to cool completely, preferably for at least 1 hour to allow the syrup to soak in
- When cooled, slice through the previous knife cuts to separate the pieces
- Sprinkle over the extra pistachios and rose petals and serve