Sign up to our free daily email for the latest royal and entertainment news, interesting opinion, expert advice on styling and beauty trends, and no-nonsense guides to the health and wellness questions you want answered.
Thank you for signing up to . You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Baklava is surprisingly easy to make with ready made filo pastry and a few bits and bobs from your baking cupboard. This delicious Greek sweet makes lots of little squares so is ideal for a small treat every evening throughout the week if you make up a big batch one day. If you can bear to give it away it also makes lovely gifts, layered up in little boxes between sheets of baking paper.
HOW TO MAKE BAKLAVA
Ingredients
- 2x275g packs filo pastry
- 225g (8oz) butter
- 125g (5oz) walnuts, finely chopped
- 125g (5 oz) shelled pistachios finely chopped
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the syrup
- 250g (9oz) golden caster sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp orange blossom water
You will need
- a 17cm x 28cm (11in x 7in) roasting tin brushed with butter.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Melt the butter in a saucepan
- Cut the sheets of filo in half Lay 6 sheets of filo pastry, one at a time, into the tray, brushing each sheet with butter before adding the next.
- In a clean bowl, mix together the nuts, sugar and cinnamon and spread half the mixture over the pastry in the tray.
- Add another layer of filo on top of the nut mixture, brushing each sheet with butter, as before. Then repeat with the remaining nuts finishing with layers of buttered pastry on top
- Using a sharp knife, cut squares through the top layer of pastry.
- Place baklava in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and cook for an additional half hour to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is slightly puffed and golden on top. Do not allow the top to burn. Remove and allow to cool slightly.
- For the syrup, heat the sugar, 150ml (1/4 pint) water, lemon juice in a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar has melted and a syrup is formed. Add the orange blossom water
- Pour the syrup over the baklava and leave to cool. Cut into squares and serve.
-
Middle Eastern Lamb Flatbread
By Rosie Conroy • Published
-
Christmas Cake Tray Bake
For a quick and easy alternative to Christmas cake, try out this Christmas Cake Tray Bake. It's packed with all the delicious fruit you'd expect and is so quick!
By Samuel Goldsmith • Published
-
Asparagus pastry twirls
By Samuel Goldsmith • Published
-
Chocolate and hazelnut roulade
This chocolate and hazelnut roulade comes with an optional Baileys Irish cream liqueur filling for an extra, festive twist
By Jen Bedloe • Published
-
Baileys Cheesecake
This no-bake Baileys cheesecake is so easy to make and perfect for cream liqueur lovers, plus it takes just 40 minutes to prepare
By Jess Meyer • Published
-
Chocolate torte with Baileys cream and salted praline
Serve this rich Chocolate torte with Baileys cream and salted praline for a festive dessert that makes a popular alternative to Christmas pudding
By Jen Bedloe • Published
-
The boozy royal dessert King Charles and Queen Camilla enjoyed last night
There is a boozy royal dessert called cranachan that the King and Queen enjoyed last night in celebration of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns
By Laura Harman • Published
-
The pungent food Princess Anne adores at Christmas and her stealthy dessert trick for getting rid of guests early
A Christmas at Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Park estate is a surprisingly relaxed and relatable affair
By Jack Slater • Published
-
The unlikely dessert that made the Queen 'really angry' and led to a sassy message from Her Majesty
According to a royal chef, the Queen was 'really angry' after she was offered this rare dessert and responded in an unusual way
By Laura Harman • Published