Time to get my entry in for this month’s Royal Foodie Joust. I have been a little slack and haven’t had a chance to get involved in the last few months (sorry Jenn!). If this is the first time you’re reading this, head on over, register and get ready to do recipe “battle” with a bunch of keen food bloggers all ready to experiment with the latest months ingredients. Speaking of, the winner of last months Joust, Eating Club Vancouver, chose coffee, balck peppercorns and honey. I didn’t really have to time to think about it but it had me stumped!
After a bit of research I came across a very “different” recipe for baklava. The original recipe, which I altered slightly, can be found here. Baklava or “baklavas” as we say in Greek, is that famous, very sweet dessert found throughout Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and various parts of the Middle East. It’s basically buttered layers of filo pastry, mixed with nuts and spices and has a sugar or honey based syrup poured over it. It’s sticky, sweet and quite delicious. There are many variations of this recipe and each country has their signature way of producing it. The Greek method incorporates walnuts, honey and cinnamon. The Lebanese version (the one I buy here in Australia) uses pistachios and a sugar syrup.
I was intrigued because this recipe utilised coffee in the syrup, flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon. Perfect for this months Joust ingredients! The only “tricky” part were the black peppercorns and I had a hard time incorporating them. Finally, I decided to let them soak in the syrup and then removed them before using it. I thought they may have added a slight peppery warmth to the syrup but I could barely detect it. Oh well! At least I tried! The other variation I made was to use a mixture of walnuts, pecans and pistachios. Although this recipe isn’t authentic as such, I couldn’t resist the flavours. They all married perfectly. The coffee was not at all overpowering and actually complemented the honey. The cardamom was subtle and the cinnamon gave it that perfect “spiciness”. So I present to you, “Baklavas with a coffee and honey syrup flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon”.
RECIPE FOR BAKLAVA
- 1 packet of store bought filo pastry
- 50 grams of melted butter for brushing the filo
- 1 cup of espresso coffee
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/2 a cup of honey
- 1 tbsp of black peppercorns
- 200 grams of shelled walnuts
- 100 grams of shelled pistachios
- 100 grams of pecans
- 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cardamom
- 1-1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- Pre heat your oven to 160 deg C. I used a 20cm x 10cm baking dish which was perfect for this recipe.
- Make the syrup by placing the coffee, honey and sugar in a saucepan and let it simmer for 5-10 mins till the sugar dissolves and the mixture slightly thickens. Add the peppercorns, remove form heat and set aside.
- Place the nuts in a food processor and give them a good whizz till everything becomes finely chopped. transfer to a bowl, add the spices and half of the coffee syrup (make sure that no peppercorns make their way into this). Stir everything together and resist trying to eat this!
- Now, the TRICKY PART. Filo is very thin and delicate so make sure when you remove it that you cover it with a damp cloth as this will prevent the pastry from drying out. What is the perfect amount for baklavas? Well, that’s the $64,000 question! Every recipe I looked said something different. I don’t think it really matters. I used 10 pieces of filo pastry (carefully cut to match my baking dish) for each layer.
- BRUSH each layer with the melted butter and add them one by one to the bottom of the greased pan. Add half the nut mixture an spread it quite evenly. REPEAT once more to construct the next layer finishing up with the filo on the top. Give this a good brush with the melted butter and score the baklava diagonally creating a diamond pattern.
- Cook in the oven for about 45 mins -1 hour (mine took 50 mins)
- Let it cool for a few mins and then pour the remainder of the syrup over it, making sure to discard the peppercorns. Let it soak for a good 2 hours but it’s preferable to leave it longer, before you enjoy it. Indulge with a glass of muscat!
{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Clever adaptation of the ingredients…but, what? No ouzo in the background? Looked like port or red wine to me.
That sounds and looks delicious. I’ve never tried making these at home, but this recipe seems like a good way to start!
That’s one of my favorite desserts! As a matter of fact, I just ate three squares (pistachio) a few minutes ago… Your Baklava look delightful!
Cheers,
Rosa
Yumm…. I was going to make a filo type roll but had a hard time withe the pepper too Peter. This is a very creative solution to the challenge!!!! Well done!!
Great entry! We were throwing around a baklava type dessert for our entry but thought — NAH, Peter can do it better.
Beautiful baklavas, Peter! But dangerous to keep around the house. Or maybe I’m projecting! This is a wonderful joust entry.
You baklava looks absolutely perfect. That’s interesting that you used coffee in it.
I always detect notes of coffee in nuts, so it makes sense.
What a great entry!
absolutely amazing. the post was a delight to read, especially your experimentation with new ingredients for this absolute classic. you described ething very well and i can almost already guess what it tastes like! lovely, and the photos of course!!
I love baklavas. Nice use of the three Joust ingredients. Very creative. Good Luck with the Joust.
P! What a coincidence! I made baklava last Friday and guess what, the rosewater gives an interesting note in the desserts. However, I was hoping to get crispy layers on top, but hey… I suppose that’s what a learning is hehehe… Lovely post, P!! Love it!
Hola Chico! Great adaptation Peter! Good use of the peppercorns… he, he, I also had a small problem with that… posting tomorrow… uf, uf, too many things to do.
I never tried Baklava but I would love to!!!! Absolutely love all ingredients and there’s no cheese involved ;D… perfect for me.
its a long time since i made baklava – we are so used to buying the syrupy sweets freshly made that i dont need to make them often. i think you did a very good job with the ingredients, which in fact blend well together: chili and chocolate are often combined in mexican cooking, so why not peppercorns and coffee? clever twist of a traditional recipe!
Beautiful work! While some will argue for tradition, if you haven’t tried the quick method of baklawa making, you should check out this eG topic. The process takes less than 5 minutes, and as someone who has made both versions many, many times, I can’t detect a difference. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=105592
yum love baklava. cleverly use of the coffee in this recipe, good luck with the joust!
Gah, I feel like I haven’t been here in forever. Holidays have a way of doing that, don’t they? I would say that the pepper would be perfectly at home in the baklava, but I love honey and pepper together. Black pepper pairs so well with sweets and sweet spices like cinnamon and cardamom (think chai tea lattes).
I would have a hard time choosing between the Greek and Lebanese versions, but yours is aces, hun.
I love the addition of coffee.
Peter…this was well worth the wait and your experimentation and care to the classic baklava have struck a good balance here.
This is a fine Joust entry and no doubt worthy of the “apron”.
I feel a bit bad because I just looked at photos: they look absolutely amazing! That must have been a great dessert.
Love the idea of adding black pepper. These look great!
I had some amazing baklava a few days ago but coffee & cardamom sounds like a divine combination. These look beautiful…I’ll have to give it a try because this will be a hit out here as you can imagine.
In GraecoRoman years pepper was very common as seasoning for sweets; it was used to enhance their flavor. Later it was replaced by nutmeg, but today chefs seem to rediscover the combination of black pepper and sweet taste.
It is excellent with honey and nuts. After many experiments with ancient recipes I believe that the best way to use it in sweets like baklava is to add it in the nuts. The tricky part is that pepper does not always go well with cinnamon in this kind of sweets.
And… I will definitely have to try your recipe, I am so intrigued by the coffee flavor!
baklava is equivalent to heaven on a plate for me, and yours looks particularly decadent. anyone who makes their own gets a gold star in my book.
This looks absolutely wonderful and certainly well joust-worthy!
That’s a great use of the ingredients. I gave the event some thought in the beginning of the month, but soon got caught up with everything else I had going on this month and didn’t get to make anything. This version of bakalavas sounds divine! Good luck!
I love this Peter and I will definitely give it a go, although I do find syrupy sweets difficult to get right. I like the combination of coffee and cardamom. It is so Middle Eastern!
Mmmm so delicious, Peter! It has been WAY too long since I have made baklava. Now you have me wishing I bought extra nuts & honey (I just bought melomakarona supplies, lol). I love the cardamom in this so I am going to try that next time.
Wow, those look totally heavenly Peter! You do have a way with those sweet things, even though you swear you don’t have a sweet tooth! LOL!
mmm…baklava
Peter this is so perfect! I like the fact you add coffee to your syrup. These look so delicious I’d love to grab one! You are a tease.
I just tried your recipe today and wanted to say thank you, because it was really tasty!
Wow, where to start? I’ve been on your beautiful blog for hours, just in awe of your amazing work!
I’ve finally landed on this post to comment because…I….Love…Baklavas! The photography & recipes (all of them) are truly stunning and inspiring.
I’m off to the market tomorrow to gather the ingredients!
I was wondering if all the three baklava stacked on top of each other will fit in my mouth all at once?
Hi im from Turkey,sorry i cant speak english well i kope you can understand me.
your dessert look very beautiful..baklava is Turkish dessert (originally) ,however we dont use cinnamon,cardamom,honey or coffee etc. our recipe is:
flour, sugar, water (olive oil or sunflower oil only 1-2 spoon for paste) egg , hazelnut or pistachio(not mix) layers must be 10-12
i want to add this website link if you accept, many thanks
http://turkishcook.com/TurkishFoodForum/blogs/turkishdelights/archive/2006/09/09/Baklava-.aspx
Made this for an after dinner treat tonight……delicious! Everyone loved it. However, I must confess to a habit of mine where I enjoy ‘fiddling’ with recipes! Half way through baking these delicious morsels I decided to look up Claudia Roden’s recipe for Baklava (which I have never made before, but was interested by your use of coffee and pepper!) and decided to add a little orange flower water to the second half of the syrup mixture! Oh and I also used a mixture of nuts which included hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans, pistachios and pine nuts. All good! Thank you for a fabulous rendition of a classic treat. By the way, I was also surprised at how simple it was to prepare….again many thanks! The guests have gone and my partner and I have just indulged in just one more slice!