Baklava is a type of dessert found in the Middle East and Mediterranean that dates as far back as the Ottoman Empire. It is also found in parts of Asia. This dessert is a type of pastry that is incredibly rich and also very sweet. It is often served in very small portions, which could be due to how rich and intense the flavor is.
It is essentially made up of multiple layers of filo pastry with a filling of honey or syrup and also chopped nuts. Though it is prepared in a large pan, it is cut up into much smaller bite-sized portions in different shapes prior to baking. The most common shapes for it are triangles, rectangles or parallelograms.
To begin with, a number of phyllo dough layers are placed in a baking pan, with melted butter brushed on each layer to separate them. After a few layers, chopped nuts are sprinkled over the pastry to cover it; pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are all possible options. This layer of nuts is then covered with another set of phyllo dough layers.
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'.
Different countries in the region prepare it using different methods or ingredients. This could be for a number of various reasons, including religious. For example, in Greece, the dessert traditionally has thirty three layers of the pastry dough. The significance of this number is that it corresponds to the age of Jesus Christ.
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 about six or eight more layers on top of the final layer of nuts. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamond shapes and put into an oven that has been preheated to 350 F for just under an hour. When it is finished baking, pour a syrup concoction of boiled water and white sugar simmered for 20 minutes with a tsp of vanilla extract and half a cup of honey.
It is essentially made up of multiple layers of filo pastry with a filling of honey or syrup and also chopped nuts. Though it is prepared in a large pan, it is cut up into much smaller bite-sized portions in different shapes prior to baking. The most common shapes for it are triangles, rectangles or parallelograms.
To begin with, a number of phyllo dough layers are placed in a baking pan, with melted butter brushed on each layer to separate them. After a few layers, chopped nuts are sprinkled over the pastry to cover it; pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts and almonds are all possible options. This layer of nuts is then covered with another set of phyllo dough layers.
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'.
Different countries in the region prepare it using different methods or ingredients. This could be for a number of various reasons, including religious. For example, in Greece, the dessert traditionally has thirty three layers of the pastry dough. The significance of this number is that it corresponds to the age of Jesus Christ.
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 about six or eight more layers on top of the final layer of nuts. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamond shapes and put into an oven that has been preheated to 350 F for just under an hour. When it is finished baking, pour a syrup concoction of boiled water and white sugar simmered for 20 minutes with a tsp of vanilla extract and half a cup of honey.
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