Virginia sauer's baklava pt 1

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2¼ cup Granulated sugar; divided
1½ cup Cold water
¾ cup (9 ounces) thyme or clover honey; preferably raw
Zest; (thin, outermost colored layer) of 1 small orange, cut into strips
1 Stick; (2 1/2 inch) of cinnamon
½ Lemon; (about 1 tablespoon) , Juice of
3 Whole cloves
1 Bottle; (1 1/2 ounce) (3 tablespoons) rosewater, optional
½ teaspoon Pure vanilla extract
1 cup (1/4 pound) very finely chopped almonds
1 cup (1/4 pound) very finely chopped Brazil nuts
1 cup (1/4 pound) very finely chopped filberts
1 cup (1/4 pound) very finely chopped pecans
1 cup (1/4 pound) very finely chopped walnuts
1½ pounds (6 sticks) unsalted butter; divided
1 tablespoon Ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Ground cloves
½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Ground allspice
¼ teaspoon Ground mace
1 pounds (32 16x12-inch) #4 Phyllo leaves; preferably fresh

Directions

Prepare syrup: Combine 1½ cups of the sugar with the water, honey, orange zest, stick cinnamon, lemon juice, and whole cloves in 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil. Lower flame and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Turn off flame under pot. Discard cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and orange zest. Stir in rosewater and vanilla extract. Set aside.

Toast nuts: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Spread nuts in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and place on trivet.

Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Make filling: Put 1 stick (8 tablespoons) of the butter in Dutch oven. Cook over low heat until melted. Turn off flame under pot. Stir in remaining ¾ cup of the sugar, along with the ground spices. Mix until smooth. Stir in toasted nuts. Continue stirring until nuts are thoroughly coated with syrup. Set aside for filling.

Clarify butter: Put remaining 5 sticks (1 ¼ pounds) butter into heavy 3-quart saucepan. Cook over low flame until butter has melted and a thin foam rises to the surface. Skim off this residue and reserve it for seasoning vegetables, et cetera. The remaining butter has been clarified.

Assemble pastries: Using pastry brush, spread thin layer of clarified butter in bottom of 15x10x1/2-inch jelly roll pan. Set aside. Remove sheets of Phyllo from package. Gently unroll. Using scissors, cut through entire stack at once, dividing each sheet into quarters. Place Phyllo quarters between two sheets of plastic wrap, and cover with damp dish towel. (This is to prevent the dough from drying out.) Remove 1 square Phyllo from stack, making certain remainder stay covered. Brush entire surface (one side) with clarified butter. Place second square of Phyllo on top. Brush entire surface (one side) with clarified butter.

continued in part 2

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