Baklava
1 lb Earth Balance margarine
1 lb filo dough
1 lb walnuts (ground)
1/4 lb almonds (ground)
3 1/2 cup vegan 806>sugar
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon cinnamon (ground)
3-4 whole cloves
1/4 to 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Melt the margarine, mix the walnuts, almonds, 1/2 c vegan sugar and ground spices together. Grease a 9x13 pan. Layer in five sheets of filo, buttering each with margarine. Now alternate layering small handfuls of nuts with two sheets of filo (buttering each. You can get away with buttering every other sheet, but not more.) until everything is used up. Cut into diamond shape pieces (carefully, with a sharp knife), and bake in a 350 degree (F) oven for I believe an hour and 15 minutes, or til golden brown (I do this by eye).
While it is baking, in a heavy saucepan, heat 1 c water, and the remaining 3 c vegan sugar, and the whole spices. Bring to a boil over low to med heat, and then turn down and cook for ~15 min. When the stuff in the oven is done, pour the sauce over the top and let it set for a few minutes. Eat Hot or cold.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I baked it today and it is really nice, though way too oily for me. I used 450g package of phyllo dough and less than 1/2 cup of oil and it was too much. Next time I will try to use much less oil. Also I didn't make any syrup because after living several months in Athens I am already sick of sweets floating in sugar syrup. Overall this was pretty good, with less oil it will be perfect!
so, friggin' delicious! applauds all around, even from the people who can still eat traditional baklava. a few variations/notes:
- nuts: mixture of pecans/walnuts, because i do so love pecans and walnuts. also added a bit of melted butter to keep the nuts and sugar together. also, only one pound.
- cinnamon: i would probably only use a teaspoon next time, not two. although it was eeexcellent, it was more cinnamonny than i remember traditional baklava to be. so, not a taste issue but an authenticity issue.
- water: i substituted 1/3 of a cup for orange juice. while it was really really orangey in the pot, it just made it a bit more tangy on top of the goodness.
- butter: woaah. how could you possibly use two cups? i used maybe a little over one, buttering each layer, and it was great tasting, if a little crunchy on the top and the bottom layer kept sticking to the pan. : P
- layering: i used the method from the other recipe, putting nuts for every six sheets of filo dough instead of two.
...anyway. thank you very very much!
thank you thank you!! this was really good! i did do some variations though:
i used as little earth balance as i could ( and i needed more lol) b/c its expensive and i am poor and buttered (with the back of a spoon) every other sheet. i used only walnuts and mixed them with cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves/ginger (just a sprinkle of the last 2) and there was only 2 layers of the nut mixture.
i cut them into squares then poured maple syrup into the cracks and on the outsides and baked for 40 mins. when i took them out i poured just a little more maple syrup on it and i ate some as soon as they came out (ok maybe 5mins past ) and they
WERE SOOO GOOD! i was craving sweets and this was perfect! and i used up the last part of my phyllo dough!!
thanks!
Just a few variations :)... for the nuts I usually use pistachios or a mix of pistachio/walnut... for the sauce the only seasoning i use is rose water or orange blossom water, which can be found at most middle eastern grocery stores, but i have also seen it at Loblaws (here in Kingston, Ontario).. :)
My boyfriends mom uses orange rinds in the syrup, which tasted good but i prefer orange blossom water ::)
This is the first time I've come across a recipe calling for cloves and cinnamon, but I'm sure it tastes good! It would be quite a different taste from what I am used to but I'll give it a try sometime!
p.s. if you plan on making this, it is usually best to buy the ingredients AT LEAST the day before... the phyllo has to be thawed for at least 24 hours according to most directions.... however, usually when i decide to make this, its last minute, so I've found that if i just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, it softens up. I've never had any problems doing this.
Chao!
way too much earth balance was called for... my baklava was swimming in grease!
amazing... and approved by all at the party
I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of regular butter... you can all hate me for it later
one recommendation... be sure that the philo dough is pre-floured (I got lucky, but apparently it makes the whole process a lot easier...)