AGONY CHEF: making baklava at home can be tricky but immensely rewarding

Judie Burton, Kendal

MAKING baklava at home can be tricky but it's immensely rewarding to taste that sweet, nutty and flaky pastry. A little piece goes along way! Unwrap 18 sheets of ready-made filo pastry and cover with a damp tea towel. Grease a 17cm by 28cm baking tray with butter, then melt the remaining butter over a low heat. Start to lay your sheets of filo pastry onto the greased tray one at a time, brushing each sheet with butter as you lay it down. Use 10 sheets of pastry for this layer. Combine 100g chopped pistachios and 100g chopped walnuts in a mixing bowl and add 2 tspb granulated sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. Spread evenly over the top of the 10 sheets of filo. Then start layering the remaining pastry sheets, brushing each with butter as you go. Once all the remaining pastry is used, cut a criss cross pattern into the top layers of the pastry using a sharp knife. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 150C and cook for a further 30 minutes. The pastry should be golden and slightly puffed when ready. To make the syrup, heat 300g granulated, 250 ml water, 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp orange blossom water in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. When the sugar has dissolved and it starts to look a bit syrupy, remove from the heat. Carefully pour the warm syrup over the layers of baklava. Allow to cool, then cut into diamond shaped pieces. As always, be careful with hot sugar.