I was inspired by a) a friend of a sister’s recent presentation of a couple of pieces, b) Alton Brown’s recent baklava episode and c) an out-of-town friend’s insistence that we go to a local Middle Eastern grocery, since she doesn’t have any in Phoenix.
How hard could it be? And it’s so tasty when made well.
Well.
The nut mixture was a snap. Clarifying the butter wasn’t difficult. The phyllo dough was - doable. The first few sheets stuck and tore badly, but I kept my patience and did some patching - as flaky as it is when done, I doubted it would matter a whole lot. As I got deeper into the stack the sheets were far more manageable. I figure it might have thawed slightly on the outside and refrozen somewhere along the line. The syrup, with cinnamon and orange zest to flavor it, was amazing to make.
My god, the butter! Dear lord, the sugar! The syrup called for an entire JAR of honey! Homeresque glaarglgargle
So, it baked, and cooled, and basked all night in a panful of ambrosiac fluid.
And, is still sitting in a huge pool of goo. I was under the impression that more of it would absorb. I pulled out a piece to sample this morning. It tastes great! But it is DRIPPING. Put a slice on a plate and it just oozes. I don’t remember any baklava I’ve had that was this messy. What did I do wrong, or is it supposed to be like this, and you’re supposed to let it drain before serving it?
My hands-on experience with making baklava is in the distant past. My experience with storebought baklava is not nearly so distant. Storebought stuff is not as delightfully gooey as homemade. This is my opinion, backed up by a friend who attended the Culinary Institute of America and has oodles of life experience in culinary realms to boot.
So I guess I’m voting that what you have done is normal, you don’t need to drain it before serving, it’s supposed to be that way. Enjoy it while you’ve got it.
The gooey description sounds like Balkan style baklava - I’ve had it in Bulgaria, Bosnia, and Turkey, and it’s much goopier and less crisp than (what I think of typical) Levantine baklava. I gotta say I’m not a huge fan.
Anyway, makes me wonder about the source of the recipe.
I left out the almonds and used 12 oz of pistachios instead. I used pre-ground cinnamon and 1 1/2tsp allspice instead of grinding my own berries. (Tsk tsk, terrible, I know.) Also, on the recommendation of my friend I used orange blossom water instead of rosewater. They’re both fairly perfumy and I’m sure the difference is negligible.
The episode has been posted on YouTube in two parts, though I don’t know how long it’ll stay there. Search for Alton Brown baklava and you’ll find it.
I’m glad I bothered clarifying the butter, because I accidentally used salted instead of unsalted, and much of the salt was taken out in the process. I found that two sticks of butter for brushing the dough was WAY more than I needed, but it probably took at least one. After the nut mixture and the butter were ready to use, the assembly took probably 45 minutes to an hour. And I don’t care what Alton said in his show, keeping a damp cloth over the dough was vital to keeping it usable.
I’m thinking that if I ever make this again, and that might be a while if it happens, I’ll cut the syrup maybe in half. There’s THAT much still in the pan.
that being said, I have made it before, and I love the stuff … you really ened to make it again.
Next silly question, did you use a brush or your hand to butter the dough? A sister of a moroccan I dated for a while taught me to make it, and she said that brushes usually tore the dough and if you dip the palm of your hand flat into the butter, and wiped the surface of the dough it went on smoother and faster without the tearing. Of course you have to be careful, and it does get messy when making it, but I found she was correct about it not tearing the dough)
I make it with rose water in the syrup, and try an orange//cardamom nest time, they are flavors that go well together, and walnuts make an interesting baklava also=)
I’ve made baklava a number of times, using different nuts, not just the classic pistachios, almonds, or walnuts.
I don’t clarify the butter either, and it still seems great.
The one thing I don’t do is get* too* trendy and add chocolate chips or similar items.
Baklava is a classic that doesn’t need too much fooling around with.
I work with a lot of Bosnians and a few Albanians. Baklava is food of the gods. I keep track of when Ramadan is going down and start kissing up before the end. You play your cards right and you can get two or three nice grandma’s bringing you a tupperware full at the same time. I’ve had the dry version from a box and it was nothing like homemade. Baklava is at it’s best when it’s sitting in a pool of it’s own syrup. I also occaisonly get something called a Toloomba? Basically like a pancake really sweet and delicous. And Kevbab like hot sausage in a bun CMOT I will. And a lot of the bosnians homeade dried salted meat that is awesome
Mmm… I like it home-made and gooey. My parents made it for special occasions from a Greek cookbook adapted for having to shop in England in the 70s (we had better luck finding fresh ingredients in Australia in the 80s.) It definitely came out with its own puddle of syrup but it was delicious.
That and kateifi, and galataboureko - it was always amazing when they decided it was Greek pastry time. I especially loved the galataboureko.
Alton’s recipe is basically Persian (the rosewater is the giveaway), and it’s not the only way to make the stuff. His method is also “the hard way” in certain respects (cutting after baking, for example). If anyone’s interested, I’ll post a modified version that’s somewhat simpler than Alton’s, and just as good.
If you think you can cut the syrup in half and still be happy with the results, either your recipe is a lot gooey-er than my mother’s recipe, you aren’t as knowledgeable about the ways of baklava as you think you are, or you like you baklava drier than I like mine.
Sure! I’m not going to jump up and make another batch tomorrow or anything, but I wouldn’t mind seeing other versions for future reference.
It sounds from many of the replies here that what I’ve made isn’t unusual or wrong in some way. Not bad for a first batch, but I’d say there’s certainly room for improvement.
Aruvqan, I did use a brush, but it didn’t seem to make the tearing any worse. The sheets were sticking together as I tried to pull them apart off the stack but once I laid them down they stayed where they were put. I may as well try the hand method though if it’s faster; the brush took a while.
Eureka, I don’t claim to know anything about the ways of baklava, but when I lifted out the first piece and the syrup drained in to nearly completely fill the corner to take it’s place, it seemed…excessive. It seems now that that’s more normal than I thought.
I’m not sure that you are wrong to think it excessive–especially since my in-person experience is dated–but I suspect that the amount of syrup you need may be higher than half the amount you used this time. Certainly I’m voting that’s gooey-er than I recall my mom’s being.
Hm. I don’t think I’ve ever had Persian baklava. But I am taking Farsi right now so I think a quest for Persian baklava could count as a legitimate scholastic exercise! MAN BAKLAVA DOOST DARAM.*
*This means “I like baklava” in Farsi.
Congratulations! Home made baklava is always better than store bought, IMO (and way less expensive andd there’s a whole LOT!). Daughter and I made it every Christmas for several years. We started out just terrified and mystified and made some real messes, but with practice came, well, perfection. To give it away, we cut little diamond shapes and put them in the tinfoil cupcake liners.
well, you keep the dough sheets under a few sheets of slightly damp paper towels, and that helps keep them pliable =)
and really, try the rosewater next time … though orange blossom water, cargamom is a good combo.
i actually made a batch of peanut baklava for a friend who is very allergic to tree nuts and had always wanted to try it just from the descriptions …
and if you would like to try something really different, there is a persian recipe that i have made before that is vaguely similar. cant remember the name. there is a dough product like phylo, but it is little extruded noodly things. you coat the bottom of the pan in butter, then add a layer of noodls, then cover it with some chopped nuts and sugar, and sprinkle with rosewater. lather rinse repeat for several layers. then roast chicken over it so you get the drippings instead of butter, and it creates its own syrup. ill try to track down my copy of the cookbook … it sounds odd but is rather yummy. i cheated because i didnt have a spit and gently covered the top evenly with chicken thighs =)
This recipe from Fine Cooking magazine is a great baklava. It’s a chocolate-hazelnut-espresso-frangelico version, and really delicious. They have another that is an apricot-pistachio version that I really want to try. The first was a little gooey, but not dripping or anything.
What I read about phyllo dough is that any thawing and refreezing can really do damage to the dough, making it very hard to separate. I used two packages for the batch that I made, and the first was really awful for handling. The other was very easy to deal with. If it hadn’t been, I probably would have sworn off making baklava ever again. They say that the phyllo dough is better at ethnic markets that may have a higher turnaround and thus less susceptibility to the dough going sticky.
I'm part Armenian, which means relatives of the "pure" variety, who like to fraternise, and think other cultures stole baklava from them.
For me, lots of samplings of yumminess through the years. You're right, many variations, and no real wrong way, though the elders don't vary from walnuts, and anything besides honey is heresy. Two generations ago, the gals made their own leaves, and skill there had a large part in family ranking.
