Being someone who was never a great fan of overly sweet desserts, I have to say baklava was not among my top choices. That was until I started making my own.
Walnuts are naturally ever so slightly bitter, in the most pleasant way possible, so they balance the sweetness of the sugar syrup perfectly. With the addition of roasted almonds, some bright orange zest, and the aromatic carob powder, it is the perfect sweet treat for the afternoon coffee.
Like I said, I don't enjoy overly sweet desserts, so this baklava is moderately sweet. If you like your sweets really sweet, feel free to slightly increase the sugar in the syrup; that should work very well.
Ingredients
For the baklava
500 grams filo sheets
500 grams ground walnuts
200 grams ground almonds
50 grams roasted carob powder
100 grams granulated sugar
1 heaping tablespoon fresh orange zest
150 grams vegan block butter, melted
100 millilitres vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
For the syrup
600 millilitres water
250 grams granulated sugar
50 grams vegan honey, apple or dandelion
1 large lemon
Preparation
Start by cooking the sugar syrup. Place all the ingredients in a large pot, place it over medium heat, and let it heat up slowly. Once boiling, add in one whole lemon, sliced in thin slices, and let it cook for about 15 minutes or so, until thickened and slightly darker in colour. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.
Place the granulated sugar in a large bowl, adding in the fresh orange zest, and mixing it through with your fingers. Add in the ground walnuts and almonds, along with the carob powder, and mix everything together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted vegan butter, oil, and vanilla.
Count your filo sheets and cut the whole stack in half, to fit snugly in a 20x30 cm baking pan. If there is a bit of excess filo, do not cut it off, you will simply fold it in during assembly. Let the oven preheat to 200˚C.
Using a pastry brush, add a generous layer of the butter and oil mixture on the bottom and sides of the pan. Add in the first two layers of filo dough. If there is any overhang, simply fold it in. Brush it with the butter mix and top with a generous portion of the filling, about two tablespoons. Top with one filo sheet, lightly brushing it with a bit of butter, and topping with the ground nuts and carob powder.
Continue stacking filo sheets and filling until you use it all up. If towards the end you see that you miscalculated and you are running out of filling, simply start stacking two filo sheets instead of one, and it will be fine.
Once everything is used up, take a very sharp knife and slice the baklava all the way through, into 18 equal pieces. You can also slice it into smaller pieces, if you wish. Place it in the hot oven, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until beautifully golden and baked through.
As soon as the baklava is done, take it out of the oven, and using a ladle, pour the syrup all over, making sure that all the pieces have a bit of syrup in and around them. You can also use a thin knife to move the pieces a bit so the syrup can to between them nicely. You do not have to use up all of the syrup if it looks like your baklava does not need it or if you prefer it les sweet. Let it stand overnight in a cool place, and serve with strong coffee. Yields 18 generous servings.
