As I thought yesterday, I ran to get some nuts and butter today and got cracking.  As usual with the things I’m making for the first time ever, I compared a few recipes online and chose what I liked most of all of them.

And so I went for the nuts I like most- pistachios, pecans , almonds and hazelnuts. Having blitzed them not too finely I added lots of cinnamon and a bit of sugar.

When assembling the baklava I prepared the tray with baking paper, buttered it, then 5 layers of filo, each buttered, then a layer of nut mixture, 5 layers of filo, buttered thoroughly again, nuts and 5 layers of filo, all the same procedure, except that the last layers I slit slightly, it was supposed to make the slicing easier I think, but also the visual effect, when first peeked into the oven  after 15 minutes made it worth while- it looked great, as the pastry puffed up slightly and started to become golden.

I baked it in about 150 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes and while that was happening, I made the syrup- simmered some water with sugar, about 10 cloves,lemon rind,  at the end added a juice of half a lemon and a small spoon of vanilla paste. The syrup took about 20 minutes.

Having taken the lovely golden beauty out of the oven I pricked it in between the diamonds with a sharp knife and then spooned the syrup all over. I intended to let it all soak in before tasting, but I couldn’t. It’s lovely, nutty, sweet, but not heavy and not sickly like some shop bought baklava.

A good pat on the back. 😉