I stopped for gas on the way to work this morning and saw a man talking on a payphone. I thought 'Huh. So there are still payphones in this country.' Then I realized that the phone receiver wasn't attached to the phone.
What does that have to do with Baklava? Everything my friend, everything. Baklava is what keeps me from making collect calls to the voices in my head. Baklava is well... it's an indescribable orgy of butter, nuts and honey.
ORGY.
IN YOUR MOUTH.
And it's a total bitch to make so have fun!
My recipe is for me... I don't like uber sweet stuff so the sugars may be less than what you see in other recipes. I also think that the finger form of baklava seems to use less butter. I know! I know! What's the point then? Well... it's my damn recipe.
So nyah.
Handy Tips:
Phyllo dough was invented by demons. Greek or Egyptian demons probably... To help avoid a phyllo fiasco be sure to keep the dough you are not working with covered with plastic and then covered with a damp tea towel. If the dough dries out even a little it will crumble into dust and if it gets too wet it will lose its' structure and be a sticky mess.
Only open 1 of the smaller packages inside the box for this recipe.
Thaw out your dough overnight in a fridge.
Keep any unused dough frozen until you feel the need to torture yourself again.
Ingredients
1 package of filo dough thawed (generally sold in a box in the freezer section near the frozen pies and cakes)
1 small damp towel- tea towel or otherwise (yes, I'm serious)
1 basting brush or pastry brush or new small paintbrush (it's the same thing)
3 oz or about 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts or pistachios or a combo
1 TBspn brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 stick butter
1 cup white sugar
2 TBspn honey
2 tsp orange flower water or maple syrup (optional)
1. Combine filling
Mix the following together until you get a crumbly paste-ish consistency:
3 oz or about 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1 TBspn brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 TBspn melted butter (slightly more or less will be needed depending on how fine your nuts are chopped)
set aside
2. Prepare the baking apparatus
Butter or use cooking spray to coat the bottom and sides of a baking dish (be sure to use one that has at least short sides)
Preheat your oven to 415
3. Roll up the fingers
Melt the remaining butter and grab your basting brush
Set up your work area so that you can quickly reach filling/butter/phyllo/glass of wine. I conscript the Mister's assistance, it seems to go smoother with 2 people.
Working quickly:
Unroll about 2 inches of the phyllo dough layers cut through all with a sharp knife
Roll rest back up, cover with plastic and damp towel
Paint the top phyllo strip with melted butter
Add a lump of filling near one end of the buttered phyllo strip
Tuck nearest edge around the filling
Roll into a cylinder
set into baking dish, butter top of cylinder
Repeat until you have as many fingers as you want
4. Bake
Flick water drops onto the surface of the fingers (I have no idea why but it seems to do something)
Bake at 415F for about 15 minutes or until phyllo has browned well
5. Make the Syrup
Ha! And you thought you were done.
In a saucepan slowly heat the following until the sugar dissolves:
1 cup white sugar
2 TBspn honey
2 tsp orange flower water or maple syrup (optional)
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat a simmer for about 5 minutes until it gets slightly thicker.
6. Finish
When fingers are done baking Pour syrup over all of them and let 'em soak in it
Ok, now you're done.
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