Baklawa or baklava is a true delight best enjoyed with coffee after a sumptuous mezze feast. My chocolate version is a lusciously nutty, sticky but not overly sweet pastry. The chocolate actually enhances the traditional taste and texture and counteracts the sweetness of the syrup.
Heat the sugar with the water in a medium sized pan over a medium heat. Give it an occasional stir until the sugar dissolved.
300 g granulated sugar, 200 ml water
Add the cardamon pods and bring the syrup up to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid off for 15 minutes until slightly thickened.
6 cardamom pods
Leave to cool then add the rose water and lemon juice. Give it a good stir.
1 tbsp rose water, 2 tbsp lemon juice
Pastry
Meanwhile, chop the nuts into small pieces. You can use a food processor to pulse the nuts, but be careful not to grind them.
100 g almonds, 100 g walnuts, 100 g pistachios
Dry fry them for about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally and be careful not to scorch them, then leave to cool.
Chop the chocolate into small pieces.
100 g dark chocolate
Mix the nuts, chocolate, cinnamon and one tbsp of the syrup together in a bowl.
1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp syrup
Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat.
175 g unsalted butter
Butter a 20cm (8") sq cake tin then cover the tin with two overlapping sheets of filo and brush with melted butter.
400 g filo (phyllo) pastry sheets
Repeat this another 5 times, then spread half the nut mixture over the pastry.
Fold in any overhanging bits of pastry.
Cover the nut mixture with another 6 layers of pastry brushed with butter then spread on the remaining nut mixture. Fold in any overhanging bits.
Place the remaining nut mixture on top and spread out evenly. Top with another 6 layers of pastry brushed with butter. Fold in any overhanging bits and give it all a final buttering. Pour any remaining butter over the top.
Using a sharp knife, cut the baklawa into about 18 small diamond shaped pieces. Cut right through to the bottom.
Bake at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for twenty minutes. Turn the oven down to 160℃ (140℃ fan,320℉, Gas 3) and bake for a further twenty minutes or until the top is crisp and golden.
Remove the cardamom pods from the cold syrup and pour it over the top as soon as you remove the bake from the oven. This helps to keep the pastry crisp.
Leave the pastry to cool down and the syrup to soak in.
Notes
The syrup must be cool when you pour it over the baklawa or the pastry will go soggy. Conversely, the pastry needs to be hot.Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.