Greek Week – Let’s start with dessert

White kitten photo © Charmian Christie

I took this shot on the Greek island of Santorini years ago. A blue-eyed white kitten prowled the edge of a whitewashed wall on a cloudless day. Its eyes matched the sky and its fur matched the building. A picture perfect moment that was gone before I could snap another photo.

While my encounter with the kitten was fleeting, my relationship with Greek food remains strong. During my stay in Greece, I discovered calamari, slurped lemony avgolemono soup, scarfed down spanikopitas and devoured enough calorie-laden baklava to keep me backpacking for days.

Warm weather always reminds me of my time under the Mediterranean sun. In keeping with the motto, “Life’s short; eat dessert first,” I’ve decided to kick off Greek Week with a recipe for baklava. While the baklava photo was taken in Greece, I was not behind the camera. This magnificent shot, with its repeated curves and complementary blue and orange colour scheme is courtesy of Sharon Blomfield, a talented photographer and travel writer. The recipe? A classic Greek dessert you can make right at home.

Baklava photo © Sharon Blomfield

Baklava
Printable recipe
Makes 24 pieces

No one can agree on baklava. The Greeks and Turks call it theirs. Some regions of Russian stake a claim to its creation. I’ve tasted variations with almonds, pistachios and pecans. Some cooks make it with orange or rose water. Others add a pinch of cloves. It’s arrived at my table piping hot and swimming in syrup. I’ve even gobbled it cold, dry and crumbly. I like mine lemony, chock full of walnuts, served at room temperature and with just enough sauce to moisten the nuts — but not enough to make it soggy. Feel free to fiddle with this recipe until you find the perfect balance for your tastes.

Filling:

• 1 package frozen phyllo, thawed (about 20 sheets, which makes approximately 7 sheets per layer)
• 1 cup butter, melted (I use 1/2 and 1/2 butter and canola – shhhh, don’t tell anyone)
• 3 cups walnuts, finely chopped until almost ground (variations include almond or pistachio)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon rind, finely grated
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

Syrup:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup honey

Instructions

1. Butter as 9 x 13 glass dish.
2. Cut all but 1 phyllo sheet to 9″ x 13″ or the same size as the bottom of the pan. Do this! Really. It’s fiddly but if you don’t you’ll end up with too much phyllo on the edges. Just toss the extra pastry. It’s not worth keeping.
3. Line the pan with one large sheet. It will overflow, but you want this. Brush entire surface with melted butter, pushing firmly into corners of the pan. Repeat with 6 more cut sheets.
4. Mix walnuts, sugar, lemon rind, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spread half over the bottom of the phyllo lined dish.
5. Cover with a sheet of phyllo. Brush with butter. Add 6 more sheets, brushing each sheet with butter as it’s added
6. Spread with remaining nut filling.
7. Top with remaining sheets, brushing each with butter. Fold the extended pastry up and over the top to create a sealed “package”.
8. Score the baklava to about half the depth with a sharp knife. Classic baklava is diamond shaped, but squares are simpler.
9. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
10. Reduce heat to 300F and bake another 45 to 50 minutes or until golden and crisp.
11. While baklava is cooking, mix sugar, water and cream of tartar in a small saucepan. Mix thoroughly, adding lemon juice and honey.
12. Boil over medium-high without stirring for 5 -10 minutes or until it reaches the thread stage.
13. Pour syrup over the hot baklava. Let cool.
14. Cut along scores before serving.
15. Do NOT rewarm in a microwave. This makes the pastry soggy and you worked too hard to serve soggy pastry.