Makes 36 pieces
Ingredients
Syrup
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp orange water
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
1 lemon, rind only
2 tbsp lemon juice
Nut mixture
200g almonds
200 g pistachios, reserve 20 g for decoration
400 g good quality butter, melted
900 g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
Recipe Tips
Cold syrup - hot baklava
The number one rule when making baklava. To ensure a crispy finished product, syrup must be completely cooled before pouring over the hot baklava.
Method
For this Fillo Pastry recipe, take your fresh Fillo Pastry out of the fridge at least 2 hours before use to bring it up to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 160 deg. C. Grease a deep 40 cm x 30 cm baking pan with melted butter.
For the syrup
Stir sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Stir in orange water, cinnamon, cloves, rinds and lemon juice. Allow to cool completely.
For the filling
In a food processor, blend almonds and pistachios until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Add the ground cinnamon and ground cloves.
Assembling the baklava
Place one sheet of Fillo Pastry on a clean work surface with the short edge facing you. Drizzle with melted butter. Cover with another sheet of Fillo Pastry and drizzle with butter. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of nut mixture over the top half of the Fillo sheets.
Place two bamboo skewers across the middle of the Fillo sheet. Fold Fillo in half over the skewers. Slowly roll the Fillo over the skewers, away from you to form a log. Gently press ends of the log in towards the centre to create a wrinkled effect and to complete the log. Pick up the log, place in the tray and remove the bamboo skewers. Butter each log as you complete to prevent them from drying out.
Repeat with remaining Fillo Pastry and nut mixture until the tray is full. Cut the saragli into thirds and then pour over remaining butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 mins or until golden brown.
Remove Saragli from the oven and pour over cooled syrup immediately. Set aside to cool and sprinkle with reserved pistachios on top to serve.