Ingredients
For the Baklava layers and shards
375g Antoniou Fillo Pastry
200g butter, melted and clarified
250g walnuts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
For the honey cake layers
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup honey
1 cup milk
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder
For the syrup
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup water
½ cup honey
10 whole cloves
1 cinnamon quill
Honey buttercream
250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 and 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
To assemble
Whole walnuts
Honey
Recipe notes
Each component can be made ahead, a day before assembling the cake. Store the cake layers in an air tight container, cover the baklava layers and store the buttercream in the fridge.
Method
For this Fillo Pastry recipe, take your chilled Filo Pastry out of the fridge at least 2 hours before you begin, to bring it up to room temperature.
Pre heat your oven to 180 deg C fan forced. Grease and line three 20cm round cake tins with butter and baking paper.
Mix the hazelnuts and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.
To make the honey cake layers
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the egg whites and beat until well combined. Add the honey and milk and mix until combined. Add the flour, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder and mix until incorporated.
Evenly distribute the batter between the three tins. Cook for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely in their tins. Remove the cakes from their tins and using a large serrated knife cut the tops of the cake off to create a flat cake layer.
To make the syrup
Place all the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and allow the syrup to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
To make the baklava layers
Mix the nuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Separate your Fillo Pastry into two even stacks. Cover with a dry tea towel. Starting with one stack of Pastry, lay one sheet of Filo Pastry on a clean bench. Brush with melted butter. Lay another sheet of Pastry and brush with butter. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the nuts evenly over the Pastry. Repeat this process with 6 more sheets of Pastry. Place two final sheets of Fillo Pastry on top of the stack.
Place a 20cm round cake tin onto the Fillo Pastry and use it as a template to cut a round circle. Ensure you use a sharp knife so that you can cut all the way through the stack.
Transfer the circle to large baking trays. Brush with butter and use a sharp knife to poke holes all over the Pastry.
Repeat with remaining Pastry stack and nuts to create another circle and more shards.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Pour the syrup over the baklava and allow it to cool completely.
(The surrounding Fillo Pastry can be baked and into used to create Pastry shards).
To make the buttercream
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter for 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until it is pale in colour and fluffy. Ad the honey and beat until well incorporated. Add the icing sugar slowly and mix until light and fluffy.
To assemble the cake
Place one honey cake layer on your serving dish. Place the buttercream in a piping bag. Pipe and then spread a thin layer of buttercream over the cake. Add a layer of baklava. Repeat again to create the second layer. Lay the third cake layer on top. Using your favourite piping tip, pipe the buttercream all over the top of the cake in pretty swirls. Position baklava hazelnuts over each piped buttercream swirl and drizzle with honey.
Learn how to make a Honey Baklava Layer Cake