Ingredients
For the Shards
8 sheets Antoniou Fillo Pastry
75g butter, melted and clarified
50g walnuts, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cake
250g dried dates, pitted & roughly chopped
300ml orange juice
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
90g unsalted butter, at room temperature
180g brown sugar
2 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
For the butterscotch sauce
300g brown sugar
75g butter
300ml thickened cream
Recipe notes
Each component can be made ahead, a day before assembling the cake. Store the cake and the baklava shards covered, and the butterscotch sauce in the fridge. Warm the sauce before pouring onto the cake.
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 degrees Celsius fan forced. Grease a large baking tray with butter.
Grease and flour a bundt tin or 25cm round cake tin.
To make the Baklava Shards
Mix the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. 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 4 more sheets of Pastry. Place two final sheets of Fillo Pastry on top and butter.
Transfer the layer to your greased baking tray. Using a sharp knife, poke holes all over the Pastry. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool then cut into rough shard shapes using a sharp knife.
To make the cake
Bring the dates and orange juice to the boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the bi-carbonate soda. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Cream the butter and brown sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is well incorporated before adding the next. Fold in flour, cinnamon, ginger and date mixture.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool before removing it from the tin.
To make the butterscotch sauce
Bring all the ingredients to the boil in a medium saucepan. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 8-10 minutes on medium heat, or until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.
To assemble the cake
Place the cake on a serving platter. Place the shards on top (use a knife to make little cuts in the cake if you want to stand the shards up more vertically). Heat your sauce and pour three quarters of it all over the shards and cake. Serve immediately. Serve with extra sauce and ice cream.