Yvonne shared with us a simplified version of Baklava in the Caring Place Community Kitchen. This version is less sinful than the original version which is drenched with syrup.

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry found in many cuisines of the Middle East, the Balkans and South Asia. It is made of chopped nuts, usually walnuts or pistachios, layered with phyllo pastry and sweetened with sugar or honey syrup.

Ingredients

• any nuts of your preference, Yvonne used a mixture of almond, walnut and pecan.
• granulated sugar
• a packet of phyllo dough
• melted butter or margarine
• honey or maple syrup
• a long bamboo skewer

Instructions

Defrost the phyllo dough in the refrigerator overnight. Toast the nuts in the oven before chopping them quite finely. Large pieces of nuts will break through the phyllo dough.

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Use two layers of phyllo dough at a time. Brush the top of the phyllo with melted butter.

Fold one inch on both the longer sides and one inch on the shorter end near you.Sprinkle with the chopped nuts and sugar. Place a bamboo skewer on the folded shorter end near you and roll the dough up tightly away from you.

Brush the top with some melted butter for sealing the roll.

Slightly twist the roll to tighten it. Remove the bamboo skewer.

Cut the roll into four equal pieces. Repeat until you finish with all the phyllo dough.

Brush the top of the roll with melted butter before you bake the roll in a preheated 250C oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

The roll should be golden brown and crispy when done. Brush the roll with honey or maple syrup before serving.

Yvonne, thank you for sharing this recipe with us. I enjoyed it very much.