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For the syrup
- 250 g
(9oz) caster sugar
- 125 ml
(4 fl oz) runny honey
- 1
cinnamon stick
- 2
cardamom pods, lightly crushed
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp.
(optional)
edible gold leaf, to decorate (optional)
- Step 1
In a food processor, blend nuts with 3tbsp sugar until finely ground. Set aside 2tbsp of the mixture. Tip the remainder into a large mixing bowl, then stir in the cinnamon and mixed spice.
- Step 2
In a small pan, gently heat butter until melted. Set aside. Sprinkle a few drops of water over a clean tea towel so it is just damp. Spread the filo pastry out on a work surface and cover with the tea towel to prevent the pastry drying out.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Lightly brush a rectangular baking dish about 20.5cm x 30.5cm (8in x 12in) with butter. Lay a sheet of filo into the base of the dish and brush liberally with butter. Repeat with 5 more filo sheets, trimming away excess pastry once layered. Sprinkle over a third of the nut and spice mixture. Layer on 4 more sheets of filo, buttering each as you go and trimming away excess pastry as necessary. Add nut mixture, and repeat layering process once more. Finish with the final third of nuts and 6 sheets of buttered filo, brushing the top with the remaining butter.
- Step 4
Cut baklava into strips about 4cm (1½in) wide. Then, at a diagonal, cut strips about 5cm (2in) apart to make diamond shapes, slicing all the way to the bottom of the baking dish. Bake for 15min in the middle shelf of the oven; reduce temperature to 170°C (150°C fan) mark 3 and bake for a further 30min until golden.
- Step 5
Half an hour before the end of baking, make the syrup. Heat sugar and honey with 250ml (9fl oz) water in a large pan set over a low heat, stirring until dissolved. Add cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and lemon zest and juice. Bring to boil and simmer for 15min until lightly syrupy. Strain into jug, stir in orange flower water, if using, and set aside to cool.
- Step 6
Remove baklava from the oven and pour over the warm syrup. Leave to soak until cooled. Remove baklava diamonds with a palette knife. Separate with squares of greaseproof paper, decorate each with a little edible gold leaf, if you
like, and store in an airtight container for a week.
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To freeze, keep cooled, undecorated baklava in baking dish, wrap well in clingfilm and freeze for up to a month. To serve, defrost at room temperature overnight, separate with a palette knife and decorate diamonds with edible gold leaf, if you like.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 253
- Fibre: 1 g
- Total carbs: 31 g
- Sugars: 17 g
- Total fat: 12 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Protein: 5 g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
