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Baklava mille feuille
Serves 4 Cakes, Bread and Pastries
Ingredients
- 8 filo sheets
- 150g butter, melted
- 90g brown sugar
- 5g ground cinnamon
- 50g pecan nuts, slightly toasted and crushed
For the honey syrup
- 100g honey
- 100g sugar
- 2g cinnamon stick
- 2 cardamom pods, crushed
For the crème pâtissière
- 2 egg yolks
- 15g cornflour
- 160ml milk
- 30g caster sugar
- 45ml single cream
- 2 vanilla pods, split lengthways, seeds scraped out, pods reserved
- 10g butter
- 45ml single cream, whipped
To serve
- honey, to taste
- edible gold leaf
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C/
140C F/Gas 3 and line a baking
tray with baking paper. Cut the
filo sheets into three equal-
sized strips lengthways to make
24 smaller sheets of pastry and brush both sides of each
with butter. Place two of these
smaller filo sheets on top of
each other (you will end up with
12 sheets of two layers each).
Sprinkle the top of each sheet
with brown sugar, cinnamon
and crushed pecans. Concertina
the filo sheets, pack them
tightly next to each other on the
baking tray and bake for around
30 minutes or until golden
brown and crisp.
Meanwhile, make the honey syrup. Mix the honey, sugar, 100g water, cinnamon stick and cardamom in a pan with a pouring lip. Bring the mixture to the boil and continue to boil until all the sugar has dissolved. Strain the syrup into a jug, then pour it back into the pan, ready to heat again just before the baklava is ready.
Once the baklava is caramelised and crisp, remove from the oven. Pour the hot syrup over and leave to cool.
For the crème pâtissière, mix
the egg yolks, cornflour, 100ml
of the milk and half the sugar
together in a heatproof bowl.
In a pan, bring the rest of the
milk, the 45ml single cream,
vanilla seeds and pods and the
other half of the sugar to a boil.
Remove the vanilla pods, then
slowly pour the boiling milk into
the bowl with the egg mixture
while whisking.
Return the mixture to the pan and bring to the boil for 1 minute, whisking continuously. Whisk in the butter until smooth and shiny. Transfer the crème pâtissière to a baking tray lined with cling film and cover with cling film directly on the surface. Transfer to the fridge to cool.
Once cooled, transfer the crème pâtissière to a mixing bowl, whisk until smooth and fold in the whipped cream. Scoop into a piping bag with your preferred nozzle.
Put the baklava on a serving plate, drizzle honey over and pipe the crème pâtissière in small circles or the pattern of your choice on top. Garnish with edible gold leaf and serve.
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