Baklava | Middlesex
Desdemona went up and down the line, adding walnuts, butter, honey, spinach, cheese, adding more layers of dough, then more butter, before forging the assembled concoctions in the oven.
Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
Has it taken me close to a month to get through Middlesex? Yep. Life has been crazy (I feel as though this is a common thought I’ve been writing for the last six months). This is not to say it’s not a good book - it’s absolutely incredible. If you’re a fan of generational novels then this is a must to pick up.
The story follows the life of Calliope, or Cal, and his family throughout the years and the growing strength of a gene in their bloodline which grows stronger as the generations pass. I was so hooked to this book. It may have taken me a day and an age to finish it, but I spent around a month sneaking in pages during coffee and lunch breaks on workdays, struggling to keep my eyes open on late nights as I pushed through more of the novel late at night.
Also, there is an incredible amount of food mentioned throughout the pages. I’ve made baklava a few times already this year, with pistachios, chia seeds and an assorted of different types of nuts. This one I made purely with walnuts - an incredibly good choice when paired with the maple syrup and lemon. Also - learn from my mistake and leave the baklava to cool completely before serving it. I perhaps dug in straight away and made an absolute mess of the warm, syrupy walnuts and pastry. Delicious - yes. Just not that aesthetically pleasing.
*Note: I use maple syrup as I eat a plant based diet. You can either use maple syrup, honey, or agave for this with no issues.
Baklava
25 sheets of phyllo pastry (give or take - depends on the size of the dish you need, as you’ll likely need to trim it to the right size)
450g walnut, finely chopped
200g butter, melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g caster sugar
7 tbsp maple syrup *see note
150g caster sugar
Zest of one lemon + juice
Preheat your oven to 160C. Using a pastry brush, cover the bottom and sides of a 25cm baking dish with the melted butter.
Making sure you have trimmed the sheets of phyllo pastry to to the size of your pan. Take one sheet and place it onto the buttered bottom of your baking dish and brush it with butter. Repeat with ten more sheets, brushing butter between every layer.
Spread half the walnut mixture into the pan on top of the buttered phyllo sheets. Layer another 5 sheets of phyllo on top of the walnuts, buttering each layer in-between.
Add the remainder of the walnut mixture onto the top layers of phyllo and spread it so it covers it all evenly. Layer the remaining 10 sheets of phyllo on top of this, buttering each layer in-between and the top sheet. Using a sharp knife, slice the baklava into a square or diamond pattern. Place into the preheated oven for around 25 - 30 minutes, or until the top has turned a golden brown.
While the baklava is in the oven, you can make the syrup. combine the maple syrup, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice into a small saucepan. Heat on low until the sugar melts fully and it reduces a little - around 10 minutes. remove from the heat and leave at the side.
Remove the baklava from the oven once the top has turned a golden brown. Pour around half of the prepared syrup on top of the baklava and leave for about 5 minutes while the syrup soaks in. Pour the rest of the syrup over and leave it to cool before serving. Enjoy!