{"id":115027,"date":"2011-01-19T16:13:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-19T15:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stagingapp15670.cloudwayssites.com\/2011\/01\/almond-baklava.html"},"modified":"2022-08-18T18:07:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T16:07:33","slug":"almond-baklava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stagingapp15670.cloudwayssites.com\/en\/almond-baklava\/","title":{"rendered":"Almond Baklava"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Here is finally the recipe for one of my favorite sweets! Thanks to Hakim and the ” D\u00e9lice de la Casbah<\/a> “, I was able to get my hands dirty and make these fabulous little cakes. There are endless variations on baklawas. Here, the dough is “homemade” with 4 sheets below and 4 above. We can go up to 7 but the work will take longer. Nothing is impossible here, just a bit of material and above all good honey and smen. <\/div>\n

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Thanks to Hakim for teaching me this fantastic recipe! It was really fabulous for me to be able to make them with an expert, especially since I had wanted to know the secrets of baklawas for a while. I had already tried when I was a teenager, but with pastry sheets. But I prefer this homemade recipe a thousand times over! We made the baklawas in a giant mold and so I divided the recipe in half to suit molds more suited to our ovens. I think you can easily fill a 38cm springform pan (at MORA) in diameter with the quantities indicated…  <\/b><\/div>\n

Recipe for “baklawas” for a mold 28 or 30 cm in diameter:<\/p>\n

Dough:<\/span><\/b>
\n-500g of flour<\/span><\/b>
\n-250g of butter<\/span><\/b>
\n-1 egg<\/span><\/b>
\n-water (orange blossom if possible)<\/span><\/b>
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\nPrank call:<\/span><\/b>
\n-500g chopped almonds<\/span><\/b>
\n-125g of sugar<\/span><\/b>
\n-cinnamon<\/span><\/b>
\n-vanilla orange blossom water (1 teaspoon for 500ml of orange blossom water)<\/span><\/b>
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\n-500ml liquid honey<\/span><\/b>
\n-50 to 75ml of orange blossom water<\/span><\/b>
\n-300g of smen (see photo below) or clarified butter<\/span><\/b>
\n– plain peeled almonds<\/span><\/b>
\n– gilding: 1 egg + 2 yolks<\/span><\/b>
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For the new recipes contained in my first book, it’s here:<\/div>\n
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First of all here is the Smen which is in fact clarified butter (just like the Indian Ghee) which takes on an almond flavor over time. It therefore keeps very well and for a long time. It can be found either towards Barb\u00e8s, Belleville in Paris or in Saint Denis. But still in Indian grocery stores as ghee  in the Gare du Nord district or towards Passage Brady in the Saint Denis district.<\/i><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

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You can skip the smen and put homemade clarified butter because the smen may taste too strong for some people. <\/i><\/div>\n
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\nStart by preparing the stuffing. Put the chopped almonds in the blender (yes!!). You have to chop them a little more finely. Let the mixer run for 20 seconds and check the crushing of the almonds.<\/i><\/p>\n

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They should be ground but not fine powder! <\/i><\/div>\n

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Add cinnamon.<\/i><\/div>\n

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And the sugar. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Mix well then add a little vanilla orange blossom water. The mixture should just stick and be able  agglomerate  if it is served in the palm of the hand, but no more!<\/i><\/div>\n

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The texture is that of wet coarse sand. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Prepare the dough by putting the flour, egg and soft butter in a bowl. Mix and add a little water to perfect the dough. Let the machine run (if using a robot) for 5 minutes to knead the dough well.<\/i><\/div>\n
Divide the ball thus obtained into 8 small identical balls.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Roll out a first ball of dough fairly thinly, on a floured work surface.<\/i><\/div>\n
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Do the same with 3 other dough pieces. So you get 4 sheets of dough. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Flour  generously  the work plan and put a first sheet. Flour again very  generously the sheet then add a second sheet on the first floured. Start again with a total of 4 sheets with a sandwich, lots of flour. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Roll out the 4 sheets TOGETHER, this time much thinner, the size of the mold used, with a margin (to exceed the mold).<\/i><\/div>\n
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Brush the mold with melted smen. <\/i><\/div>\n
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To take off the first sheet of dough, roll it around a thin rolling pin, removing the excess flour as you roll it (with a brush reserved for this purpose or by hand with a cloth clean and dry).<\/i><\/div>\n
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Then unroll the sheet on the greased mold.  <\/i>
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Sprinkle with melted smen. For the lower leaves, there’s no need to bother with brushing well. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Place a second sheet of dough on top of the first, then sprinkle again with melted smen. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Do the same for the last 2 but without greasing the last one on its surface. So we end up with 4 sheets on the mold. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Add the chopped almond stuffing. <\/i><\/div>\n
Preheat the oven to 190\u00b0C.<\/i><\/div>\n

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Press on the center then on the sides in  letting go  pressure  that exercise  the sheets of dough. Slightly lift the dough on the outside of the mold to be able to press the stuffing onto the inside edge of the mold. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Scrape the surface using a squeegee dipped in vanilla orange blossom water. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Cut the dough just above the level reached by the stuffing. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Then fold the dough over the stuffing all around the mold. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Prick the stuffing with a knife. <\/i><\/div>\n
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Then put the sheets of dough again, making sure this time to brush well  generously of melted smen with a brush over their entire surface. Do the same for the other sheets except for the last one. <\/i><\/div>\n

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The last of the top must remain free of smen. Cut the dough at the edge of the mold with a knife. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Then press the dough down to the inside edge of the pan.<\/i><\/div>\n

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Cut with a knife the baklawa by pushing the blade well. Make strips in one direction then in the other to create the diamonds  typical  of this pastry. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Prepare the egg wash by mixing an egg and two yolks. Mix well then apply with a brush a coat of glaze over the entire surface of the baklawas. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Place a plain, peeled almond in the center of each diamond, pressing it in slightly. <\/i><\/div>\n

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The baklawas are ready to go in the oven!<\/i><\/div>\n

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Bake for one hour at 190\u00b0C-200\u00b0C, monitoring the end of cooking and adapting to your own oven. <\/i><\/div>\n

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Slightly heat the honey with the orange blossom and pour the mixture over the hot mold as soon as it comes out of the oven.<\/i><\/div>\n

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The baklawas will “drink” the honey <\/i><\/div>\n

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Let stand and cool  completely  a whole night before devouring them with a mint tea! <\/i><\/div>\n

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Almond Baklava<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Thanks to Hakim for teaching me this fantastic recipe! It was really fabulous for me to be able to make them with an expert, especially since I had wanted to know the secrets of baklawas for a while. I had already tried when I was a teenager, but with pastry sheets. But I prefer this homemade recipe a thousand times over! We made the baklawas in a giant mold and so I divided the recipe in half to suit molds more suited to our ovens. I think that you can easily fill a 38cm (at MORA) diameter springform pan with the quantities indicated... <\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n
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