happy new year! new, faster way to make holiday baklawa (baklava)!

 

this holiday season i made baklawa for taste samplings at Camamu Soap's Holiday Bazaar—small pieces would be just right. i decided to make a tray of rolls cut into bite sized pieces, faster (for me) than making a big tray of baklawa and cutting it into typical diamond shapes knowing it would be easier to lift each one out of the tray to serve.

i started out putting parchment on my baking sheet and then placed three sheets of filo dough that i generously brushed with butter on the top sheet. next i spooned a long row of the walnut/sugar/orange flower water mixture about 1/2" from the edge and began to carefully roll up the nuts like an oriental carpet, brushing butter every couple of rolls and at the end, to be sure the filo was well covered.

with a sharp knife i cut the rolls into one inch pieces, and then continued the process until i filled the tray, using up all  the filo and the nut mixture.

occasionally, i used two sheets of filo instead of three, to be sure the filo and nuts would end up with no leftovers. and it did!

immediately after baking the cold simple syrup with orange flower water and lemon juice is drizzled over the hot pastry and left to cool. it came out fabulously...fully detailed recipe of course is in alice's kitchen!

wishing you all the best and many blessings this New Year!

tis the season for baklawe! fa la la la la! la la la la!

Growing up in Alice's Kitchen, sweets and pastries were reserved for special occasions and holidays rather than a regular after-dinner event. a big bowl of fresh, seasonal fruits was our typical dessert, while the homemade farmers' cheese (jibn) and olives that mother and sitto cured from our tree in the front yard remained on the dinner table with some arabic bread, fig jam, and the occasional halawe (halvah).

mother's irresistable homemade baklawe (baklava) was for the holidays, when she'd graciously package up numerous tins of sweets to share with friends, guests, neighbors, and relatives visiting from arizona or other far away places.

her baklawe—so light and delicious—one piece was never enough. this quality distinguishes our baklawe from others that are so heavily laden with syrup and sweet, one piece can be too much! in the old country (lebanon), people made their own filo pastry, but thank goodness in LA in the 1950s there was one Arabic grocery store Nasrawey's on Hollywood Boulevard, where they sold frozen filo pastry dough. how lucky we are now that most supermarkets in major cities carry this, making baklawe a fun holiday baking project with kids, as they love brushing on the butter, and grinding the walnuts in an old-fashioned nut grinder!

so i'm getting in the mood to make baklawe to fill the Christmas tins i just bought and to use the fresh crop of walnuts from my tree—rescued from the squirrels this year by my hero doggie, baba ghannouj! here's a photo of last year's tray. making this is much easier than one would imagine, and the results are worth the effort.

i use a utility paint brush to spread the melted butter. and instead of basting each filo sheet, save time by placing two sheets at a time which coats each sheet on one side. half of the buttered filo dough goes on the bottom of the baking tray, then a layer of walnuts, sugar, and orange flower water mixed together, and then the final layer of filo brushed with butter. a sharp knife is best to cut diamond-shaped pieces before baking. when the hot baklawe is removed from the oven, a cold simple syrup flavored with orange flower water or rose water and a little lemon juice is drizzled over the top. agave syrup works beautifully in place of sugar! the pieces need to be cut through again, but one buttery bite of this Arabic delicacy is heaven-sent! happy holidays and happy baking!

oh, yes, of course the complete recipes for baklawe, jibn, and how to cure olives are in Alice's Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking! so order your copies now for holiday baking and gift giving!