Baklava

I took the opportunity of Thanksgiving in the U.S. to make baklava for the first time. It was as many had told me -- much easier to make than it looks. I love the crispy phyllo dough and honey-drenched walnuts inside. The only true challenge was in not finishing the entire pan myself. Better still, baklava freezes well, so you can make a batch and enjoy it at your leisure. Or, I suppose, share it with others.


Simple though it is to make, there are a few things you can do to ensure a successful, not-soggy baklava. First, it's unnecessary to saturate the layers of phyllo with butter. A thin layer of butter suffices (but don't skimp, either). Toast the walnuts, or whatever combination of nuts you choose to use, beforehand. I've never encountered nuts in a recipe that wasn't greatly improved by toasting them first. Be sure to make the sauce first, so that it can be cooled while you're assembling the the baklava -- while you can certainly pour the sauce hot over the baklava, a cool sauce will help ensure that the phyllo stays crisp. Chop the nuts as fine as you can without turning them into powder. Finally, when you're cutting the baklava into triangles/squares, don't cut all the way down to the bottom, so the sauce soaks into more top layers. And yes, it is best to pre-cut the baklava. Once it's baked the phyllo will shatter at the slightest resistance, which makes for a much less attractive finish.


Just out of the oven.


After sauce as been poured over the top.
Full disclosure: This recipe was a bit sweet for me. I tend to like my sweets very easy on the sugar. Next time I'd probably make half the amount of syrup, or cut the sugar at least by that amount. I'd leave the honey as it is -- baklava should taste richly of honey.


Ingredients

• 1 8oz package phyllo dough
• 1/2 lb chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp honey

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottoms and sides of an 8x8-inch square pan.
2. Toast the walnuts for 10 minutes.
3. Make the sauce by boiling the sugar and water until the sugar is melted. Add the vanilla and honey, bring it to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Place this mixture directly into the refrigerator and get it cooling.
4. Toss the chopped walnuts with the cinnamon and set aside.
5. Unroll the phyllo dough. Cut the stack of sheets to fit your pan, or keep them intact and use the "fold over" method when layering (leaving the overhanging dough where it is, then folding over when a new layer is required).
6. Layer two sheets of dough into the pan, then brush with the melted butter. Make sure you get the edges. You may need to occasionally reheat the butter in the microwave to ensure a liquid consistency. Repeat this layering until 8-10 sheets are layered.
7. As evenly as possible, sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of the walnut mixture onto a buttered layer of phyllo. Top this with two sheets of dough, brush with butter, then repeat with the nuts and keep layering. The top layer should be 8-10 sheets.
8. Use a sharp knife to cut the baklava into triangles or squares, nearly to the bottom of the pan.
9. Bake for about 60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
10. Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the cooled sauce over it, getting it into every nook and cranny.
11. Serve when completely cool.

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

I've had a good friend of mine visiting the last couple of weeks, and though it would have been easy to let ourselves eat out for every meal, I was determined to make at least two homecooked meals. I made 'perfect' mac & cheese, chicken marsala (recipe to come), 3 kinds of ice cream, salads, Zuni Cafe buttermilk mashed potatoes, and pecan honey sticky buns.

The last actually required that I also make a loaf of buttery brioche, because it uses one-half recipe of that dough. Yes, these sticky rolls are extra sinful because brioche is its base. The chilled dough is rolled out, filled with even more butter, cinnamon, and sugar, then cut into rolls. The rolls are placed in a baking dish with the honey glaze and pecans, and the whole thing is baked for 30 minutes. The rolls are unmolded immediately after coming out of the oven, the glaze bubbling all around them, and happily devoured by anyone standing nearby.

One of the great things about this recipe is that you don't have to make a ton of rolls at once if you don't want (for instance, if you're only serving one or two people). They don't keep well after they've been baked, so you don't want to make a lot if they're not going to be eaten right away. However, immediately after you've made the dough log (or even after cutting the log into individual buns), you can wrap the dough and store it in the freezer until you're ready to make another batch, and adjust the amount of glaze accordingly.

















Pecan Honey Sticky Buns from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

Makes 15 buns

Ingredients:

For the glaze:

• 1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 8 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the filling:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tbsps (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the buns:

• 1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

Method:

1. Generously butter a 9x13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).
2. To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.
3. To make the filling: Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.
4. To shape the buns: On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you’d like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).
5. With a chef’s knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they’re very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.
6. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.
7. Getting ready to bake: When the buns have almost fully risen , center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
8. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven.
   The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mate or buttered foil. Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.

Golden Brioche Dough

Ingredients

• 2 packets active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
• 1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

Glaze for the loaves:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Method

1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can– this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you’re doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you’ll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.
2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You’ll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
4. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
5. The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.
6. Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)
7. Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
   To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
8. Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.