Traditional Algerian Baklawa / Baklava - Family Recipe

"This is the most famous Algerian 'heloua'. You will find it at all the weddings & special occasions. It isn't all that difficult to make but is a bit time consuming. It freezes OK too! To see me making this step by step with lots of photos, go here: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?t=230630&start=0"
 
Download
photo by Um Safia photo by Um Safia
photo by Um Safia
photo by Um Safia photo by Um Safia
photo by Um Safia photo by Um Safia
Ready In:
2hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
13
Yields:
40 diamonds approx
Serves:
20
Advertisement

ingredients

  • For the Dough

  • 24 ounces plain flour
  • 310 ml water
  • 200 ml melted ghee mixed with 110ml sunflower oil or 110 ml vegetable oil
  • 12 teaspoon salt
  • 18 ounces chopped nuts, use almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts (your choice)
  • 128 g granulated sugar
  • 14 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  • 2 teaspoons melted ghee
  • 155 ml orange flower water (mazhar)
  • For the Syrup

  • 310 -620 ml honey
  • 155 -310 ml orange flower water
  • Extra

  • 310 ml extra of melted ghee, to brush the pastry with and enough whole nuts to decorate each piece of baklawa. also you'll need p
Advertisement

directions

  • Take 1 mixing bowl and place the flour & salt in it. Add the ghee/oil mixture & mix, slowly adding the water. Mix well -- until you have a smooth dough, place this on your work surface - well dusted with cornflour.
  • Split the dough in half. Make the first 1/2 into golf ball sized pieces. Keep the dough covered with a tea towel --.
  • Take a dough golf ball. If you are comfortable using the pasta machine then just make the ball into a sausage shape and gently roll out with rolling pin to approximately 3-4mm.
  • Begin passing though pasta machine on thinnest setting. NB : if this is your 1st time you can use the pasta machine on the 2nd to thinnest setting before putting it through on the thinnest.
  • In you saucepan, melt your ghee on a medium heat. Brush you tray well with ghee using the pastry brush.
  • Lay you first strip of phyllo pastry vertically in the centre the tray. Brush the pastry with the ghee.
  • Repeat the dough rolling process. Cover the tray with phyllo, remembering to brush with ghee after each strip. You should be able to do this with 5 strips but don't worry if you use more or less.
  • Turn the tray round so that you're placing the phyllo strips horizontally over vertical strips. This criss cross is very important so don't forget --.
  • Continue rolling your pastry and layering the tray. Remember the ghee after each strip. Continue doing this until you have done 5 layers.
  • Prepare you nut filling. Take your food processor and chop up the nuts of your choice until you have the required amount.
  • Prepare you nut filling. Take your food processor and chop up the nuts of your choice until you have the required amount.
  • Place the nuts in the 2nd mixing bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla powder and mazhar - enough mazhar to make the filling hold but not so much that it's sloppy.
  • Place filling in the tray over the pastry, gently smoothing it out - but don't press it.
  • You now need to repeat the dough rolling, layer making stage all over again until you have 6 layers. You will need to use the 2nd half of the dough by now - just make golf balls again! Don't forget the ghee.
  • When you've finished the 5th layer you can choose how to do the top layer. I always roll out one large sheet by hand by other stick to the pasta machine as a large sheet of phyllo is a bit tricky to create and handle!
  • If you want to try rolling out a sheet, remember to COVER the dough, rolling pin, surface, your hands etc in LOADS of cornflour. then roll out the the tray size plus 2cm extra.
  • Now you need to cut the baklawa and decorate.
  • Take you knife and cut vertical straight lines all the way to the bottom. (Approx. 2cm apart)then spin the tray round and cut more lines but diagonally to form diamond shapes. You can also make squares or triangles but traditional Algerian baklawa are diamonds.
  • When you've cut the shapes, push a nut into each shape.
  • Brush well with the ghee and place in a pre-heated oven at 180 c for 1 hour - 1 hour 10 minutes --.
  • The baklawa should be golden and now needs it syrup: Warm the honey and mazhar in the saucepan then pour slowly over the baklawa.
  • Allow to sit for 10 minutes then cut out pieces and place in paper cases - preferably the metallic ones as they hold the syrup better.

Questions & Replies

Got a question? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

Reviews

Have any thoughts about this recipe? Share it with the community!
Advertisement

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

ABOVE: My eldest, Talha with his 'Zaar Star! I'm 29 years old and have been cooking since I was old enough to wield a wooden spoon! My Mum is a fantastic cook and both my Grandmas were great cooks too. I've also had the pleasure of working in two commercial kitchens - one which I ran and the other I was second chef of. You can find me lurking in the NA*ME (North Africa / Middle East) Forum where I am a host: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=59 and also in the Cooking for Kids Forum where I am co-host: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=34 <style>body { background: url(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww141/Um_Safia/seamless%20tiles/seamlesstile1.jpg);background-repeat: repeat; }</style> I am fortunate enough to have 2 children of my own now and enjoy cooking with my eldest who is almost 8 years old. My daughter is almost 3 & has now started joining me in the kitchen & 'helping'. She likes to stand on a chair next to me, give instructions & stir. We eat food from all over the world but my husband prefers it like 'mama used to make' or in his case ''like yemma makes it'' as he is Algerian! We are currently living in the UK after living in Algeria for a while. You will notice that I have posted quite a few Algerian classics. If I had the time and the money, I would spend all day every day trying new recipes! My husband has a 'recipe score' which is this: 1: "Add it to your recipe book - I loved it and wanna eat this again soon!" 2: "Interesting....I will enjoy eating this again." 3: "I cleared my plate but don't expect me to eat this again...ever." However, I rate 'Zaar recipes the by the 'Zaar standard, so don't worry. Oh and fyi, I have a problem being negative so will probably NEVER give a rating less that 4*!!! Other than cooking, I love anything arty-crafty and enjoy painting when I get the chance, which is rarely these days. I used to sell a lot of my creations and do things to order but just don't have the time at the moment. I have a passion for gardening almost as strong as that for cooking. I tend to have 90% of it in pots though as I can't bear to leave it behind when we move - therefore we don't have a lot of stuff that we'd like to have as it wouldn't like being confined to a pot! I take great pride in my garden and love the summer months (the few that we get in the UK) when we can eat outside... and being a typical man, my husband likes any excuse to get the BBQ going - enough said! By the way; I'm on a mission to re-educate people about soaking cous cous for use in North African recipes.,,just so you all know....it is traditionally STEAMED & not soaked! Most of the North African recipes I have have been taught to me by my mother in law, sisters in law etc. A few have come from very old cookbooks. It has taken me a long time to get the dishes into some kind of recipe form as basically we "eyeball" the majority of the ingredients. Bear with me whilst I try to get the rest of the recipes in order!... On a personal note, I abhor the mistreatment of animals and have taken care of many abandoned or injured animals over the years. Similarily, I love to help children and that is why my husband and I are in the process of becoming foster carers. I have a thing about being polite and having good manners - they don't cost anything after all. Something that bugs me is when you hold a door open for someone and they don't even acknowledge you or if you need to go through a door and they won't hold it for you but let it slap you in the face! I think we should all smile more - myself included.... <a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/rotatingheart.gif" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a> 2007 Events: <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=SassyBanner.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/SassyBanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <img src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%203/ZWT3-Participation.gif"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"> 2008 - Events: <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=newtaginethbanner.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/newtaginethbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=Swap14.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/Swap14.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=thetassiedevilsbanner.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/thetassiedevilsbanner.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <img src="http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=kumquats3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/kumquats3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=ZWT4ChallengeHostBanner.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/ZWT4ChallengeHostBanner.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=ZWTPlayerBanner.gif" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/ZWTPlayerBanner.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/?action=view¤t=ramadanrecipetagbanner-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y254/Missymop/ramadanrecipetagbanner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> <a href="http://s80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/?action=view¤t=CookingSchoolHost1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j166/ZaarNicksMom/CookingSchoolHost1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> 2009- Events: <img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg271/MrsTeny/CookathonforKarensticker.jpg"> <a href="http://s714.photobucket.com/albums/ww141/Um_Safia/?action=view¤t=rrtplayersbanner09-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww141/Um_Safia/rrtplayersbanner09-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
View Full Profile
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Find More Recipes