Baklava Tart Recipes

GREEK BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
• Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
• Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
• Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

BAKLAVA TARTLETS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients until blended; stir in walnuts. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the mixture into each tart shell. Refrigerate until serving.

MINI BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in sugar and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; add pecans and walnuts, tossing to coat. Simmer, uncovered, until nuts are lightly toasted, 5-10 minutes., Place phyllo shells on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Spoon nut mixture and butter sauce evenly into shells. Bake until golden brown, 9-11 minutes. Cool completely on pan on a wire rack. Drizzle a drop of honey into each shell; let stand, covered, until serving. Serve with additional honey if desired.

BAKLAVA TARTS

Steps:

• To make pastry: Dump everything into a bowl, roll up your sleeves and get your hands right into it. Work the dough well and knead for a couple of minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more) before proceeding with recipe.
• Make 12 balls of equal size out of the dough and tamp a pastry ball down into each of 12 non-stick muffin cups, making sure pastry covers bottom and comes 3/4s of the way up sides.
• To make filling: Mix all filling ingredients together well. Carefully distribute filling mixture into pastry-lined muffin cups.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. The pastry should be a light golden colour (loosely tent with aluminium foil if walnuts are browning too quickly, but the mixture will be dark - like a pecan or walnut pie). Wait 2 minutes after removing from oven and very carefully, using the tip of a thin, pointed knife, gently knudge each tart out of its cup and transfer to a rack to cool. Some tarts may be a little stuck, just run the tip of the knife around then knudge gently.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cloves; set aside. Brush a 15x10x1-in. baking pan with some of the butter. Unroll 1 package phyllo dough; cut stack into a 10-1/2x9-in. rectangle. Repeat with remaining phyllo. Discard scraps., Line bottom of prepared pan with 2 sheets of phyllo dough (sheets will overlap slightly). Brush with butter. Repeat layers 14 times. (Keep dough covered with a damp towel until ready to use to prevent it from drying out.) , Spread with 2 cups walnut mixture. Top with 5 layers of phyllo dough, brushing with butter between each sheet. Spread with remaining walnut mixture. Top with 1 layer of phyllo dough; brush with butter. Repeat 14 times. Cut into 2-1/2-in. squares; cut each square in half diagonally. Brush remaining butter over top. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown., In a large saucepan, bring syrup ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and discard zest; cool to lukewarm. Pour syrup over warm baklava.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Remove the thawed phyllo from the fridge 1 hour before using. When working with the phyllo dough, only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered in plastic wrap, then a damp cloth.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) of the butter in a small saucepan.
• Toss together the chopped pecans and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.
• Thoroughly butter a rectangular baking pan with the melted butter. Make sure the sheets of phyllo will generally fit in the pan. (If they're a little bigger, that's okay; if they're much bigger, just trim them with a sharp knife.)
• Butter the top sheet of phyllo with melted butter, then grab it and the unbuttered sheet below it. Flip the sheets over and set them in the pan buttered-side down. Press them lightly into the pan. Repeat this twice more, so that you have 6 sheets of phyllo in the pan, 3 of the sheets buttered.
• Sprinkle on enough pecans to make a single layer. Butter 2 sheets of phyllo and place them on top of the pecans buttered-sides down. Add more pecans, then 2 more buttered phyllo sheets. Repeat this a couple more times, or until you're out of pecans. Top with 4 more buttered phyllo sheets, buttered-sides down. Butter the top of the final sheet.
• Cut a diagonal diamond pattern in the baklava using a very sharp knife. Bake until very golden brown, about 45 minutes.
• While the baklava is baking, combine the honey, sugar, vanilla, 1/2 cup water and the remaining 1 stick butter in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
• When you remove the baklava from the oven, drizzle half of the honey mixture evenly all over the top. Allow it to sit and absorb for a minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it's thoroughly moistened. You'll likely have some of the honey mixture leftover, which you can drink with a straw. Just kidding.
• Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, for several hours. Once cool and sticky and divine, carefully remove from the pan and serve with coffee (or give as gifts!).

PISTACHIO BAKLAVA TARTLETS

Steps:

• Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Place 15 mini phyllo shells on a baking sheet and brush with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees F until just golden, 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add 1/4 cup chopped pistachios, 1/4 cup each honey and sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon allspice and a pinch of salt to the butter in the skillet; cook, stirring until thick, 5 minutes. Divide among the shells and sprinkle with grated chocolate. Let cool.

BAKLAVA TART

Steps:

• Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix well. Add the cold butter and blitz for about 20 seconds until it starts to look like breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolks and blitz for another 10 seconds or so until well distributed (notes if you have no food processor).
• Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in a piece of baking paper and sit in the fridge for ½ hour to chill.
• Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced. Line the base of a 22.5cm (9 inch) fluted tart tin with baking paper.
• Once chilled, roll out the pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper to about 3-4mm thick. Remove the top sheet of paper and use the bottom sheet to help you flip the pastry over into the prepared tin, then remove the paper. Gently press the dough into all the corners and make sure the top edges are even. Prick the base all over with a fork.
• Line the tart case with the same piece of baking paper and fill with baking beads (or rice). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper with pie weights and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
• Place the pistachios and hazelnuts into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Alternatively, if you don't have a food processor, you can chop them by hand.
• Add the cinnamon and sugar and mix well. Set aside.
• Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for about 8 minutes stirring every so often until thickened, and reduced by half.
• Mix ⅓ cup of the syrup through the nut mixture, then spread the nut mixture over the pastry case base.
• Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Finally, mix in the flour and almond meal.
• Carefully spread the mixture over the top of the nut filling. Bake for 40-45 minutes, turning the tray half way through, until golden and springy on top.
• Can be served warm, room temperature or cold. Serve with the leftover syrup on the side.

BAKLAVA CHEESECAKE TARTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, flour and rosewater if desired; beat on low speed just until combined. Set aside., Using two 12-cup muffin tins, brush 12 alternating cups with butter. Layer six sheets of phyllo dough on a work surface, brushing each with butter. Cut stacked phyllo in half widthwise, then cut in half lengthwise. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent it from drying out.), Carefully place each stack in a greased muffin cup, rotating sheets so corners do not overlap. Repeat twice with remaining phyllo dough and butter making 12 tarts. , Fill each with a scant 1/4 cup cheesecake mixture. Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes or until tarts are golden brown and crisp and filling is set. Cool in pan on a wire rack. , Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water and honey; bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cool. Spoon over tarts just before serving. Refrigerate leftovers. ,