Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.
For this challenge I went a bit non-traditional as I'm not a big fan of walnuts. The basic recipe is found here, from Alton Brown (one of my favorites!!). I changed it quite a bit and used almonds, cherries and cashews for the filling. For the syrup I used honey, water, and sugar and flavored it with lemon, cayenne, cinnamon and allspice. I absolutely loved the flavor of the filling, slightly nutty, lots of cherry and a pinch of spice.
I enjoy these daring bakers challenges because they challenge me to be creative and to try recipes I would never try otherwise. For instance, baklava is too rich to be a favorite of mine, but I did enjoy spending hours making the dough and coming up with a filling flavor. If you have any desire to try making Baklava I'd encourage you to take a weekend and do it. I can help give pointers, if you'd like. :-)
Unbaked
4 comments:
Speaking of homemade treats...Mmm, baklava! I don't think I'll be daring enough to take on phyllo dough, however (plus there's a local greek place that sells AMAZING baklava for insanely cheap). I bow to your baking bravery :)
Cherries and cashews are two of my favorite ingredients! Your baklava sounds heavenly. Great work on the challenge.
looks great! congrats on the challenge!
looks great and sounds delicious! I love your creative filling.
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