SNICKERS BAKLAVA
SERVES 10-12. INGREDIENTS
• ⅔ cup (230g) golden syrup
• ½ cup (110g) raw caster sugar
• 2 ⅓ cups (350g) unsalted roasted peanuts
• 100g dark (70%) chocolate, coarsely grated
• 100g milk chocolate, coarsely grated
• 24 sheets filo pastry, trimmed
• 150g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. To make caramel syrup, combine golden syrup, sugar and 100ml water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, then set aside to cool.
3. To make filling, in two batches, place peanuts in a food processor and whiz until finely chopped (take care not to over-process or nuts will become oily). Transfer to a large bowl with dark and milk grated chocolate and combine. Reserve two tbs peanut mixture to garnish.
4. Grease base of 20cm x 30cm slice pan and line with baking paper. Unroll filo on a large chopping board and, using pan as a guide, trim filo size of pan. Discard excess pastry. Cover filo with a clean, slightly damp tea towel to prevent the sheets drying out.
5. Working with one filo sheet at a time, brush with butter, then place in pan. Repeat layering and brushing process with a further five filo sheets to create six layers of filo. Evenly scatter over one-third peanut mixture and smooth with the back of a spoon. Repeat layering process two more times, finishing with six filo sheets.
6. Using your hands, press down gently on final filo layer to compress slightly. Brush well with remaining butter, then place baklava in freezer for 10 minutes to firm up (this will make it easier to score the filo).
7. Remove baklava from freezer and, using a small, sharp knife, score the top filo layers in diamond shapes (to do this, score filo parallel to the short sides of the pan at 5cm intervals, then score at a 45-degree angle to the first cuts at 5cm intervals).
8. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden (cover top with foil if pastry browns too quickly), then remove from oven and pour two-thirds of the cooled syrup over hot baklava in pan. Stand for one hour or until syrup is absorbed and baklava is cool. 9. Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into pieces along score marks. Drizzle remaining syrup and scatter with reserved peanut mixture to serve.
NOTE: Baklava will keep, covered with plastic wrap in the pan, in a cool, dark place for up to a week.