Festive baklava

MAKES ABOUT 20 PIECES

Traditional baklava has a nut filling but for the festive season I add Mum’s mincemeat and it’s simply divine.

1 cup walnuts

½ cup shelled pistachios, plus extra crushed to garnish

½ cup sweet mincemeat (see page 35)

100g unsalted butter, melted

20 sheets filo pastry

Freeze-dried raspberry powder, to garnish

SYRUP

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 tbsp each lemon and orange juice

Pinch of cinnamon

1 Preheat oven to 175oC.

Chop the nuts in a food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly with the sweet mincemeat.

2 Brush a shallow 20cm x 20cm tin liberally with butter. Cut the filo pastry to the shape/size of your tin. I do this with scissors in one solid block.

3 Lay one sheet of pastry in the tin – it should be a snug fit – brush with butter and lay another sheet on top, brushing this with butter too. Now layer the remaining sheets, one at a time, smoothing each down on top of each other until you have used half of your pile. There’s no need to butter in between each, but do butter each of the last two sheets.

4 Spread the filling evenly over the pastry, leaving a very small perimeter free of nuts. Cover with a buttered sheet of pastry, lay another on top, butter this, then continue layering the rest one at a time, flicking melted butter between the sheets every now and then. When you have two sheets left, butter each, then brush butter on the top.

5 Using a small and very sharp knife, cut an even grid pattern, each square or diamond being about 4cm x 4cm. Work fast, using a strong up/down chopping motion and try not to disturb the pastry layers. Pour the remaining melted butter over, tilting it so it runs down the grid and gets in all of the squares. This is the trick to save buttering each sheet as you go. Bake until golden brown and puffed – about 20-25 minutes.

6 While the baklava cooks, make the syrup by bringing all of the ingredients to the boil in a pot, simmering for 5-7 minutes. It should thicken slightly.

7 As soon as the baklava comes out of the oven, move quickly to pour or ladle the boiling syrup evenly over the entire surface. Leave to sit, soak and cool.

8 Sprinkle with crushed pistachios and/or freezedried raspberry powder for a festive look.