Baklava
Baklava is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and traditionally sweetened and held together with syrup or honey. Our delectable variation uses VitaFiber® IMO for a light sweetness and all the benefits of low-sugar, prebiotic IMO syrup! Even your Turkish friends will be delighted!
Ingredients
-
- 1 Package of phyllo (filo) dough
- 3/4 lb (300g) of butter
For the Filling:
-
- 2 cups (250g) of chopped walnuts
- 1/4 cup (32g) of VitaFiber® IMO powder
- 2 Tbsp (30ml) of melted butter
- 3/4 tsp (2g) of cinnamon
- Zest of one lemon
- Zest of one orange
- 1/4 tsp (1.5g) of salt
For the Syrup:
- 1/2 cup (75g) of VitaFiber® IMO powder
- 3/4 cup (210ml) of VitaFiber® IMO syrup
- 1 cup (250ml) of water
- 1 tsp (2g) of vanilla extract
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
- In a food processor, add the nuts and pulse until finely chopped, add them to a large bowl
- Add VitaFiber® IMO powder, lemon zest, orange zest, butter, cinnamon and salt, mix well to combine and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat and remove from the heat to cool slightly.
- Unwrap the phyllo dough, trim it to fit a 9 x 9” baking pan. Phyllo dries out quickly so keep it covered with a damp kitchen towel.
- Brush some of the butter on the bottom of the baking pan, then lay one piece of phyllo in the bottom.
- Then brush some butter evenly over the whole surface of the phyllo and follow that with another piece of phyllo.
- Keep buttering each piece and layering a total of 8 pieces of phyllo on top of each other, sprinkle over about 3/4 of a cup of the nut mixture and then layer 6 pieces of phyllo (with butter in between) on top of the first layer.
- Keep layering and here is the layer breakdown: 8 pieces of buttered phyllo, 3/4 cup of filling 6 pieces of buttered phyllo, 3/4 cup of filling 6 pieces of buttered phyllo, 3/4 cup of filling 6 pieces of buttered phyllo, 3/4 cup of filling 6 pieces of buttered phyllo, 3/4 cup of filling 8 pieces of buttered phyllo as the very top layer
- Brush the very top with some butter, then using a sharp knife, cut the baklava into small squares or a diamond pattern bake the baklava for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.
- While the Baklava bakes, make the syrup. Add the water and VitaFiber® IMO syrup to the VitaFiber® IMO powder, vanilla and lemon juice mixture in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the VitaFiber® IMO powder dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.
- When the baklava comes out of the oven, immediately pour over the syrup, allow it to come to room temperature then lightly cover it with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit for about 6 hours or overnight before serving.