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Ingredients :
For dough:
1 glass of milk (1 glass=200ml.)
¼ glass of vinegar (preferably apple vinegar)
¼ glass of olive oil
1 egg
Flour (enough to make a rather hard dough)
For filling:
Cracked walnut (½ kg to 1 kg, use in amounts as you wish)
For syrup:
5 glasses of granulated sugar
4 glasses of water
1 slice of lemon (some ½ cm thick)
For rolling process:
Flour
Starch (preferably from wheat)
For baking:
200 gr. butter (liquified before use)
Instructions :
Preparation of syrup (it should be cold when its turn come) :
1. Put all of the syrup ingredients in a pot and boil, first vigorously, and lowering heat, simmer 2-3 minutes more.
2. Cool it.
Preparation of dough:
1. Put the milk, vinegar, olive oil and egg in a bowl and pour flour, just enough to have a rather hard dough.
2. Cover it with a moist cloth and keep in fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Right before rolling the dough, get it out of the fridge, cut in roughly 7 even pieces, round in your hands and make a ball every one of them, put in a pan sprinkled with flour, and covering again with a moist cloth, put the pan back in the fridge.
Rolling the dough (these steps are to be followed for every one of 7 dough balls) :
1. Take one of the dough balls from the fridge, put on a little heap of flour, sprinkle some flour over it and with a rod (appr.1inch thin, long roller), start to roll out. Until you enlarge it as much as a plate (roughly an opened hand width) use flour; from then on use only starch. You should sprinkle starch at every roll, just enough to avoid sticking, and spread with your hand.
2. The flattened dough may be somewhat thick, or very thin; it’s up to you, your familiarity, artistry, and of couse your wish. But it must be a round leaf with approximately 50-60cm (appr.20-25 inch) of diameter and you must be able to see the other side.
3. Cross-cut it in four quarter leaflets.
4. Place the cracked walnuts on a regular line on the outermost round edge of the quarter leaflet.
5. From outside to inside cover the leaflet over the walnuts; By rolling to the tip, make a thick rope.
6. Wind it up.
7. Put this bundle in the oven pan which is oiled with liquified butter. Cover the bundles with a gauze (or any “light” cloth).
Last stage:
1. Liquify the butter in a pot on the oven.
2. Butter well all of the bundles in the oven pan, with the help of a soft brush.
3. Before placing the pan in the oven get it to the high temperature, and after placing the pan, keep the heat at moderate level.
4. When the bundles roasted well, get it out of the oven and pour the cool syrup over the bundles so that every one of them should absorb the syrup. Leave the bundles in syrup for a couple of hours.
__________________________________________________ ___________
Tips :
1. The dough should be “just a little bit” stiffer than the softness of earlobe when you pinch it. In the feel scale, as it gets closer to the soft end, it becomes easier to stick on itself during roll and it needs more starch to avoid sticking. On the other hand, as it gets closer the hard end, this time it becomes much harder to roll and you see that it hardly enlarges for it has an inclination to shrink back because of its stiffness. Don’t forget : a little bit stiffer than earlobe.
2. As you roll, you will see that the dough sheet will gain many crinkles. It is natural for this pastry; never mind it.
3. Starch has a lot of benefits : It avoids sticking; Creating a slippery layer between dough layers, it helps to roll not even one dough leaf, but tens of them, in the hands of a master. Also as you sprinkle it every now and then, the dough absorbs starch and helps the dough to be consistent. This consistency helps to gain a thinner leaf. You can’t get the dough that thin with flour, if you use instead of starch. But instead of sprinkling, if you use a lot of it or if your dough is so soft and to avoid sticking, if you have to use a lot, then the leaf comes out as somewhat crispy, because excess starch gives such a feel. In commercial baklava products, and for many Turks as well
its something desirable. But homemade baklavas don’t have this property much. Homemade baklavas mostly comes out as less crispy and more soft, which actually makes it more yummy for the ones fond of that taste.
4. In commercial versions the filler is not used much. At home you are serving to your beloved ones and yourself –presumably--. So you may unleash your walnut bag as you wish! If you prefer a crunchy feel, leave the walnuts cracked big, if not, you can granulate it to dust. It’s totally up to you, but in general, the observation is so that, contrarily to the commercial baklavas, the cracked walnuts are more appreciated.
5. This is important : After rolling out the leaf, cross-cutting in four pieces and putting the walnuts on a regular line of its round edge, you will cover the edge of the leaflet on the walnuts and roll to the end. Here is the thing : When you cover the walnuts with the edge of leaflet, if you crinkle the leaflet with walnuts inside, by pushing to the opposite ends with your hands, you gain a more airy bundle at the end. This gives a more light-and-easy feel to the dessert. If you roll and wind up without crinkles, the leaf layers somewhat stick to each other in the bundle and it gains a more thick and stiff texture, which is certainly not desirable.
6. As you prepare the new bundles, to avoid the prepared ones in the oven pan to dry, you should cover them with a well moisted and light-wieght cloth, preferably a gauze. If you use a cloth in normal-weight or thick in texture, it presses over the delicate bundles and make them sticked inside; This gives a thick and stiff feel to the dessert.
7. You must pour the cool syrup over the hot bundles, as soon as they come out of the oven.
8. To knead the doug, you should use latex gloves for hygiene; but in rolling the dough it may be hard to do it with gloves. So in any case, you should cut your fingernails, brush with fingernail brush, and wash a couple of times with a cleansing agent, namely a soap.
_________________________________________________
For dough:
1 glass of milk (1 glass=200ml.)
¼ glass of vinegar (preferably apple vinegar)
¼ glass of olive oil
1 egg
Flour (enough to make a rather hard dough)
For filling:
Cracked walnut (½ kg to 1 kg, use in amounts as you wish)
For syrup:
5 glasses of granulated sugar
4 glasses of water
1 slice of lemon (some ½ cm thick)
For rolling process:
Flour
Starch (preferably from wheat)
For baking:
200 gr. butter (liquified before use)
Instructions :
Preparation of syrup (it should be cold when its turn come) :
1. Put all of the syrup ingredients in a pot and boil, first vigorously, and lowering heat, simmer 2-3 minutes more.
2. Cool it.
Preparation of dough:
1. Put the milk, vinegar, olive oil and egg in a bowl and pour flour, just enough to have a rather hard dough.
2. Cover it with a moist cloth and keep in fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Right before rolling the dough, get it out of the fridge, cut in roughly 7 even pieces, round in your hands and make a ball every one of them, put in a pan sprinkled with flour, and covering again with a moist cloth, put the pan back in the fridge.
Rolling the dough (these steps are to be followed for every one of 7 dough balls) :
1. Take one of the dough balls from the fridge, put on a little heap of flour, sprinkle some flour over it and with a rod (appr.1inch thin, long roller), start to roll out. Until you enlarge it as much as a plate (roughly an opened hand width) use flour; from then on use only starch. You should sprinkle starch at every roll, just enough to avoid sticking, and spread with your hand.
2. The flattened dough may be somewhat thick, or very thin; it’s up to you, your familiarity, artistry, and of couse your wish. But it must be a round leaf with approximately 50-60cm (appr.20-25 inch) of diameter and you must be able to see the other side.
3. Cross-cut it in four quarter leaflets.
4. Place the cracked walnuts on a regular line on the outermost round edge of the quarter leaflet.
5. From outside to inside cover the leaflet over the walnuts; By rolling to the tip, make a thick rope.
6. Wind it up.
7. Put this bundle in the oven pan which is oiled with liquified butter. Cover the bundles with a gauze (or any “light” cloth).
Last stage:
1. Liquify the butter in a pot on the oven.
2. Butter well all of the bundles in the oven pan, with the help of a soft brush.
3. Before placing the pan in the oven get it to the high temperature, and after placing the pan, keep the heat at moderate level.
4. When the bundles roasted well, get it out of the oven and pour the cool syrup over the bundles so that every one of them should absorb the syrup. Leave the bundles in syrup for a couple of hours.
__________________________________________________ ___________
Tips :
1. The dough should be “just a little bit” stiffer than the softness of earlobe when you pinch it. In the feel scale, as it gets closer to the soft end, it becomes easier to stick on itself during roll and it needs more starch to avoid sticking. On the other hand, as it gets closer the hard end, this time it becomes much harder to roll and you see that it hardly enlarges for it has an inclination to shrink back because of its stiffness. Don’t forget : a little bit stiffer than earlobe.
2. As you roll, you will see that the dough sheet will gain many crinkles. It is natural for this pastry; never mind it.
3. Starch has a lot of benefits : It avoids sticking; Creating a slippery layer between dough layers, it helps to roll not even one dough leaf, but tens of them, in the hands of a master. Also as you sprinkle it every now and then, the dough absorbs starch and helps the dough to be consistent. This consistency helps to gain a thinner leaf. You can’t get the dough that thin with flour, if you use instead of starch. But instead of sprinkling, if you use a lot of it or if your dough is so soft and to avoid sticking, if you have to use a lot, then the leaf comes out as somewhat crispy, because excess starch gives such a feel. In commercial baklava products, and for many Turks as well
its something desirable. But homemade baklavas don’t have this property much. Homemade baklavas mostly comes out as less crispy and more soft, which actually makes it more yummy for the ones fond of that taste.4. In commercial versions the filler is not used much. At home you are serving to your beloved ones and yourself –presumably--. So you may unleash your walnut bag as you wish! If you prefer a crunchy feel, leave the walnuts cracked big, if not, you can granulate it to dust. It’s totally up to you, but in general, the observation is so that, contrarily to the commercial baklavas, the cracked walnuts are more appreciated.
5. This is important : After rolling out the leaf, cross-cutting in four pieces and putting the walnuts on a regular line of its round edge, you will cover the edge of the leaflet on the walnuts and roll to the end. Here is the thing : When you cover the walnuts with the edge of leaflet, if you crinkle the leaflet with walnuts inside, by pushing to the opposite ends with your hands, you gain a more airy bundle at the end. This gives a more light-and-easy feel to the dessert. If you roll and wind up without crinkles, the leaf layers somewhat stick to each other in the bundle and it gains a more thick and stiff texture, which is certainly not desirable.
6. As you prepare the new bundles, to avoid the prepared ones in the oven pan to dry, you should cover them with a well moisted and light-wieght cloth, preferably a gauze. If you use a cloth in normal-weight or thick in texture, it presses over the delicate bundles and make them sticked inside; This gives a thick and stiff feel to the dessert.
7. You must pour the cool syrup over the hot bundles, as soon as they come out of the oven.
8. To knead the doug, you should use latex gloves for hygiene; but in rolling the dough it may be hard to do it with gloves. So in any case, you should cut your fingernails, brush with fingernail brush, and wash a couple of times with a cleansing agent, namely a soap.
_________________________________________________
