citrus baklava

Makes 24

Preparation time 30 minutes, plus cooling and chilling

Cooking time 35 minutes

400 g (13 oz) packet filo pastry

flour, for dusting

125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

100 g (3½ oz) walnut pieces

100 g (3½ oz) shelled pistachio nuts, plus extra slivers to decorate

100 g (3½ oz) blanched almonds

75 g (3 oz) caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Syrup

1 lemon

1 small orange

250 g (8 oz) caster sugar

pinch of ground cinnamon

150 ml (¼ pint) water

Make the filling by dry-frying the nuts in a nonstick pan for 3–4 minutes, stirring until light brown. Leave to cool, then chop roughly and mix with sugar and cinnamon.

Unfold the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cut it into rectangles the same size as the base of an 18 × 28 cm (7 × 11 inch) small roasting tin. Wrap half the pastry in clingfilm so that it doesn’t dry out. Brush each sheet of pastry with melted butter, then layer up in the roasting tin. Spoon in the nut mixture, unwrap and cover with the remaining pastry, buttering each layer. Cut the pastry into 6 squares, then cut each into 4 triangles.

Bake in a preheated oven, 180°C (350°F), Gas Mark 4, for 30–35 minutes, covering with foil after 20 minutes to prevent it overbrowning. Meanwhile, make the syrup. Pare the rind off the citrus fruits with a zester, then cut the rind into strips. Squeeze the juice. Put the strips and juice in a saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon and measurement water. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes without stirring.

Pour the hot syrup over the pastry as soon as it comes out of the oven. Leave to cool, then chill for 3 hours. Remove from the tin and arrange the pieces on a serving plate, sprinkled with slivers of pistachio. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

For baklava with spices, bake the baklava as above. Make the syrup, adding 1 teaspoon coriander seeds crushed with a pestle and mortar, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves and 1 teaspoon rosewater or orange flower water with the citrus fruit juice. Pour over the cooked baklava and finish as above.