Fay's Baklava

Ingredients 

 375g (3 3/4 cups) walnuts or pistachio nuts 

 200g (1 1/4 cups) blanched whole almonds

 75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar

 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 125g unsalted butter, melted

 375g packet filo pastry 

Syrup

 220g (1 cup) sugar

 120g (1/3 cup) honey

 60ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice

 4 wide strips lemon zest

 9 cloves

Notes

From regal beginnings, this Middle Eastern pastry hooked an entire empire on its sweet appeal.

In Turkey, baklava is always served with water to cut the sweetness.

Allow an extra 2 hours to cool.

Top tips: We used Antoniou Fillo Pastry from the refrigerated section of supermarkets, which is easier to handle than frozen filo pastry.

To slightly dampen a tea towel, using your hands, flick tea towel very lightly with water, then wring to dampen evenly. Use a small amount of water as it should only be very slightly damp; add a little more water if necessary.

To make syrup, combine the sugar, honey, lemon juice and zest, cloves and 180ml (3/4 cup) water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes, then set aside to cool.

Step 2 To make filling, process walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped (take care not to over-process or nuts will become oily). Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with almonds, then add to walnuts with sugar and cinnamon. Combine well.

Step 3 Generously brush base and sides of an 18cm x 28cm (3.5cm-deep) slice pan with butter. Unroll filo on a large chopping board and place prepared pan on top. Using a small, sharp knife, cut around pan all the way through the filo sheets. Discard trimmings. Keep filo covered with a clean, slightly damp tea towel to prevent the sheets drying out. Working with 1 filo sheet at a time, brush with butter, then place in pan. Repeat with 8 filo sheets to create 9 layers. Evenly scatter over half of the nut mixture.

Step 4 Repeat buttering and layering with another 6 filo sheets, placing them over the nut filling. Evenly scatter over remaining nut mixture. Repeat buttering and layering with another 6 filo sheets, placing over the second layer of nut filling. Using your hands, press filo gently to compress slightly. Brush top well with butter.

Step 5 Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced. Place baklava in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm (this will make it easier to score filo). Using a small, sharp knife, score the top few layers of filo in diamond shapes; to do this, score filo parallel to the short sides of the pan at 5cm intervals, then score it at a 45-degree angle to the first cuts at 5cm intervals. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden (cover with baking paper if the pastry is over-browning).

Step 6 Pour syrup over hot baklava in pan, then stand for 2 hours or until the syrup is absorbed and baklava is cool.

Step 7 Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into pieces along score marks to serve. Baklava will keep, covered with plastic wrap in the pan, in a cool, dark place In the fridge for up to 1 week