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Apple Baklava Roses with Honey Saffron Syrup

Apple Baklava Roses with Honey Saffron Syrup

The holy month of Ramadan is upon us here in sunny Dubai, and I’m sharing with you a special recipe that was submitted for a food competition last year, held by FoodeMag for the creative use of European bi-coloured apples.ย I decided on making something different that tasted between Baklava and a Strudel, and so these Apple Baklava Roses were born!

Now homemade Baklava making is quite common in this region, and bakeries everywhere make this sticky-sweet and flaky dessert. You’ll find all sorts of shapes, forms and fillings, with different regions boasting that theirs are the best. From Turkish, Syrian, Greek, Bosnian, Persian, Iraqi… you name it, someone has their beloved version of it. But they all share common ingredients of nuts and spices, wrapped in buttery phyllo, and drenched in a flavourful hot simple syrup.

But I love a good challenge, and opted for something different. So, apples and phyllo pastry transformed into lovely rose-shaped deliciousness with exotic flavours of cardamom, mixed nuts, apricot paste, and saffron simple syrup. It has a nice balance of sweet and tart by using both green and red apples, plus it really makes for a beautiful presentation.

Humbled to say that the recipe won 1st place with the magazine, and I was gifted with a wonderful stay atย Taj Dubai. The experience included an awesome private cooking class and lunch by executive Chef Jitin Joshi at Bombay Brasserie. I learned so much that day and will be sharing that with you in another post!

I hope you try making this and enjoy a piece with a cup of your favourite black tea or turkish coffee for your Ramadan nights.

Apple Baklava Roses with Honey Saffron Syrup

Created by on May 22, 2018

For a 9″ pie-dish / casserole, this recipe holds 12 individual baklava roses. For a larger batch on a tray, you may use up all the phyllo but double up on the apples, filling, and syrup.

  • Prep Time: 30m
  • Cook Time: 45m

Ingredients

Apple Filling

  • 9 sheets, Phyllo pastry
  • 10 dried apricots, soaked in hot water
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 1 c walnuts
  • 1/2 c whole almonds
  • 1/2 c slivered pistachios
  • 2 tsp. cardamom powder
  • 1/4 c packed brown sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 4 apples (2 firm red, 2 green)
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 stick of butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp. powdered sugar (optional)

Honey Saffron Syrup

  • 1 1/2 c water
  • 3/4 c honey
  • 5 cardamom pods
  • Pinch of saffron
  • 1 tsp. orange blossom water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C, and butter your pie dish.
  2. Roll out the phyllo pastry gently onto a cutting board. Remove 9 sheets and slice them in half width-wise, then half again. You should have 4 long stacks of phyllo. Cover with a damp towel to keep it from drying, and refrigerate the remaining phyllo to use in another dish.
  3. Drain the softened apricots, add some water and blend into a paste. Cover and set aside.
  4. In a food processor, add the walnuts and almonds and pulse until they're small in size. Place into a bowl and mix in the slivered pistachios, cardamom powder, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt.
  5. Core the apples and using a mandolin on the thinnest setting (1.5mm thickness), slice each apple, discarding the bottom and top slices. Take each stack, and slice them in half to get half-moon slices.
  6. Place the apple slices in a bowl, pour the lemon juice, add a tsp of the butter, and fold gently. Cover the bowl with cling film and microwave the apples for 2 minutes, in 30 second increments until they are softened and pliable. Set aside to cool.
  7. Working in batches, lightly brush 3 layers of the phyllo with butter, and stack on top of one another. Then, brush some apricot paste on the phyllo stack, and place the apple slices on the top halves, slightly overlapping and top parts slightly exposed. Alternate between the red and green apples.
  8. Sprinkle the nut mixture on the lower half of the phyllo, and fold the bottom half over the apple slices with the rounded edges of slices exposed
  9. Starting from the left end, gently roll the phyllo to form a rose shape, and place into the pie dish. Repeat this process three times to form 12 apple roses.
  10. Cover the apple roses with foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 minutes until golden and crisp. Keep an eye on the last 5 minutes so the edges of apples don't burn.
  11. In a saucepan, place the water, honey, cardamom and saffron and bring to a simmer. Reduce the syrup in half, then add the orange blossom water.
  12. Once the baklawa is ready, drizzle the syrup over it. Set aside to cool, then lightly dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy with black tea or coffee.
Source: Roya Tarzaban

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