Recipe: Baklavas with Almonds (Bakalvas me Ameegdhalo)

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Description/Notes:

Delectable little fillo pastry sweets with cinnamon, almonds and a syrup topping

Ingredients:

for the baklava

2 lb. 4oz. (1 kilo) sheets of fillo pastry

2 lb. 4 oz. (1 kilo) crushed almonds

2 tbsps. ground cinnamon and clove

15 fl. oz. (400g) buttermilk

for the syrup

4 lbs. 4oz. (2 kilos) sugar

2 pints (40 fl. oz) water

vanilla

juice of one lemon

Cooking Instructions:

1. Lightly brush a baking tin with buttermilk
2. In a bowl mix the crushed almonds with the cinnamon and cloves
3. Spread the sheets of fillo pastry and brush each sheet with a coating of buttermilk
4. Put a layer of 3 sheets of pastry on to the baking tin and sprinkle the top with the crushed almond mixture
5. Continue laying alternate layers of pastry and almonds in the tin leaving 4 sheets of pastry without any cinnamon mixture for the topping
6. Brush the top with buttermilk and, using a sharp knife, mark the baklava into serving pieces
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven 350F, Gas Mark 4, 180C for 60-70 minutes
8. In a large saucepan put the sugar, water, lemon juice and a little vanilla
9. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes adding water if the syrup is too thick
10. Remove baklavas from the oven, cool a little, and pour syrup over it
11. When sufficiently cool, cut out the pieces that were marked before baking