Great British Bake Off star Jordon Cox shares the recipe he would have used in the show's semi final
Ingredients
- 175g/6oz melted butter
- 400g/14oz packet of filo pastry, thawed
- 30ml/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 60ml/4 tbsp clear honey
- 50g/2oz caster sugar
- finely grated rind of one lemon
- 10ml/2tsp cinnamon
- 200g/7oz blanched almonds, chopped
- 200g/7oz walnuts, chopped
- 75g/3oz pistachios, chopped
- chopped pistachios to decorate
For the syrup
- 350g/120z caster sugar
- 115g/4oz clear honey
- 600ml/1 pint water
- 2 strips of lemon rind thinly pared
1 Preheat the oven to 160c/325f/Gas 3. Brush the base of a shallow 30x20cm/12x8 inch loose bottomed tin with melted butter. Cut the sheets of filo pastry to fit the tin.
2 Place one sheet of pastry in the base of the tin, brush with a little melted butter and, then repeat until you have used half the pastry. Cover and set aside.
3 To make the filling, place the lemon juice, honey and sugar in a pan and heat gently until dissolved. Stir in the lemon rind, cinnamon and nuts and mix well.
4 Spread half the filling over the pastry, cover with three layers of pastry and butter then spread with the remaining filling
5 Finish by using up the rest of the pastry and butter, and brush the very top liberally with butter.
6 Using a sharp knife, carefully mark the pastry in to squares, almost cutting through the filling. Bake in the preheated oven for one hour
7 Meanwhile, make the syrup. Place the sugar, honey, water and lemon rind and stir over a low heat until the sugar and honey have dissolved. Bring to the boil, then simmer for a further ten minutes until the syrup has thickened slightly
8 Take the syrup from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the Baklava from the oven. Remove the pared lemon rind and pour the syrup over the Baklava. Leave to soak and cool for six hours or overnight. Cut in to squares and serve, decorated with pistachios.
