Pistachio chocolate baklava with espresso syrup

You see, some things I can teach you. Some you learn from books. But there are things that, well, you have to see and feel.khalid Husseini

I am trying to spend more time in the kitchen to keep myself busy away from negative thoughts,  that seem to be circling endlessly. Looking through my old pictures from my last trip to Turkey in 2013, walking through old taksim, with the smell of fresh simit bread wafting through the morning air and the smoke of grilled shawarma at night. The dessert shops in the Sultan Ahmed area filled with shiny golden baklava trays displayed all around. I miss having afternoon tea with flaky baklava, enjoying the view of the Marmara sea. Recalling

the moment I had the first bite of the flaky phyllo layers and crunchy filling of the baklava. There is something comforting in the crunchy nutty layers, combined with sweet and sticky syrup, that gives me satisfaction as someone obsessed with crunchy food.

Personally, I prefer baklava to be less sweet and so I wanted to make my version of this dish in Ramadan. So I devised this pistachio version with chocolate, drenched in a sweet espresso syrup, for a more nutty flavor.

serves 1 baking tray

Ingredients

40 phyllo sheets size 9x14 inch about 450g ( if you couldn't find the exact size, get a regular one then cut it down to the size mentioned above.

For the filling:

4 cups or 450g pistachio ( shelled)

170g coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate 70% ( dark chocolate)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

280g unsalted butter ( melted)

For the syrup:

1 1/2 cup 300g caster sugar

3 teaspoons of espresso

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

160ml water

Method:

Thaw the phyllo overnight in refrigerator orin room temperature, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

Forthe filling:

Put the pistachio , chocolate,and cinnamon in a food processor. Process until the nuts and chocolate are finely chopped (almost like lentil size). Set aside

For the baklava:

Unfold the baklava package make sure to cover the phyllo sheets with kitchen towel to prevent from drying.
Brush the bottom of a 9×13-inch with some of the butter. Remove a sheet of phyllo from the stack, re-cover the rest (be sure to cover the remaining sheets each time you remove a new one), and put the sheet in the bottom of the pan. Brush the sheet with some of the melted butter but don’t soak the phyllo.

Here's the order10 buttered phyllo sheets1/3 of the filling 10 buttered phyllo sheets1/3 of the filling10 buttered phyllo sheets1/3 of the filling10 buttered phyllo sheets.

Bake the baklava:

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 180cBefore baking, use a thin, sharp knife (I prefer serrated) and a gentle sawing motion to cut the baklava on the diagonal at 1-1/2-inch intervals in a diamond pattern with a sharp knife.Bake the baklava until golden, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely. Run a knife along the cut lines to help the syrup absorb evenly.)

Make the syrup:

Put the sugar, espresso powder, cardamom, water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the . Pour the cooled syrup evenly over the entire surface of the hot baklava, allowing it to run down into the cut marks and along the sides of the pan. Allow the baklava to cool to room temperature..better let it rest for 24 hours after adding the syrup.

Tip: you can use only pistachio if you like or use hazelnut instead..never use milk chocolate or less than 60% high fat content and sugar will ruin the dish.You can use any kind on nuts you want it’s a matter of preference after all.also you can omit the espresso if you are not a fan of coffee, don’t worry  I’m not going to hate you for that.leave the baklava overnight to absorb the moisture of the syrup.