Mmmm Bakalava!

Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.

I was super stoked for this challenge - I've never thought of making my own phyllo dough before. It was so much fun!

I used a recipe from Michael Roux (I didn't have regular oil, only olive oil on hand) - but used the standard filling with a couple changes:

Instead of walnuts, I used almonds and hazelnuts (with a few pistachios thrown in). Also added in chinese 5 spice powder and some orange blossom water. I was able to use some awesome local honey - raw and unpasturized - yum!

Here are my photos!

Phyllo dough in balls ready to roll:

Rolling out the dough:

You can almost see my tattoo under the dough in the last one. It was pretty transparent.

Buttering the layers:

Ready for the oven!

Baked and soaking in syrup:

a finished slice:

so good - and not as hard as I thought it would be! I think I'll add chocolate next time :)