Salted Caramel Peanut Baklava

 Salted Caramel Peanut Baklava

I made this for Emma’s birthday.  Terrific twist on baklava- tastes like a very upscale Snickers bar.

Syrup: 

600 grams granulated sugar

400 grams water

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a heavy medium saucepan combine sugar with 150 grams water. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until bubbles subside and syrup is amber in color. Remove from heat.

Bring remaining 250 grams water to a boil, and carefully pour into the hot caramel. It will sputter and bubble violently.  Stir to combine, and add salt.  Allow to cool completely to room temperature. Add vanilla to cooled syrup.

Baklava:

1/2 package filo dough

400 grams chopped honey roasted peanuts

2 sticks melted unsalted butter

8oz semi sweet chocolate, melted.

Assemble baklava:

A word about working with filo dough. Filo dough dries out very quickly, so you must keep completely covered the entire time.

Thaw filo in refrigerator overnight. Then bring to room temperature. Open packaging and unroll filo on a clean DRY surface ( moisture is the enemy!).  Cover unrolled filo with a clean dry kitchen towel, and the cover again with a clean damp kitchen towel that has been wrung out.

When working with filo, fold back both layers of towels together, remove a single sheet, and then recover immediately to prevent drying out. If dough tears, it’s not a big deal, just piece sheet together in pan.

Pre heat oven to 350° F.

In a 9x13 pan, paint bottom and sides with melted butter.  Working one sheet at a time, place a sheet of filo evenly in the pan and paint with melted butter. Repeat until you have built 7 layers.

Spread chopped nuts evenly over the layered filo, then repeat layering and buttering until you have seven layers on top. Pour remaining butter over baklava.

With a very sharp knife, cut baklava into 36 pieces, using an up and down sawing motion and making certain to cut all the way through the bottom layer.

Bake 40 minutes @ 350°F, remove from oven and pour cool syrup over hot baklava, cool, drizzle with melted chocolate, serve @room temp.

Honey Peach Crostata

 Honey-Peach Crostata

At long last, I have finally written down my recipe for this rustic peach pie. I have been making this for decades and it is absolutely my favorite summertime dessert when peaches are at their peak.

The crust is a pâté sucree that I add two egg yolks to.  This causes the pastry to puff up a little and have a softer texture, like a very buttery sugar cookie.  

To prevent the crostata from leaking, the fruit never comes in contact with sugar, which prevents it from weeping and becoming soggy.  Instead, sugar and flour are mixed together on the bottom crust, and the fruit is layered on top.  As it bakes, the fruit releases its juice which are absorbed by the flour/sugar foundation, making a beautiful jammy base atop a crisp sugar cookie-like crust.

This is my absolute favorite summer dessert made with the ripest peaches I can find.

Honey- Peach Crostata 

Crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

2 egg yolks

Water

Filling:

4 peaches, peeled and cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

4 Tbsp unsalted salted butter

1/4 cup honey

Finishing:

1 Egg yolk mixed with 1Tbsp heavy cream

Sparkling sugar

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and whisk briefly to combine. Add butter and work butter into flour mixture with your fingertips until a coarse meal-like consistency is achieved.

Mix 2 egg yolks with 2 Tbsp water, and add to flour mixture. With your finger tips begin to work the liquid into the flour, add ingredients more water as needed to form a somewhat cohesive non-sticky dough.  Flatten to a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

To peel the peaches, bring a medium sized pot of water to a bowl. Cut each peach in half and remove the pit.  Plunge the peach halves into the boiling water a few at a time. Poach for 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl.  Allow to cool to rem temp. Slip the skin off the peache with your fingers and discard.

Remove dough from refrigerator and allow to soften room temperature while oven pre-heats.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 14-inch circle.  Slide dough circle onto parchment paper, and then slide parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

Combine flour and sugar, and then pour onto dough, creating a circle with about a 3-4 inch perimeter of plain dough. Arrange peach slices atop flour. Drizzle peaches with honey, and top with pats of butter.

Using the parchment as an aid, gently fold the perimeter over the top, making small pleats as you go around the entire circle.  Be careful not to tear the dough.

Brush the top and side crusts with the egg and cream wash, then sprinkle generously with sparkling sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let crostata rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve with vanilla ice cream.