Hello my good friends
I went to pick some fresh apples
first thing this morning
These were picked from the same farm I picked the strawberries
You can also find there now plums and berries
Tomatoes and other lovely things
Since I want to make something with apples
I decided to pick apples
I am going to make a Baklava
with an apple filling
It is a superb dessert
and I am sure if you try it once
it will become a favorite
1600g apples, 12 filo sheets, 30g butter, 40g brown sugar, 100g wallnuts, 3 ts cinnamon, 1 shot cognac, 1ts vanilla extract
We will firs peel our apples
We will grate them
now the apple will turn black, but that's ok
as we want the dark color
very juicy apples
Once we grate the apple we place it in a colander
but saving the juices
we place a bowl on top
we hold tight on the handles and we push down
Of course we will use
this natural apple juice for the syrup
we transfer it into a glass
and we will weigh it
we will make the syrup half water
and the other half apple juice
we will saute and boil the apple
turn the heat on
and we add the butter inside
the butter is warm
and now we can add the apple
we want to saute it gently
and bring it to a boil
we will add in the brown sugar
at this point there is no more sugar required
it will get its sweetness from the syrup
the cinnamon
You can skip the cinnamon if you don't like it
the vanilla extract
you can use any type of vanilla
it has boiled on low heat
exactly for ten minutes
now I will add a shot of brandy
a good mix
and ready, we set aside so it can cool down
it needs to cool down completely
For the syrup:
200ml water, 200ml apple juice, 360g sugar. For topping: 120g butter
200 ml water
200 ml apple juice
because the apple has some acidity
there is no need to add any lemon
and 360 grams of sugar
As soon as it starts to boil
we boil for exactly 5 minutes
If any foam forms at the top from the fresh apples
remove it
The five minutes have just passed
we remove from the heat and we let it cool down completely
We will add in a mortar and  pestle 100 grams walnuts
and we will crash them
not to a powder as we want to feel them
we will add a teaspoon of cinnamon
this is optional again
I like cinnamon in baklava
and in general I like it
If you are not so keen leave it out
we will place a filo pastry on the counter
and we will butter it
we will add the second filo on top
which we will also cover with butter
on the second filo we will add
walnuts
now we add a 3rd filo
which we also cover with butter
we will hold the edges and fold them
inwards slightly
This much
we will take a quarter
of the apple we boiled
and we will add on the edge of the filo
we will repeat this 4 times
each time 3 filo sheets
in total 12 sheets
we distribute it evenly
so our pieces will also be even
now we will roll it
we measure and we cut it in even pieces
so we don't have any losses
these are 6 centimetres each
We will grease a baking tray with butter
which we will use to bake the baklava
and we will place in
next to each other without touching
with each other
we will add some more butter on top
you can also use a mix of butter and oil
if you want to make it vegetarian add only oil
in this recipe the butter will make a difference
good quality butter
180 Celsius, 40 minutes fans off
Ready, ready
Now that it is piping hot
we will add the cold syrup
slowly
this is the most fun moment
Now this will take one and a half to two hours
to absorb the syrup
so we better give it some time to rest
it has been an hour and a half
since I added the syrup
it has absorbed all the syrup
it is not swimming in it anymore
This is how we want this
We don't want a lot of excess syrup
Crunchy!!!
Let's serve a piece
and see the results
A crazy combination
Intense flavor from the apple
perfectly balanced with the walnuts and cinnamon
and the crispy filo that tastes of butter
Until our next culinary date
take care
and as always
with love
Grandpa Tassos
"The accident"
The other half apple juice
You made a mess Tasso
Now start singing
The other half apple juice
You made a mess Tasso
Now start singing
