Here is a special recipe inspired by Kythira, which we are reprinting from *Greek Flavors: Traveling in Greece – Christmas Table* published by Fytrakis. It’s time to get ready and enjoy the most beautiful moments of the holidays with our loved ones. So let’s start with the dishes!
Kythira Baklava
Materials
- 3/4 of a kilogram of phyllo dough
- 1 kilogram of blanched almond kernels
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1 ½ cups melted butter
- 1 cup fine semolina
- 1 cup of oil
for the syrup
- 1 kilogram of sugar
- 7 cups of water
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tsp. rose water
Execution
Place the almond paste in a baking pan and bake it at 170 degrees for 5 minutes, until it dries out. Once cooled, grind them in a blender until they’re in small pieces (but not completely pulverized).
Place the almond paste, semolina, and sugar in a bowl and mix them together. Pour the butter and oil into a bowl.
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a pot for 10 minutes. Add the rose water, continue boiling for 1 minute, then remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the honey, mix well, and let the syrup cool.
Grease a No. 32 baking pan with the butter-oil mixture. Lay out three sheets of phyllo dough, brushing them with the mixture and making sure they hang over the edges of the pan. Next, lay down a sheet without brushing it and spread a layer of slivered almonds on top. Spread another sheet of phyllo, brush it with the butter-oil mixture, then add another sheet of phyllo and another layer of slivered almonds.
We continue Layer alternately one sheet brushed with butter (without almond slivers) and one dry sheet with almond slivers, until you run out of almond slivers and sheets. Finish with 2–3 sheets without almond slivers, all brushed with a butter-oil mixture. Fold the edges of the sheets inward and score the baklava into strips. Drizzle the dessert with the remaining butter-oil mixture and sprinkle it with a little water to prevent the sheets from breaking during baking.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 2 hours. As soon as the baklava begins to brown, cover it with parchment paper and continue baking until it comes away from the pan. Remove it from the oven and pour the cold syrup over it little by little.
Let it cool, then serve.
Merry Christmas!
