Sylvia's Baklava

Sylvia is a lovely greek chef that mum met while on holiday on Castellorizo. Sylvia won a baklava competition on the island, beating all the Greeks and Turks. This is really simple - once you master the technique.

I had my first try at making them today - with great success. Try to avoid using pampas pastry - it is very difficult to work with. For ever sheet that I could separate successfully, two were thrown in the bin.

Normal almonds with skins on were much cheaper at the supermarket than blanched almonds. If you cannot find blanched almonds, or want to save money you can blanch them yourself. Put the almonds in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Leave for about one minute then drain. The skins will slip off easily when pinched. If they are too difficult to skin, repeat the boiling water process. Make sure you don't leave them in the water for too long as they will go soggy.

1/2 kg blanched almonds

1 packet of filo pastry (preferably not Pampas)

250g unsalted butter, melted

Syrup

3 1/2 cups sugar

3 cups water

Juice of one lemon

Preheat your oven to 180C. Place the almonds on a tray in the oven. Roast for about 10 minutes or until starting to colour and smelling delicious and nutty. Remove the tray from the oven and leave the almonds to cool to room temperature. Blitz the almonds in the food processor until reasonably finely ground - like very coarse breadcrumbs.

Make the syrup - place the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes (220C on a sugar thermometer). Set aside to cool.

Now assemble the baklava. Preheat the oven to 200C.

Lay out a sheet of filo with the long edge closest to you. Brush with the melted butter. Layer with another sheet, then butter this sheet too. If the filo is very thing add a third sheet, buttering the top too.

Sprinkle the half of the pastry closest to you with a layer of the almonds. Roll up away from you, keeping it as tight as possible. Roll it up completely. Lay a separate sheet of filo on the bench and butter. Place the already rolled sausage on top of this sheet, flap side down. Roll up tightly.

Cut into diamonds approximately 4cm long.

*At this stage they can be frozen between layers of baking paper in an airtight container. Take out of the freezer and defrost in the fridge the night before cooking - or cook from frozen.*

Place separately on a baking tray and baste with butter. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 200C (keep an eye on them!). Lower the heat to 170C and bake for a further 10 minutes. They should only be pale golden. They may not need this long.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Pour over the cool syrup until it about 1/2cm deep. Leave to soak in the syrup for about 5-10 minutes - or to taste - then transfer to a serving dish.