Walnut Baklava

450g walnuts, finely chopped
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp lemon juice
350g butter, melted
1 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 package phyllo pastry

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
Combine and set aside walnuts, 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon.
Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the bottom and sides of a 10x14" (about 1-2" deep) pan with melted butter. Open the phyllo dough and layer 6 whole leaves in the pan, buttering each layer as you go. (The edges will extend over the side.) Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture over the sheets. Cut the remaining phyllo dough in half.
Layer 8 half sheets, buttering each layer. Each sheet will be an inch or so short, so stagger the sheets from corner to corner to cover the whole pan. Spread 1 cup of the walnut mixture. Repeat 8 sheets and walnut mixture twice. You will end up with 4 layers of nuts. Layer the remaining half sheets on top, buttering each layer. Brush the top with the remaining butter. Trim the edges off.
Score halfway through the layers with a sharp knife to form a diamond pattern. This is done now since it will be very fragile after it's been baked.
Bake 1 hour or until golden brown.
15 minutes before the baklava should be done, mix 1 cup sugar, water, and lemon juice in a sauce pan. Cook syrup over a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add the honey and vanilla, and stir until well blended.
Remove the baklava from the oven and finish cutting through the layers where scored previously.
Pour the syrup over the hot baklava. Cool. Let it sit for at least 24 hours (lightly covered -- but not in the refrigerator) -- longer if you can resist the temptation.

Konafa

Aunty Val's Shortbread

250g butter
¾ cup icing sugar
½ cup cornflour
2 cups plain flour

Method
Cream butter, add icing sugar & beat until light and fluffy. Add sifted flours – mix well.

Knead lightly and roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to a 1cm thickness.

Cut desired shape and place on baking tray.

Bake at 160C for 30 min (Keep an eye on them to prevent over-browning).

To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar.

Almond Nougat

2 cups sugar
1 cup liquid glucose
½ cup honey
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup water
2 medium egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
125g butter, softened
100g blanched almonds, toasted
200g Turkish delight
Edible rice or potato starch paper

Put sugar, liquid glucose, honey salt and water in a pan, stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil, cook until mixture forms a hard ball when tested in a small amount of water (126C on a sugar thermometer) approximately 8 minutes.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour one quarter of hot syrup in thin stream over the egg whites, beating constantly.

Continue beating until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape, 3–5 minutes. Cook remaining syrup until a small amount of syrup forms brittle threads when dropped in cold water (154C). Pour remainder of syrup over meringue in a thin stream, beating constantly until mixture is very thick. Add vanilla and roughly chopped butter, and beat until thick. With a wooden spoon, fold in almonds and Turkish delight. Turn mixture into a 28cm x 18cm lamington tin that has been lined with edible rice paper, and smooth out with a spatula. Place more rice paper on top and gently press down. Allow to cool. When nougat is firm, turn out and cut into squares. Keep refrigerated for up to two weeks.

Now, I did encounter some problems making this. It was very sticky and very messy. At first I didn't think it was worth the clean-up, but when I tasted it, I quickly changed my mind. I think a great deal of the flavour was due to the honey I used. My friends Romy and Glenn produce the beautiful Elixir Raw Honey and in this recipe I used the Jarrah honey.

I also used a saucepan too small for the job, and almost had catastrophic results, but hey, you only do that once!

Chocolate Tart

Crust
150gm plain flour
60gm caster sugar
1 tbs cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
1 large egg
60gm unsalted butter, softened
30gm dark chocolate melted
crème fraiche, to serve

Filling
200gm good quality chocolate, melted 2 large eggs
300ml thickened cream 50ml milk
100gm caster sugar few drops vanilla extract

Method
Sift flour and cocoa with a pinch of salt.
Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl until pale and thick. Mix in egg and chocolate, then beat in flour mixture and knead gently to a smooth dough. Dust hands with flour and form dough into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30minutes. Preheat fan forced oven to 190°C. Lightly grease a 22cm loose bottomed tart pan.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured board to just larger than the size of the pan. Use to line the pan pressing into the sides. Trim to fit. Chill for 20 minutes.

Prick the base, line with foil and blind bake. Sit pan on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and bake for a further 5 minutes.

For the filling, brush a third of the melted chocolate over the tart base. Bring the cream and the milk to the boil in a pan, then slowly pour onto remaining chocolate, stirring until smooth. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla, then combine with chocolate cream.

Place the tart on a baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven and pull half way out. Pour in the filling and ease the shelf back in. Bake for 45-50 minutes. The filling will wobble, but sets in the pan. Cool and dust with good quality cocoa. Serve with crème fraiche.

Serves 6-8

Brioche

Makes 12 (from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking by Brother Rick Curry)
For the brioche
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
¼ lb butter
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
½ cup warm milk
3 ¼ - 3 ½ flour

For the egg glaze
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk

Combine the yeast and water in a small bowl, stirring until dissolved. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Cream the butter in a large bowl. Add the sugar, salt, eggs and egg yolk and mix thoroughly. Add the milk and yeast mixture. Beat for 10 minutes, gradually adding flour until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out on a lightly floured surface. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary to prevent stickiness.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk – about 1 hour.

Grease 12 small brioche molds.

Punch down the dough. Turn out again and gently knead for 2 minutes. Divide dough into twelve portions. Shape into balls and place into molds, twisting a small portion of dough to form traditional ball shape on the top of the brioche. Place molds on a baking tray and cover with a tea towel and let rise until doubled in bulk – about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. To make the egg glaze, mix the egg yolk with the milk. Brush each brioche with the glaze. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool or serve immediately with preserves.

The Sicilian Twist:
Serve warm brioche with icy lemon granita. Break pieces of brioche and place in a tall glass and scoop granita over.
Another variation: Lop the top off the brioche and scoop out a little of the inside. Use the brioche as a bowl for a scoop of gelato, preferably hazelnut. Eat the bowl which becomes sodden with delicious hazelnut ice-cream. Enjoy.

Christina’s Award-winning Date Slice

Pastry
2 ¼ cups SR flour
1 ½ tbsp caster sugar
135g butter, cut into cubes
Pinch salt
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp water (more if required)

Filling
250g pitted dates, chopped
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
¾ cup water
2 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Icing
60g butter, softened
juice of 1 lemon
2 cups icing sugar


To prepare the pastry, place the flour, salt, sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Combine the egg, yolk, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of the water and add to the flour mix. Pulse until the pastry just comes together, and only then add the additional water if required. Finish combining the pastry by hand with a very light knead, and then allow the pastry to rest while preparing the filling.

In a saucepan, combine dates, sugar, water and the grated rind and juice from the lemon and orange. Bring the mixture to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add spices and allow to cool. Check the consistency, it should be easy to spread, so add a little water to loosen the mix if required.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Roll out half the dough and press into a slice tin that is lined with parchment paper, making sure that the crust goes up the sides of the tin to contain the filling. Spread the filling evenly over the base and then roll out the other half of the pastry and place on top, trimming the edges as required. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
For the icing, combine softened butter and grated lemon rind in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the icing sugar and add the juice of the lemon. Continue to beat until the icing is well combined and then add a splash of milk so that the icing is silky smooth and of a spreadable consistency. Cover the cooled slice generously with lemon icing. Cut into squares and enjoy!