Nadine Abensur's rose water baklava

Cooking with orange flower water the other day made me think of trying to cook something with rose water.  Rosewater is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals (and a by-product of the production of rose oil) and gives a powerful aromatic flavour to (usually) sweet dishes.

Nadine Abensur has a recipe for rose water baklava, which I might try over the Bank Holiday weekend, and take back to fend off the autumn rain with cup of strong coffee.

Rosewater Baklava

For the baklava

14 sheets of shop bought filo pastry

350g unsalted butter, melted

700g unsalted pistachios, finely chopped

For the syrup

rind of one lime

450g caster sugar

500ml water

a squeeze of lime juice

2 tbsp rosewater

Make the syrup first and refrigerate.  Boil the sugar, water and lime juice together for 10 mins.  Add the rose water and cooked for a further few seconds.  Add the lime rind.  Set aside to cool then refrigerate.

Brush a large rectangular roasting tin with melted butter and lay half the sheets o filo on top of each other, brushing with melted butter between each sheet.  Spread the nuts on top, fold the overlapping pastry over and cover with the rest of the filo, tucking in the overlap around the edges and butter each sheet as before.

Using a sharp knife, cut the patry into parallel diagonal lines about 1 ½ inches apart.  Bake for 25 mins, then reduce the heat to 150 degrees, and bake for another 25 mins until crisp and golden.

Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the syrup all over so that it soaks through the pastry.  Set aside to cool before serving.