This baklava with rooibos syrup was one of the delicious recipes Bushmans Kloof chef, Floris Smith, demonstrated on a rooibos weekend cooking course at the five-star Cederberg lodge. This dessert is surprisingly easy and a great one for a big dinner party, as you can make masses of baklava.
Ingredients
Serves 10
Rooibos syrup
- 400 g sugar
- 250 ml strong rooibos
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 orange, halved
- 1 and a half cinnamon sticks
- 170 ml honey
Baklava
- 250 g walnuts, finely chopped
- 100 g pecan nuts
- 100 g sugar
- 15 ml ground cinnamon
- 10 ml freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 clove
- 1 ml salt
- 1 packet phyllo pastry
- 345 g melted butter
Cooking method
To make the rooibos syrup, combine the rooibos and the sugar in a saucepan. Squeeze the juice of the lemon and orange into the mixture. Add the squeezed fruit halves and cinnamon sticks and bring the mixture to the boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in the honey and return to the boil. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Strain the mixture through a sieve and place in the fridge for an hour.
To make the baklava, mix together the walnuts, pecan nuts, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and salt until well combined. Mix in 100 ml of the rooibos syrup and 100 g of melted butter. Brush two sheets of phyllo pastry with melted butter and then fold in half. Brush on more butter. Spread the nut mixture over three quarters of the pastry and then roll tightly into a cigar shape. Brush with butter. Repeat until all the mixture is used up. Let the baklavas stand for 10 minutes before cutting into 10 cm cigars. Bake the baklavas at 150C for 10 t0 15 minutes. Serve with rooibos syrup poured over.
