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Turkish baklava

Turkish confectionery provides a wide selection of pastries made out of pastry dough, nuts ad honey or syrup, where shape and filling determine the type. Baklava is one of such treats.

Baklava is Turkey's most famous dessert. It consists of whole or chopped pistachio nuts enclosed between paper thin layers of filo pastry, drizzled with a honey based syrup. It makes a deliciously sweet and nutty dessert or a treat to serve with aromatic Turkish coffee.

Pistachio are the most typical filling, howwever, other nuts can be used for the filling and you can find walnut, cashew, pecan or almond baklavas. Why not mixed nuts? Be creative and use different fillings: substitute pistachio nuts with chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans; sprinkle sugar on top; shape it in a different way... maybe you'll design a totally new kind of pastry.

The combination of flavors in baklava - and much of Turkish confectionery - can be found in all Mediterranean countries. That's probably why I am so fond of this kind of sweets, as they taste very similar to typical Spanish treats.

Not only is Spain a Mediterranean country, much of the influence of the Arab era still remains in its cuisine.

Tuck in to this scrumptious pastries whilst exploring some other of Turkey's finest recipes.

Try to prepare Turkish baklava or take the chance to know about some other deliciously sweet Turkish confectionery and see what sophisticated flavor can be achieved with a handful of ingredients and simple cooking techniques.