Baklava vanilla slice by Faaiza Omar

Serving: 10 INGREDIENTS:

Syrup

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs orange blossom water

Cream filling

3 cups cream

Zest from ½ a lemon

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup sugar

¼ cup Jungle Taystee Wheat

1 tbs butter

3 eggs

Layered phyllo pastry

8 sheets of phyllo pastry

¾ cup roasted and ground pistachios

1¼ cup roasted and ground walnuts

⅓ cup castor sugar

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

80g melted butter or ghee

METHOD

Syrup

Place the sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan, and stir.

Bring the mixture to a boil on

medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange blossom water.

Set aside to cool for one hour.

Cream filling

In a medium-sized saucepan or small pot, combine the cream, lemon zest, ground cardamom and vanilla essence. Bring to a simmer, whisk in the sugar, and Jungle Taystee Wheat.

While whisking, continue to simmer the mixture for about five minutes, until it thickens.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the cream mixture to a bowl.

Whisk in the butter and eggs, one at a time.

Layered phyllo pastry

Preheat the oven to 180°C for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the pistachios, walnuts, castor sugar, and cinnamon.

Brush a 26cm rectangular oven-safe dish with melted butter or ghee. Place 1 sheet of phyllo in the dish, pressing down, and allow the

sheet to hang over the sides of the dish while brushing with butter or ghee.

Place the second sheet of phyllo over the first and brush with butter or ghee. Spread half the nut mixture over the phyllo.

Place another two sheets of phyllo over the nuts and brush each sheet with butter or ghee.

Pour the cream filling over the phyllo, and repeat the phyllo layering as before, to make 4 sheets of phyllo in total with nuts in between.

Fold over the phyllo from the long sides while continuing to brush each layer with butter or ghee.

Follow by trimming the phyllo from the short sides, and tucking it in to make it neat.

Score the phyllo to make a diamond pattern.

Bake for 40 minutes at 180°C.

Remove from the oven and pour the syrup over immediately while hot. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios and allow to cool for one hour or more before serving.