Baklava Torte Recipe
Baklava Torte Recipe
I absolutely detest working with filo pastry. It is so unbelievably fragile and I am a little bit heavy-handed and clumsy at the best of times without having to sweat over breaking the stuff while buttering it and transferring it to a dish. And it dries out really, really fast. You require patience and nerves of steel so I take my hats off to anyone who has mastered the art of baklava which requires a LOT of filo pastry.
Having said that, I love to EAT baklava. The crunchy nuts and the sweet syrup combined with the pastry is just absolutely to die for so when I came across a recipe for a Baklava Torte I got super excited. Cake I can handle. This cake has almonds, pistachios and walnuts on top of the batter and baked in. Then it’s drizzled with a honey lemon syrup while it’s still hot before being filled with mascarpone and cream. It’s not overly sweet but it’s definitely rich, super moist and it was a huge hit in my household. My husband had two pieces in a row (and he is a FUSSY cake eater) and then with a heavy heart, he stood in front of the fridge the next morning, announced what a fantastic cake it was before wrapping it up and taking to share with his workmates so he didn’t eat the rest. A necessary but brave sacrifice.
Notes: I found the mascarpone and the cream mixed together to be a little runny so I recommend whipping the cream to soft peaks first before mixing with the mascarpone. Add the lemon juice to the syrup mixture a little bit at a time and taste until you have the desired level of sweet/tart.
Cake
250g (8 oz) butter, softened
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup (220g) caster (super fine) sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup (80ml) milk
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup (60g) ground almonds
1 cup (70g) slivered almonds
1 cup (140g) coarsely chopped pistachios
1 cup (110g) coarsely chopped walnuts
Filling
250g (8 oz) mascarpone
1/2 cup (125ml) thickened (heavy) cream *See notes above
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Honey Lemon Syrup
3/4 cup (165g) caster (superfine) sugar
3/4 cup (180ml) water
1/3 cup (115g) honey
5cm (2-inch) strip lemon rind
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice *see notes above
Instructions
Cake: Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced, 350F. Grease two deep 22cm (9 inch) round cake pans. Line bases with baking paper.
Beat butter, extract and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in milk, sifted flour and ground almonds, in two batches.
Spread mixture evenly between pans; top with combined slivered almonds, pistachios and walnuts, pressing down lightly.
Bake cake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Using a skewer, pierce hot cakes a few times, then drizzle 1/4 cup hot syrup over each hot cake. Cool cakes in pan. Cool remaining syrup.
Honey Lemon Syrup: Stir sugar, the water, honey and rind in a small saucepan over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Discard lemon rind.
Filling: Combine mascarpone, cream and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Assembly: Place one cake on a cake stand or plate; spread with mascarpone cream, then top with remaining cake.
Serve cake topped with remaining syrup.
Ingredients
- Cake
- 250g (8 oz) butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup (220g) caster (super fine) sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
- 1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
- 1/2 cup (60g) ground almonds
- 1 cup (70g) slivered almonds
- 1 cup (140g) coarsely chopped pistachios
- 1 cup (110g) coarsely chopped walnuts
- Filling
- 250g (8 oz) mascarpone
- 1/2 cup (125ml) thickened (heavy) cream *See notes above
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Honey Lemon Syrup
- 3/4 cup (165g) caster (superfine) sugar
- 3/4 cup (180ml) water
- 1/3 cup (115g) honey
- 5cm (2-inch) strip lemon rind
- 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice *see notes above
Instructions
- Cake: Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan-forced, 350F. Grease two deep 22cm (9 inch) round cake pans. Line bases with baking paper.
- Beat butter, extract and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in milk, sifted flour and ground almonds, in two batches.
- Spread mixture evenly between pans; top with combined slivered almonds, pistachios and walnuts, pressing down lightly.
- Bake cake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Using a skewer, pierce hot cakes a few times, then drizzle 1/4 cup hot syrup over each hot cake. Cool cakes in pan. Cool remaining syrup.
- Honey Lemon Syrup: Stir sugar, the water, honey and rind in a small saucepan over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Discard lemon rind.
- Filling: Combine mascarpone, cream and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Assembly: Place one cake on a cake stand or plate; spread with mascarpone cream, then top with remaining cake.
- Serve cake topped with remaining syrup.
Carolyn Murphy
Carolyn Murphy is a married mother of three and regularly provides us with recipes and strange but true stories about her life. When she’s not here, she can also be found on her website pinkpostitnote.com where all her other recipes are located!
