Growing up, one of our family favourites was Rétes (Hungarian Strudel) and my dear Mom made Hungarian delicacies like Káposztás Rétes (Savoury Cabbage Strudel) and Túrós Rétes (sweet Cottage Cheese Strudel) and even sometimes but not often, Almás Rétes (Apple Strudel). Mom’s favourite was Káposztás Rétes (Cabbage Strudel) and although as kids we couldn’t stand it, I often find myself craving the savoury flavours of this treat.
My dear Mom always told stories as she was cooking or baking, stories about food, of course! The one story that has resonated with me all these years is that Grandma (Nagymama) made her own Rétes dough! The story goes that Nagymama laid a clean, white sheet on the dining room table, dusted it with flour and stretched and stretched and stretched her homemade dough until you could read newsprint through it. I always imagined an enormous dough (like this) on the table! Mom never made strudel dough that I recall, by the time she was a homemaker, ready made, frozen dough was already available and so much easier than making it yourself. I have used ready made Phyllo more times than I can count on all my fingers and toes, but I’d never made it myself. So you can well imagine why homemade phyllo dough is on my bucket list.
Recently, we invited dear friends to the cottage and I thought homemade Baklava would be a lovely dessert over the weekend and a great excuse to make homemade phyllo dough. I chose Baklava because if the Phyllo didn’t work out as well, the syrup would ‘hide’ its flaws, unlike Rétes. The recipe I followed is here (why reinvent the wheel?) but I can tell you right now that using the pasta maker is not nearly as satisfying as rolling by hand. A marble rolling pin (or something really heavy) would be helpful…I had a rolling pin made by one of my dear Mom’s friends many years ago and I paid the price by bruising my palms and fingers!
Homemade Phyllo Dough
This recipe makes 25 sheets approx. 25 cm x 41 cm (10″ x 16″)
I allowed the dough to rest overnight.
The recipe instructions indicate to take the dough to #9 on the pasta maker (mine is a KitchenAid Stand Mixer with attachments) but I recommend to take it to #8 and do the rest by hand. I also tried rolling it entirely by hand (see photos below – only took about 12 minutes each) and it wasn’t as difficult as I had anticipated but it did bruise my hands badly). Between each number of stretching the dough by pasta machine, keep rubbing a little flour to both sides of the flattened dough, this is how the correct texture is achieved. Believe me, you will know when you feel it.
I also found that rolling the dough through each pass on the pasta maker a couple of times instead of just once results in a finer dough.
Baklava
Yields:
- 17 (4-sheet) baklavas
- 11 (2-sheet) baklavas
- 4 left over sheets (freeze for later).
Ingredients:
- 21 sheets of phyllo dough
- 120 g hazelnuts
- 200 g almonds
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/8 ground cloves
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Directions:
- Roast both nuts on 163° C (325° F) for 18 minutes or until most of the skins have separated from the hazelnuts (almonds may or may not separate).
- Using a clean tea towel, rub the hot nuts until most of the skins come off. Separate skins from nuts.
- Chop both hazelnuts and almonds roughly and combine with sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.
Syrup Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 cup honey
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Directions:
- Combine first three ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Stir well, set aside.
Baklava assembly:
- Preheat the oven to 163° C (325° F).
- Divide the dough into 40 g dough portions.
- Lightly flour a large, clean surface and roll out to approximately 25 cm x 41 cm or 10″ x 16″ sheets. Continue to roll all of the dough like this until you have rolled it all out. Cover with a lightly damp cloth and a jelly roll pan to protect it from drying out.
- Take one sheet of phyllo and lay it length-wise in front of you. Brush generously with the melted butter. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the nut mixture per sheet. Continue for 2-3 sheets.
- Taking the long end, begin to roll the phyllo tightly. Brush the finished roll with melted butter.
- Cut into 5 cm or 2.5″ lengths (or smaller equal lengths). Place cut side up into a lightly buttered pan, it doesn’t matter if they touch. Continue until all the dough and nut mixture is exhausted.
- Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely and then pour the syrup over The rolls and allow to rest for a few hours.
Notes:
This is quite a damp dough and it’s a bit sticky but don’t worry, you’ll be stretching and rolling additional flour into it to give it the correct wet/dry ratio.
The dough only becomes difficult to work with (breaking, cracking) when it dries out; make sure you have a lightly damp tea towel to cover any rolls or sheets. I also used a 10″ x 16″ jelly roll pan to cover it.
In hindsight, I should have used only 2 or 3 (not 4) sheets per roll. Next time I think I’ll sprinkle the nut mixture on each sheet and not just the end — I have adjusted the recipe above.
I was 100% sure I would not be making this recipe again because it’s so inexpensive to buy ready made, but in reviewing the ingredient list I may have to resort to making it myself as there is one or two ingredients that gross me out.
Wow! Good on you for making the phyllo. I’m yet to go down that expedition! 🙂
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Ok, now I’m totally impressed!! I can’t believe you’ve made this, I wouldn’t have ever thought to try, it seems to difficult.. but not for you, yours is beautiful and light as air. This must have tasted fabulous with homemade filo!xx
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Thank you very much Barbara, I love a challenge and other than rolling the dough so very thinly, it was easy peasy!
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I see you’re making great strides on your bucket list, Eva. I’d like to make phyllo dough too, and yours looks as tasty as can be. I made Baklava once in a college cooking course, but we used the store-bought variety. I’d like to try it again using this recipe; from scratch!
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Yes indeed, thank you Brooks. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.
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How beautiful! I love baklava and this looks seriously delicious! I would love one right now with my afternoon tea. You are such a brave women to attempt this difficult task. Rolling them out in HK humidity would be a nightmare might have to wait until winter to give this a try. Sharing, my friend!
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Hi Bam, it was rather humid in Toronto when I did this project and my worst enemy was the air conditioning blowing down on the counter. Thank you for your very kind words.
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Wow! This looks delicious, Eva. The roll itself is so beautiful.
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Thank you so much Sharyn, hope you are doing well.
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How wonderful to make your own! I have done it a couple of times but I will confess that I usually buy it because of lack of time. It’s amazing how thint he dough can get isn’t it? 🙂
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Hi Lorraine, I will search your blog for your experience. I was very surprised at how thinly the dough can be rolled out without much effort. Mind you, next time I will find a marble rolling pin!
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I have made baklava but only with store-bought filo pastry. I haven’t made my on filo and I’m super-impressed you made your own. Your dear friends at the cottage must have loved all the effort you went to. It sounds like your grandmother was a wonderful cook – I’ve never rolled out anything on a sheet! xx
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Thank you Charlie, it was a great experience and with this under my belt, I think I’ll do it again. Baklava is such a lovely dessert, isn’t it?
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I’m getting close to ditching my pasta machine for rolling (and cutting) pasta, and doing it all by hand. Not sure if I’d ever make my own phyllo dough, though — but it’s so cool that you did it! Really neat, and such a fun post. Thanks!
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Thanks John, I actually use my pasta maker for a lot of non-pasta things so I will never ditch it. I did use the manual one at the cottage earlier this year when I inadvertently forgot to bring a box of pasta up for one of our dinners…it turned out so delicious!
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Congratulations, Eva! It looks like lots of hard work. I’m too lazy even to think about making my own phyllo, so I won’t pretend I’ll copy your recipe one day 😉
Great work! The baklava looks beautiful too.
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Thank you so much Sissi, I always laugh when you say that you are too lazy! I highly doubt it but it’s a cute self deprecating comment. I will probably make it again with some of the changes that Zsuzsa, another Hungarian cook has kindly made.
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The food stories born out of our family histories are priceless. What a gift to have such precious memories of your Mom and Grandma. I imagine you enjoying them over and over again as you prepare food and try new recipes with them in mind. And you made your own phyllo + baklava!! How amazing and satisfying. It’s so great to keep challenging ourselves in our areas of interest and I bet your cottage guests loved this particular effort. Congrats!
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Thank you kindly Kelly, everyone loved the treats.
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Eva I am blown away! Hats off to you. Homemade phyllo dough! What an incredible undertaking and at the cottage too. You have inspired me. We love baklava and I really like the roll idea. I see a dough project in the near future!
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Thank you Kristy, the roll idea came from a Food Network chef Christine Cushing, it presents beautifully and is very easy to cut.
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Brava, Eva!! Color me impressed. VERY impressed. Homemade phyllo and baklava—I wish I lived close enough to come by for a taste 🙂
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Thank you kindly Liz, I would have loved to have you pop by for a taste!
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How wonderful, Eva… and I agree with Zsuzsa, you are doing us proud! My mother always made the most amazing strudel dough and I wish more than anything that I photographed or took a video of her making it. She was an artisan baker and now it’s all gone. Thank you so much for sharing your story and the recipe xx
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Thank you for your kind words Lizzy, I am very flattered. I wish I had decided to make this while my dear Mom was around, she would have loved it.
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Eva your dough looks truly well developed. I am amazed, you make us Hungarians proud. I cannot believe what you got out of all purpose flour. I never had luck with rolled filo, never mind all purpose flour. Eventually I came to the realization I need hard wheat [bread flour] for structure so the dough can stand the stretching. There is a good reason why Hungarians use “strudel flour”. All those people who stretch the dough use in part hard flour. There is also need for a softer wheat [all purpose flour] so the dough can stay soft and doesn’t harden into a crispy monument. Try it next time with part white bread flour and part all purpose flour. It will be so much easier! This was a greater feat than you realize.
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Thank you for your very kind and flattering words Zsuzsa, I keep re reading your comment and it makes me smile from ear to ear. I am interested in strudel flour and will definitely try your suggestion of part bread and part AP flour.
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Bucket list indeed. Home phyllo is on mine, but I don’t know if I have a deft enough touch. GREG
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Thank you Greg, it wasn’t nearly as fussy as I expected it to be.
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What a beauty. You did a gorgeous job as usual. Apple strudel was always my favourite of my mom’s home made strudel dishes when I was growing up … even though I’m a fan of all things savoury, usually. My dad loved them ALL.
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Hi Maria, Apple was my brother and Dad’s favourites too. Thank you for your lovely compliment, I am flattered.
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Years ago an Austrian friend showed me how to make phyllo dough from scratch, by stretching, and yes one could read the newspaper through it, she made it look so easy (from years of practice) but I never attempted to make it prefer instead to use the ready made ones from the food market.
I could surely eat a few of your rolls at this moment for breakfast with my cup of coffee.
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Thank you Norma, I wish I had asked my dear Mom to show me how to make it, it would have been wonderful to learn from her. It’s certainly a lot easier to buy the ready made stuff but there is a rather disturbing ingredient in the list which has caused me some concern. I don’t make phyllo products often so making the dough will just have to be par for the course!
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Homemade filo dough!! How cool! And they look definitely worth all the efforts, Eva.
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Thank you Angie, it was fun to make and my friends certainly enjoyed the results!
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