Recipe by the team at Body Sculptors Australia
Baklava is traditionally a rich, sweet dessert made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with sugar syrup or honey. It is absolutely delicious, but all that sugar is not great for our health or waistline.
Our version has no refined sugar and only sweetened naturally with Natvia. Completely guilt-free!
Ingredients
- 375 grams filo pastry sheets
- 200 grams light olive oil spread, melted
- 200 grams cashews, coarsely ground
- 20 grams natvia
Sugar-free syrup
- 200 grams Nativa
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 10 grams cornflour, dissolved in 1-2 Tbsp of water
- 1/2 tsp rose water
Method
- To melt olive oil spread, place in a small saucepan and gently heat on low.
- Grease a large baking dish (30 x 20cm rectangular) with melted olive oil spread.
- Place cashews and natvia in a food processor and pulse until a coarse crumb forms.
- Layer a quarter of the filo pastry into the baking dish, brushing melted butter between each layer. Let the pastry over hang the edges.
- Sprinkle a third of the cashew crumb over the pastry. Repeat with remaining filo pastry, melted olive oil spread and cashew crumb, finishing with a layer of pastry.
- Brushing top layer with melted olive oil spread.
- Neatly tuck pastry edges around the sides of the tray.
- Cut into 30 squares. Bake at 220°C for 10 mins, then at 180°C for 30-40 mins or until golden.
- Remove from oven and pour hot sugar-free syrup all over the surface whilst hot. Cool before serving.
Sugar-free syrup
- Whilst baklava is baking, prepare sugar-free syrup. Place natvia, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Slowly pour in cornflour mixture. Continue boiling for 5-10 minutes or until mixture thickens in to a syrup.
- Remove from heat and stir in rose water.
