Ingredients

350g  walnuts, finely chopped

100g   caster sugar

3 tsp   ground cinnamon

200g  butter, coarsely chopped

1 x packet filo pastry

Honey syrup

300g   caster sugar

125g   honey

1   lemon, finely grated rind and juice only (or to taste)

1   cinnamon quill

Method

  • Heat oven to 180°C
  • Combine nuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
  • Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat, set aside and keep warm.
  • Brush a 3cm-deep 24cm x 34cm lamington tray with butter. Cut filo sheets to fit tray snugly and cover with baking paper and a damp tea towel.
  • Layer one-third of the filo pastry in the tray, brushing butter between each layer.
  • Scatter evenly with half the nut mixture, then top with half the remaining pastry, brushing butter between each layer.
  • Scatter over remaining nuts, top with remaining filo, brushing between each layer with butter.
  • Refrigerate until firm (15 minutes), then cut through all pastry layers into 4cm diamonds with a sharp knife.
  • Bake until golden and cooked through (45 minutes-1 hour). If pastry is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil half way through baking.
  • For the honey syrup, combine sugar, honey, lemon rind, cinnamon and 300ml water in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low, simmer until infused (20 minutes).
  • Remove from heat, strain through a fine sieve, stir through lemon juice to taste and set aside.
  • Cool baklava slightly (2-3 minutes), pour over syrup evenly, set aside at room temperature to cool completely (overnight if possible). Baklava will keep in tray, covered, for 3-4 days.