Name: Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 45 g Light brown sugar; 1/2 tsp Salt; 170 g Maple syrup (or honey); 235 ml Water; 45 g Light brown sugar; 1/2 tsp Salt; 150 g Pecans; 1 tsp Cinnamon; 1/4 tsp Nutmeg; 225 g Butter; 45 g Light brown sugar; 500 g Filo Pastry ((also known as phyllo pastry)); 1 tsp Coarse sea salt

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Baklava is a Turkish dessert made with layers of filo pastry (also known as phyllo pastry) and filled, usually, with pistachios and walnuts. A sweet syrup is drizzled over the Baklava after baking. I decided to change the traditional flavours and make Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava. As it can be quite an overly sweet dessert due to the syrup, the addition of salt cut into it perfectly and makes these baklava incredibly moreish! The filo pastry is so beautifully crispy and golden, I love the crunch you get when you bite into it. I share all of my bakes with my family and friends, but I have to confess that this one has never left the house as we love it too much to share!

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to make Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava

I started the by making the syrup. On a low heat in a pan I heated brown sugar, sea salt, water and maple syrup. Once the sugar is dissolved, let it boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into a bowl and cool in the fridge.

For the filling I added pecans, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a food processor and pulsed them until they looked like a coarse crumb. Then I melted butter in a pan and stirred in light brown sugar until it dissolved.

In a deep sided baking tray I starting layering up the filo sheets, brushing the butter and sugar mixture between each layer. After doing 10 filo layers, I added a layer of the pecan filling. Then I did 10 more filo layers, again brushing butter in between, then another layer of pecan filling, then 10 more filo layers.

I sliced the Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava up into pieces before baking. They baked for 45 minutes until golden. When it was done I immediately poured the syrup all over, then sprinkled the remaining filling in the centre of each square along with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Tips for making the Salted Caramel & Pecan Baklava:

If your filo sheets aren't the same size as the tin, place the tin over the pile of filo sheets and use it as a template to cut them to size.
Don't worry if your filo is smaller than your tin, you can slightly overlap the sheets and cut them to fill in gaps as needed, just use the melted butter to 'glue' the overlaps together.
You could also swap the pecans in this recipe out for walnuts.
I used cinnamon and a little nutmeg in this recipe, but feel free to use your preferred spices. Cardamom would be lovely and fragrant for example, or a mixed spice blend like pumpkin spice would be yummy!

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