Butter Rum

Baklava

"Phyllo dough rolled up with toasted walnuts & cashews, golden raisins, lightly spiced with cinnamon, brushed with salted butter, baked and finished with a blonde rum, honey simple syrup and drizzled with milk chocolate"

Ingredients

1 cup coarsely chopped, walnuts

1 cup coarsely chopped, cashews

1/2 cup golden raisins

1 teaspoon ground, cinnamon

1- 16 ounce package phyllo dough, thawed

12 ounces salted butter, melted

(2 1/2 sticks)

Bakers dowel rod or chopstick

Small pastry brush

9"x13" baking dish

Rum Simple Syrup

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup Ernest Hemingway blonde rum or similar (add more to preference)

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Extra chopped nuts for topping

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Small pastry bag or squeeze bottle

#5 round tip

Directions

Toast the nuts in a cast iron skillet over medium heat, remove and let cool completely. Place the nuts, raisins and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Preheat oven to 325F.

Place one sheet of Phyllo dough onto a clean work surface and brush with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Add a second sheet of phyllo, brush with 1 tablespoon of butter and then sprinkle 4 to 5 tablespoons of the chopped nuts/raisins evenly over the top. Place one more sheet of phyllo dough on top and brush with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Place the dowel rod on the end, roll up and then scrunch the baklava roll together by pressing in on the ends with the sides of your fists. Slide the dowel rod out, place the roll in the baking dish and start your next one (makes 8). If the phyllo dough crumbles when rolling, brush with more butter to soften. Once pan is full, slice each roll in half and then brush the tops with more butter. Place in the center of the oven and bake until lightly golden, about 35 minutes.

Rum Simple Syrup

Add all of the ingredients except the lemon juice to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to med/med-low and continue cooking until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the lemon juice and keep warm until ready to use.

As soon as the rolls are baked, remove from oven and immediately pour the syrup evenly over the top. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and let cool completely.

Melt 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in the microwave for 2 minutes (or double boiler) and stir until smooth. Let cool some, then pour into the pastry bag. Drizzle the chocolate onto the completely cooled baklava rolls. Arrange onto a serving platter and place in the refrigerator for the chocolate to harden before serving.