Here is the recipe as taught to me by Anton Godressi.
Baklava “Cigars”
This is a great way to enjoy baklava, love this version. The cigar shapes makes the dish easy to portion and eat.
1 packet filo pastry (use the refrigerated version for best results, rather than the frozen)
500g butter, melted – approximately
Filling ingredients:
750g walnuts (not salted)
750g almonds (not salted)
2 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
(For sprinkling over at end) – ½ cup pistachios, coarsely ground
To make the filling
Grind the walnuts and almonds in batches in a food processor and place in a large bowl with the crushed cornflakes. Stir to combine.
In a separate bowl mix the sugar with the spices and then add to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Syrup ingredients:
1½ cups sugar
1½ cups boiling water
Juice 1 small lemon
2 teaspoons rosewater
To make the syrup
In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar and boiling water until the sugar has dissolved completely.
Bring to the boil over medium heat and cook for approximately ten minutes until the mixture thickens a little, then add the lemon juice and rosewater and cook for 5 minutes more. Cool.
Leave to stand 5 minutes, then drizzle evenly over the cooled baklava.
To assemble and bake
Heat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease a large baking dish (you may even need two, so have an extra one on hand).
Peel one sheet of the filo pastry off and lay on a clean bench top.
Brush with some of the melted butter.
Sprinkle 1½ generous tablespoons of mixture evenly across the bottom third of the pastry sheet and roll up tightly. Place these long cigars side by side in the prepared baking dish/es.
Repeat until all the pastry sheets are used. (Any leftover filling can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for other baking such as in biscuits and tarts, or another batch of baklava another day).
Cut the baklava into “cigars” approximately 6cm long.
Bake for 40 minutes approximately until the baklava is golden brown.
Pour syrup over, sprinkle with pistachios and leave to stand for several hours.
Delicious! The photo says it all!