Okay so, I fully intended to post this recipe before Eid so that you guys could make it for your Eid parties. However, time clearly got out of my hands 💀. So here I am, 4 days after Eid, typing out this recipe for you because although the celebrations have passed, this recipe is too good not to share!
Before we begin, let’s back up a little about how I came up with this idea. As you know, I am a big fan of fusion desserts. I don’t love anything more than giving classic desserts a different twist, especially focused on flavors and desserts that I have grown up with.
So the idea of creating a Mille Feuille with a baklava twist has been on my mind for a while now. I even attempted one last year, but unfortunately, the nuts I used had been sitting in the cupboard for way too long and the dessert ended up tasting like cardboard 😶. I then used it to make this reel about wedding planning 😂.
Anyway, when I was writing down my recipe ideas for Ramadan, Baklava Mille Feuille was high on the list. I just knew that this recipe would be a winner, and I was so right! 😍
Initially, I was planning to make it in a small, pastry size like a classic Mille Feuille, but ended up turning it into a grand celebratory style dessert.
Now I know many of you might be confused about this dessert and wondering, what the hell is a Mille-Feuille? Don’t worry, you know I always cover all the desserts in a pain steaking-ly detailed manner 😂.
A Mille Feuille is a classic French dessert that is made with layers of puff pastry filled with pastry cream. The puff pastry layers give it that light, airy, and crunchy texture, and the sweet, smooth, and soft pastry cream perfect complements the flaky pastry.
The puff pastry is the star of a Mille Feuille because of its layers and flakiness. One day I thought, you know what’s also layered and flaky? Baklava.
If you don’t know, baklava is made with layers of a very thin pastry called filo pastry. It’s very similar to puff pastry in character, the layers are pressed upon each other with a generous layer of butter between each filo pastry, giving it that crunchy, flaky texture.
So I thought, hmm…what if we replace the regular puff pastry in a Mille Feuille with layers of baklava? And here we are.
You can almost think of it as a baklava cake, where the cake layers are replaced with layers of baklava. Doesn’t that sound delicious? 🤤
Also a special shout out to my friend Aisha who also shared a similar dessert idea with me that helped me make this dessert even better! 🙌🏽
Now let’s look into the details of the dessert
The Baklava Layers
Baklava is made by placing layers of filo pastry on top of each other and spreading melted butter between each layer. The filling is added in between after every few layers of the filo pastry.
Traditionally, baklava is filled with a mixture of ground nuts, usually pistachios or walnuts. But I wanted to make the flavors more modern and something that pairs better with the pastry cream, so I decided to fill the baklava with a mixture of ground dark chocolate and pistachios. Both the flavors work perfectly with each other, and the dark chocolate adds a depth of flavor to the dessert.
This is the order you want to follow for the baklava layers –
Step 1: Layer of filo pastry → spread a layer of melted butter → layer of filo pastry (repeat for 7 filo pastry layers)
Step 2: Layer of melted butter on the top filo pastry → layer of crushed nut filling
Step 3: Layer of filo pastry → spread a layer of melted butter → layer of filo pastry (repeat for 7 filo pastry layers)
Pro tip: Filo pastry is very delicate and dries out very quickly. Make sure you are handling each layer very gently and keep the layers covered at all times.
The baklava is drenched in sugar syrup while it’s still hot so that the pastry really absorbs the sweetness in without getting soft.
Pastry Cream
Pastry cream or Cream Patisserie is a classic French filling made with eggs and milk. It is soft but also holds its structure, and has a delicious taste without being overly sweet.
It’s a rather simple filling to make but involves a couple of techniques to get it right. Don’t worry, it’s nothing complicated! It just requires a lot of mixing.
As pastry cream contains eggs, it has to be cooked out to make it edible. The cooking process can get a little tricky as you want to make sure you don’t cook your eggs too much and end up with scrambled cream 🤢. The trick is to a. temper the eggs and b. keep mixing the cream continuously while it’s on heat to make sure the eggs don’t scramble.
Okay, I know what you’re wondering. What does tempering eggs mean? Tempering the eggs is a process of preparing the eggs for the upcoming heat so that they don’t cook too fast. This is done by mixing some of the hot milk mixture into the eggs beforehand and whisking it in to help the eggs adjust to the temperature.
For making the pastry cream, you will first heat your milk on a stove, and separately whisk the eggs with sugar and cornstarch of the heat. When the milk is hot, you will pour 1/2 of it into the egg mixture while mixing it continuously to help the eggs adjust to the high temperature. This is the process of tempering eggs.
Next, you will pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the milk on the stove, and cook it while whisking continuously until it thickens. The cornstarch helps thicken the cream and gives it a stable texture.
Make sure you keep whisking the cream at all times to stop the eggs from scrambling.
Once you’ve reached the right thickness, transfer the cream into a heat-proof bowl and cover it with cling film to let it cool. Always whisk the cream before using it to remove any lumps and make it nice and smooth.
This is really a great dessert to make for your upcoming parties, even though Eid has passed ☹️.
Both the baklava layers and the pastry cream can be made one day in advance, all you need to do is assemble it before serving!
Now let’s get to the recipe.
PS: I always measure ingredients in grams, never in cups. Using a measuring scale is the only way to bake accurately. Cups are very unreliable and can give different measurements, so I would suggest you buy a measuring scale before you start baking! If you can’t get your hands on one, you can use the online tools for converting grams into cups, however, I do not guarantee their accuracy.
PPS: if you notice a * after any word, it means that there are additional tips about it after the recipe
Chocolate & Pistachio Baklava Mille Feuille | Baklava Layer Cake
Equipment
- Pastry brush
- Blender/Grinder
- Hand whisk
- Silicone spatula
- Offset spatula
- Piping bag with piping tip of choice
Ingredients
Pastry Cream
- 1 litre full-fat milk
- 2 tsp vanilla essence
- 200 gs egg yolks
- 240 gs caster sugar
- 100 gs cornstarch/corn flour
- 50 gs unsalted butter
Baklava Layers
- 200 gs dark chocolate
- 100 gs pistachios
- 56 sheets filo pastry
- 100 gs unsalted buter, melted
Sugar Syrup
- 300 gs sugar
- 200 gs water
Instructions
- Pastry Cream
- In a saucepan, add the milk (1000 ml) and vanilla essence (2 tsp), and bring it to a boil.
- While the milk is heating, add the egg yolks (200 gs), caster sugar (240 gs), and cornstarch/corn flour (100 gs) in a bowl , and whisk until everything is well combined. This process is called blanching.
- Once the milk has boiled, temper the eggs* by adding 1/2 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk continuously for 2 minutes. If you don’t whisk properly, the heat of the milk will cook and scramble the eggs.
- Once the eggs have been tempered, return the milk saucepan to the heat on a medium flame and pour the egg mixture into the saucepan while whisking continuously.* Keep whisking the mixture continuously to stop the eggs from scrambling. Let the mixture come to a boil, then keep whisking* until it becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This usually takes about 3 minutes of mixing after the cream has come to a boil.
- Once thickened, tale the cream off the heat and add the cold butter (50 gs). Whisk the butter into the cream, then transfer it to a heat-proof bowl and cover it with cling film to let it cool. Make sure that the cling film is touching the surface of the cream to avoid the formation of a milk skin on the cream.
- Let the cream cool in the fridge for 2-3 hours before using. I would recommend making it a day before and letting it set overnight.
Baklava Layers
- Make the filling: Grind dark chocolate (200 gs) and pistachios (100 gs) until they are crushed but now powdered, you want them to maintain a little crunchiness of the nuts.
- If you want to make round baklava layers, cut the defrosted filo pastry into rounds using any dish or cookie. If you don’t have a big enough cutter, you can use any round dish to line it and cut using knife, it doesn’t have to be perfect! You can also skip this step and use the filo pastry as it is in rectangle shape. You can cut it as per your liking, they taste the same either way!
- Place a layer of the filo pastry, then spread melted butter on it using a pastry brush. Make sure to properly cover every corner of the pastry, but don’t drench it in butter. Spread a thin layer of butter across the pastry.
- Place the second layer of pastry on top of the butter. The butter will help the two layers of filo stick to each other. Try to align each layer of pastry as much as possible, and remove any air bubbles in the process. Repeat the process → filo → butter → filo until you reach 7 filo pastry layers.
- On the 7th filo pastry layer, spread another thin layer of melted butter, then sprinkle a layer of the chocolate and pistachio nut filling on top, about 2-3 tbsps.
- Then follow the same process of filo → melted butter → filo for 7 more layers of pastry. Make sure that the top layer of pastry is also covered with melted butter.
- Bake the baklava for 12-15 minutes, until it’s golden brown. Turn the baklava mid-way while baking to make sure it browns evenly.
- Pour sugar syrup on the baklava as soon as it comes out of the oven (recipe below).
- This process will make one layer of baklava. Repeat the process for the remaining layers. I have made 4 total layers of baklava for this dessert as I wanted to make it party size. However, you can reduce the number of layers as per your liking.
Sugar Syrup
- In a saucepan, add the sugar (300 gs) and water (200 gs) and mix it until the sugar is slightly dissolved.
- Put the saucepan on high heat and bring the sugar water to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the syrup becomes thick and sticky.
Assembly
- Take the pastry cream out of the fridge and give it a quick whisk to smoothen it out, then transfer it into a piping bag with a piping tip of your choice.
- To assemble the baklava mille feuille, place a layer of the sugar syrup-soaked baklava, then pipe a layer of the pastry cream. Top the pastry cream layer with the next layer of baklava, then repeat the process until all the baklava layers have been placed.
- Top the final baklava layer with pastry cream in a decorative way, then sprinkle some pistachios on top and decorate it any way you like!
Notes
- Tempering the eggs: tempering the eggs is a process of preparing the eggs for the upcoming heat so that they don’t cook too fast. This is done by mixing some of the hot milk mixture into the eggs beforehand and whisking it in to help the eggs adjust to the temperature.
- Whisking the pastry cream: when cooking the pastry cream, make sure to keep whisking it continuously to avoid the eggs from scrambling. You want the cream to have a smooth, silky texture and not have any eggy taste or texture in it. Mixing continuously will stop the eggs from cooking and give you the desired texture. This is key for the pastry cream.
- Using the filo pastry: Filo pastry is very thin and delicate. You have to handle it very gently, or it will tear apart. You also have to keep the filo pastry covered at all times as it dries very quickly
That’s how you make this delicious baklava mille-feuille. It’s definitely a treat but it’s so worth it! Trust me, it’s not difficult at all! And they’ll have everyone thinking you’re a professional pastry chef 😉.
I hope you like the recipe and give it a try for your next celebration! If you do, don’t forget to let me know how you liked it in the comments below!
And of course, share it with me on Instagram!
See you next time!
