| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 10 min |
| Prep: | 40 min |
| Inactive: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 20 to 30 cigars |
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 1/2 tablespoons honey (such as sage or thyme)
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 5 whole cloves
- 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 egg white, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 3/4 cup syrup, from above
- 1/2 package frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- To make the syrup: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine all the ingredients, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Set aside to cool, then strain into a medium bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- To make the filling: In a clean bowl, add egg white and beat with a hand mixer until thick, about 5 to 6 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the walnuts, pecans, brown sugar and cloves. Gently fold in the egg whites and 3/4 cup of the syrup, until combined.
- To assemble: Remove the phyllo from the package, being careful to keep it covered and cool. Take out 1 sheet and put it on a work surface. Gently brush with butter and fold in half. Add approximately 1/4 cup filling, toward the bottom half of the pastry and fold over the long end. Roll up, tucking in the ends as you roll. Set on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with butter. Repeat until all cigars are assembled. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they don’t brown too quickly.
- Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes. On a clean work surface, cut the baklava in half on the diagonal and transfer to a serving tray or platter. Drizzle with remaining syrup, sprinkle with slivered almonds and dust with powdered sugar. Can be served warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 26 servings |
| Calories | 193 |
| Total Fat | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 20 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 14 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Sodium | 43 mg |
Reviews
I made the Baklave Cigars and messed up the whole thing, they tasted great thu, the filling went all over the tray while baking and I had trouble rolling up the phyllo (my first experance with it. I’ll try it again.
These were a great take on baklava. I did change the recipe a little. I didn’t have lemon juice (no substitute) and I used ground cloves instead of whole ones. I also didn’t have flavored honey so I added a sprig of thyme to the syrup mixture. The flavor was great and the heat from the pepper flakes was just enough to kick it up a little. I would try these again.
Baklava came from the country Armenia, which is located just east of the Turkey. Im Armenian, and i hate when the greeks say they invented Baklava, its Armenian!
I loved this dessert. I served it with other finger food at a holiday dinner. Everyone went crazy for it. The bit of heat from the red pepper was unusual for baklava, and I thought the cigar shape was so much prettier than the traditional baklava squares.
I did make one change. I did add more honey (another 3 tablespoons?) because I wanted the syrup to have a stronger honey flavor. I wasn’t sure how far to reduce the syrup, but I ended up with 1 cup. That gave me an extra 1/4 cup syrup for drizzling, which seemed about perfect. I actually used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to dole out the filling, and I only ended up with 18 cigars. Some of them busted. When they cooled, and they still looked pretty. Next time, I will use less filling in each cigar.
dicided to change a little came out lovly will try again
I saw Guy do this one and thought it would be great to take to our Cigar events that we go to. I got rave reviews the last time I took them. Made them today for the Christmas party at the Cigar store tonight.
I found the best way to keep the butter from becoming solid is to put it on a candle warmer after you melt the butter. It worked out great for me today.
Using a pump bottle when making phyllo-based stuff occured to me, too. The problem is the butter, clarified or not, cools off in the pump mechanism and nozzle and solidifies. After just a few minutes, the pump stops working.
Might work for oil, but not a fat that’s solid at room temperature like butter.
Clarifying the butter and browing it a bit, though, is highly recommended.
I kicked up the recipe a litte bit by reducing the amount of water to 1/2 cup and adding 1/2 cup of Cointreau. It adds just enough orange and really compliments the flavors.
I saw Guy’s brilliant presentation on TV and decided to try this recipe. I don’t use filo dough much and I had trouble with rolling it up, so I ended up simply placing the dough in a baking pan, adding the filling, and covering again with the filo dough..much easier. I’m also not crazy for cloves, so I only used a pinch of ground clove to the syrup. The result was simply delicious.
Suggestion: Calling this recipe a “Cigar” does not do it any justice. Maybe a roll up? Just a thought.
This was the first time I have made baklava. I did not have cloves so I used All spice instead. The flavor was really good and tasted like baklava I have had in greek resturants the problem was the filling baked out of almost all of the rolls. If I make them again I would make more syrup because I did not have any left over to drizzle on top. I also would wrap them in a different way to keep the filling in. Twiisting the ends just does not work.