Baklava would be an elegant thing to take to the bake sale tomorrow that's in conjunction with the Goods & Services Auction. With company this weekend and too-much-sleepiness on my part, the timing wasn't so good. Baklava is easy; it's just time-consuming. But worth it -- ah, deliciousness!
This morning I hauled out my thawed phyllo dough, ground up a pound and a half of almonds and walnuts and honey, melted nearly a pound of butter, and started assembling.
Pricing is hard. Marcy told me that desserts were selling for $2.50 a package, and to package my amounts accordingly. With it being all nuts and butter, it's not cheap.
There was a bake sale at our old church once, and I took baklava. The ladies couldn't understand why I had such a high price on such a small piece of dessert. Nobody touched the baklava for the first hour. Then a guest noticed it. "Baklava? For only $1.50?" She bought one piece, took it back to the dinner table, sampled it, and told everybody else at the table about it. Most of them went over to the bake-sale table, bought a piece or two, and then the Discoverer went back and purchased every single piece that was left after her friends had had a shot at it. The church ladies were puzzled. :-)
I did some online hunting for baklava prices at restaurants and through online sales. It looks like I came up with a good size to fit the appointed price-tag. And worst-case scenario is that people look at the price, avoid it, and I have to bring it home and eat it myself.
What I find ironic is...the last place I look for a bargain is at the church bake sale. For pity's sake, my money is going to a church cause! If I want a bargain, I hit WalMart.
ReplyDeleteOh, when you have time, please post your recipe and any tips you have for making baklava! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to make my evil dessert. Now your baklava looks delicious. Can I have some please? Nuts and honey - oh yummy, yummy, yum, yum!
ReplyDelete(runs off to start making dessert . . . .)
How hard would it be to make this for 35 people in KY? If you and I get assigned to the same cooking team, I'd be happy to pay for the ingredients - unless it's a pain to make. I had some of yours once and it was GOOD!
ReplyDeleteGary took a few leftover pieces to work with him. One of the guys (who is Greek) tasted the baklava and said, "I didn't know Gary's wife was Greek!" Gary said that she's not. "But with the way this baklava tastes....!" That made me smile.
ReplyDeleteIt's fairly easy to make. It takes a while to paint all the butter into the layers, but it's certainly not hard. And in KY, you can always stand and chat with your co-workers while painting butter. Probably one 13x9 would be enough for the group, but maybe we would want two, or a 13x9 and an 8x8. We'd want to grind the nuts at home with the food processor and have that part out of the way, and it would be quite do-able.