I was introduced to this lovely honey at a foodie event last year. I had it on a salty cracker with some lovely manchego type cheese. It was incredibly memorable and incredibly moreish.
Pasilla Oaxaca Chillies
The honey uses Pasilla Oaxaca chillies from the Oaxaca region of Mexico which is about five hours from the Pacific coast. The name means ‘little raisin’ and it is a deep burgundy colour. It’s dried in the sun for hours and then smoked using a process handed down verbally from generation to generation.
The first thing you taste is the sweetness of the Mexican honey. Next comes the smokiness or was it the heat. For sure there is a fire here but it’s not overpowering or lingering.
Slather on sourdough or baste over a baklava?
This honey is an exceptional breakfast treat slathered over hot, buttery sourdough. I could finish the whole jar very easily in just a few days. I’d also recommend it with some clotted cream over scones or crumpets. Takes the richness right out of the cream.
But I found this to be especially good in baklava. I want to experiment with savoury baklava and this is a step closer to that. I basted the warm baklava all over and then left it to rest for a night and basted again. The honey has flecks of the dark chilli skins which I rather liked as they gave the heat right at the end making this dessert less sweet and the nutty insides delectable. This was the only piece I cut. The rest was eaten right out of the baking tin!
Chilli Honey Baklava
Chilli Honey Baklava
Notes
Line a 8 x 8 inch baking tin with some greaseproof paper and set aside. Pop the oven on to 180C.
Blitz the whole almonds in a food processor until you have large breadcrumb sized pieces. Then add the ground almonds, sugar and cinnamon and blitz again for a couple of seconds til combined.
Unroll the filo pastry and cut enough to fit the base of your baking tin - I simply place the baking tin on top and the score a knife round the edge. You should have enough for two squares. Cover the pastry with a damp tea towel and set aside.
Melt the butter in the microwave or a small saucepan. Brush a sheet of pastry with butter and place the buttered side down into the baking tin. Brush the top with more butter. Do this again for about 8 more sheets. You can use up the little strips that were leftover from cutting too. On top of the eighth sheet, spoon over a nice layer of the ground nuts and sugar filling. Place another sheet of buttered pastry on top of this. Add another layer of filling and then more buttered pastry. Repeat about two or three more times depending on how thick you are layering.
Finally place another eight sheets of buttered filo on top. Baste the top with the remaining butter and then cut your baklava into shapes as you wish. Traditionally they are diagonal. Bake for 45 minutes - the top should be a golden brown.
While it's baking make the syrup by mixing the honey, water and caster sugar in a small saucepan. Bring it to the boil and then let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Take the baklava out of the oven and pour over the warm syrup. Leave this to cool in the baking tin to get a good soaking and then gently prise out of the tin and serve.
I like these warm with a little pouring cream over the top. Also very lovely with some vanilla ice cream.
The honey now available to buy at a few places online in the UK. Thank you to the team at Gran Luchito for treating me to a jar and commissioning this recipe.
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