BAKLAVA WITH COFFEE SYRUP

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas4; mix well together all the nuts and the caster sugar, stirring to thoroughly coat the nuts in the sugar; brush a shallow, 18cm x 28cm baking tin, with a little of the melted butter

Using the tin as a guide, cut the filo pastry sheets to fit the tin exactly; layer 3 sheets of the filo pastry in the bottom of the tin, brushing each one with some melted butter; sprinkle the filo with half of the nut mixture making sure it is evenly distributed

Layer three more sheets of filo pastry on top of the nut mixture; brushing each layer with butter as you go; then spread the remaining nut mixture over the pastry, smoothing it evenly over the entire surface; top with the remaining sheets of pastry, brushing each sheet with a little more butter as before; gently press down with your hand all around the edges to seal

Using a sharp knife, mark the top of the baklava into diamonds; place in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp all over

To make the syrup, put the sugar, spices and coffee in a small pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved; cover the pan and set aside for 20 minutes to give the spices time to flavour the syrup

Remove the baklava from the oven; reheat the syrup then strain it over the pastry; leave to cool in the tin and set aside overnight to allow the flavours to mingle; when ready to serve, cut the baklava into diamonds then remove from the tin