Morning Sweet Things,

I’ve been dying to get my hands on some Baklava as the only one I really like comes from a wholesaler and I can’t get to them because of Covid restrictions. My husband found these in our local supermarket, so I was really looking forward to tuck into them.

Dina Baklawa

” A Selection of Mediterranean Treats
Baklawa - Mix nuts between layers of filo pastry
Chocolate Baklawa - Traditional baklawa covered with light/dark milk chocolate
Assabee - Filo pastry stuffed with crushed cashew nuts
Kulwuskur - Cashew nuts delicately encased with folded filo pastry
Cashew Triangle - Cashew nuts layered with folded filo pastry
Bourma - Whole nuts bound in crunchy, golden brown kataifi
Namoura - Baked semolina squares delicately topped with a nut
Walnut Baklawa - Cracked wild walnuts elegantly layered between filo pastry
Boukage - Square layers of filo pastry with cashew nuts"

"Dina is a family owned company that has specialised for over two decades in producing the most scrumptious Eastern Mediterranean foods. Baklawa is one of these.Considered by many as the world's most delightful confection, Baklawa is a sweet that has its roots steeped in history going back thousands of years. Traditionally, this was prepared only on special occasions and graced the tables of the rich and royals of ancient times.What makes Dina Baklawa so special, is that our recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. The quality ingredients in the recipe we use and the way we bake it makes it special. Very Special.Every single piece has been carefully hand cut, crafted and baked to perfection. Just like it has been for thousands of years. This Baklawa range has been carefully selected by our chefs to ensure you enjoy these at your next dinner party or to offer as a special gift that will be truly remembered!"

First of all, I noticed on the back of the box was a description of nine different pieces of baklava (or baklawa as this particular brand calls it) When I opened the box, there was only six different pieces… we are not off to a good start! So that aside, I decided to pick up one of the pieces of baklava. It was juicy and crunch, but there wasn’t much sweet flavour going on. I picked up another different piece… same as the other one. So then I went in for a chocolate one. It was nice but just something wasn’t right. As I went through a few more pieces, I realised the liquid wasn’t the sweet, sticky syrup I was expecting. It was just grease and oil! No wonder this wasn’t hitting the spot! So I turn the box over and read the ingredients. There was a part that read ’Inverted sugar syrup, Butter Blend [Rapeseed Oil, Butterfat (Milk)],’ Yuk! No wonder everything was oily! I even had oil dripping down my hand!

This was not pleasant at all! I know what I’m talking about as I’m part Middle Eastern myself, so this was pretty disgusting. It should no way be oily or greasy. If it was just sugary and sweet then these would be very nice. The filo was crunch, it was loaded full of crushed nuts and the pieces were a good size. So it wasn’t all bad, but seriously, the oil let it down or these would be worth 5 stars and not 1 star.

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