Greek · Authentic-ish Greek
Baklava
209 kcal a serving, against 373 for the traditional version. That is 164 kcal off, or 44%, with 4.6g of protein. Serves 20. 75 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Dozens of sheets of filo pastry, each one heavily brushed with clarified butter. A thick middle layer of crushed walnuts and spices. Once it comes out of the oven, it gets flooded with a boiling syrup made from huge amounts of sugar and honey until it's completely saturated.
What changed, and what each change costs
250g of butter down to 40g, bringing in egg whites
Brushing filo with beaten egg white crisps it up brilliantly in the oven. I keep a tiny bit of butter for flavour, but the egg does the heavy lifting.
What it costs you. You lose the rich, saturated chew. The pastry bites more like a dry cracker than a buttery sponge.
400g of walnuts down to a smaller mix of walnuts and almonds
Nuts bring massive amounts of fat. Cutting the volume and mixing in blanched almonds keeps the crunch while altering the composition of the filling.
What it costs you. The nut layer is visibly thinner. It also lacks that intense, pure walnut flavour.
Heavy sugar syrup down to a light drizzle
Flooding the pastry is what makes it soggy and heavy. A small amount of hot syrup is completely enough to sweeten the dish.
What it costs you. What you've got is a dry pastry. A sticky, oozing slab is a different dish and you know where to find it. It also goes stale much faster because you lack the preservative power of all that sugar.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 373 | 209 |
| Protein | 4.6g | 4.6g |
| Fat | 24.4g | 12g |
| Saturated fat | 7.8g | 2.1g |
| Carbohydrate | 37.6g | 22.7g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 1.2g | 2.2g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Greek prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, nuts, milk, eggs.
The method is in the book
A very fair trade. You miss the sheer saturated weight of a butter-soaked base, but the egg white trick is a revelation for crisping up the filo layers. It holds its shape perfectly and delivers exactly the sweet, spiced crunch you expect from the dish, just with a much lighter, sharper finish.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Greek, along with 56 more. Buy the paperback